An insight into how you can improve focus and attention when working.
When you’ve got an overwhelming amount of work to do in your week, the importance of focusing on a daily basis can feel ever-pressing whether you’re an employee or an employer.
That said, it’s natural for your focus to waver throughout the day, especially if you’re not taking the appropriate steps to improve your focus and attention.
In fact, the average brain ‘has an average attention span of around 40 minutes’, meaning that even if you think you’re focusing on a task, it’s likely that your mind isn’t fully engaged.
So, how do you improve focus and attention when working?
To improve your focus and attention when working, try to:
- Incorporate regular breaks into your work schedule
- Use a dedicated space to work
- Prioritise sleep
- Limit the amount of multitasking you do
1. Incorporate Regular Breaks Into Your Work Schedule
As much as we’d like to get all of our tasks for the day done in a large block, especially with the pressure to ‘always be productive’, this just isn’t conducive to improved focus and attention.
Taking a break can help. In fact, studies have shown that ‘walking around for five minutes every hour during the workday could lift your mood and combat lethargy without reducing focus and attention’.
It’s not sustainable to work all day everyday. While it might sound counterproductive, incorporating regular breaks into your work schedule can therefore help you to improve your focus and attention.
That said, whether it’s just to stand up to get a drink or to move your body, try taking more breaks throughout your day and you’ll begin to notice a difference.
2. Use A Dedicated Space To Work
Using a dedicated space to work is a great way to improve focus and attention when working. For instance, if you typically work from home, getting out of the house and using a coworking space as your office can significantly help.
You’d be surprised by the difference that being surrounded by like-minded people that are all working can make in improving your focus and attention, as well as your productivity.
In fact, studies have shown that 68% of people claim that they are ‘better focused’ when coworking, with another study claiming that 89% of members were happier using a coworking space.
Tramshed Tech offers various memberships with access to our coworking spaces across Wales, where you can work around and interact with various people and businesses. If you’re interested in improving your focus with a coworking space, get in touch today.
3. Prioritise Sleep
While it’s easier said than done when you live a busy lifestyle, if you’re struggling to concentrate throughout the day, prioritising can significantly improve your focus and attention.
Generally speaking, adults need between 7 and 9 hours of sleep every night to maintain a healthy lifestyle and to ensure that you and your skills remain sharp.
There are various ways to prioritise your sleep, whether that’s turning off your phone at least ‘30 minutes before bed’ or ensuring that you’re in bed at a reasonable time to promote a good sleep pattern.
If you’re not getting enough sleep during the night, or your sleep quality isn’t good enough, this can have a negative effect on your focus.
4. Limit The Amount Of Multitasking You Do
You can also improve your focus and attention when working by limiting the amount of multitasking you do.
While you might believe that you can get a lot more done in a short amount of time if you multitask, studies show that multitasking can have a negative effect on your focus.
In fact, multitasking reduces productivity by 40%,with studies showing that multitasking ‘reduces efficiency and mental performance’ by ‘ruin[ing] productivity, caus[ing] mistakes, and imped[ing] creative thought’.
It can also have a negative effect on your health, hindering you in carrying out the task at hand and impacting your long-term health in more ways than one.
That said, you should plan your days accordingly to limit the amount of multitasking you do to not only to improve your focus and attention, but to also take care of your brain and health.
We hope this article has given you some helpful tips on how to improve your focus and attention when working.
We are Tramshed Tech: a startup ecosystem home to 50+ companies ranging from pre-revenue start-ups to scaling businesses with 600+ registered members from the digital, creative and tech communities. We’re currently based in Grangetown, Cardiff Central & Newport, and are soon expanding to other sites across South Wales to Barry and Swansea.
If you’re interested in joining us at any of our locations, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Written by Jemima Thomas for Tramshed Tech.
