Guest post by Christopher Willoughby of Focussupplements.co.uk.
Remaining focused throughout the day can be extremely difficult when living in a world with so many distractions. Here are 5 simple hacks so you can pay more attention to the important things that you face on a daily basis.
1) Keep Your Phone Turned Off While Conducting Important Tasks
In today’s day and age phone’s are the number one, most distracting things in each of our lives. Nearly everything from sending emails, to checking Facebook, to controlling the heating in your house can be done via mobile device.
It’s no wonder that these little things have become a major distraction.
I know it may sound uncanny to not have your phone on for an hour or two during the day; However, if you’re looking to get tasks done this is an extremely beneficial technique.
Every time we look at our phones, we not only waste the time that we spend looking at either Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or even replying to that text from an old friend; We also lose so much time in the process of returning to the task at hand. It may take several minutes to get back into the flow of whatever it was you were doing. Times this by 10 or even 20 and hours can be wasted!
2) Take A Break And Exercise For One Hour During The Day
Exercise along with a good night’s sleep is one of the number one hacks for remaining focused throughout the day. Doing just an hours exercise during the day can be extremely rewarding.
If exercise is done in the middle of the day it is a fantastic way to break up the day and the many daily tasks you plan to complete. Having a bit of ’time out’ encourages reflection and better thinking patterns; it allows you to take a step back and formulate strategic plans rather than being in the midst of mountains of work.
It has been found that doing an hours exercise a day has an extremely positive effect on brain function. Not only is exercise great for your heart but regularly exercising has been found to improve memory, learning and thinking skills.
Time to get those running shoes out!
3) Break Large Tasks Down Into Smaller Singular Tasks
Most of us struggle to stay focused due to the daunting nature of the tasks we face on a day to day basis. One extremely simple technique is to simply break these tasks down into miniature tasks themselves.
For example when having a big project at work, simply make a list of each individual task that makes up the project. By making these into similar smaller size tasks and ticking them off your list as they are done it’s much easier to gain momentum and immediately becomes far less daunting.
The main reason our brain gets distracted during big tasks is simply because… they’re too big!
Let’s make them smaller… easy!
4) Use Clever Software To Avoid Distractions.
Nowadays we are subject to an unbelievable amount of information online. This is a huge advantage but can also be a rather large hinderance. For those of you that work on a laptop, websites can be an extreme distraction. We’ve all got to admit a sneaky look at Facebook at work when the boss isn’t looking.
Well now there are a few invaluable free apps online that can really minimize these distractions when willpower just simply isn’t enough.
The first is a chrome extension called StayFocusd. This fantastic little tool allows you to select websites to block and time periods in which you wish them to be blocked. Give it a go – It can hugely improve productivity.
Another, even more effective tool is ColdTurkey. This literally allows you to block anything and everything. If you have a piece of writing that needs to be done it can even lock you into the document.
5) Use A Form Of Nootropic To Aid Your Focus.
Finally the use of Nootropics can be a fantastic way to aid your Focus. Nutrients are essential for proper functioning of the brain, without them we would be unable to stay focused on anything.
Choline Supplements such as Alpha GPC and CDP Choline are known to specifically help with both memory and focus by conferring dietary choline to the body upon consumption. Choline is found in many foods such as eggs and red meat and it is a vital part of our diet in order to improve cognitive function.
If you’re interested in exploring Choline Supplements further; Improving your memory, focus, concentration and learning skills then take a look here for more information about The Science Behind Choline.