IMPROVE YOUR FOCUS: 20 TIPS FOR LIMITLESS CONCENTRATION (LIFE-CHANGING)

Improve your focus!

Are you looking for ways to improve your focus? 
Are you tired of being constantly distracted and unable to focus? 
Do you envy friends who can work for hours without losing their focus? 
Do you want to build a super brain with unlimited focus and energy?

Great! 

This is the perfect article for you!

Here you will discover: 

• What is “focus”?
• 6 elements that steal your focus
• 20 ways to improve focus and become superhuman!

I have done it, and so can you! 

Let’s begin! 

WHAT IS FOCUS? 

Focusing is directing your attention toward one task over a prolonged period without having distracting thoughts, negative emotions, or actions that pull you away from the task at hand. For example, if you can sit in front of your computer and write productively for 30 minutes, fully engaged, without reaching for your phone or standing up for a snack, you’d have accomplished a 30-minute focus session. 

6 ELEMENTS THAT STEAL YOUR FOCUS

DISTRACTIONS

Distractions are everywhere! 

Notifications, social media, apps, pop-ups, ads, people, snacks, etc. This overload of information has diluted our focus and shortened our attention span. Think of distractions as tiny bugs sucking your brain’s energy and making it work harder to sustain focus.

PERSONAL PROBLEMS AND CHRONIC STRESS

Remember those times when personal issues disrupted your entire focus and productivity? What about that stressful week when everything didn’t make sense?

Personal issues and chronic stress trigger the fight-or-flight response, diverting your focus away from everything else. Addressing and gaining clarity on these issues is crucial to focus on what matters.

BELIEFS SYSTEM

Your belief systems are like mini-programs running your thoughts and influencing your actions. In any case, your beliefs create the script: thoughts and actions, then, thoughts and actions reinforce the script. Now, consider the scenario where you assume you can’t focus and have no control over it. With such a mindset, you’ll fall victim to that reality. Your subconscious will inevitably prevail and steer you towards distractions. For this reason, changing your belief systems and matching them with the principles mentioned here is key to improving your focus. 

SLEEP DEPRIVATION

Quality sleep remains the most underrated factor in boosting focus. Maintaining focus is nearly impossible without quality sleep, especially during lengthy or challenging situations. 

Guess what happens when you get a poor night’s sleep. 

Neurotransmitter imbalances, increased inflammation, and decreased memory and attention span. That’s not a recipe for deep focus. So, having a good night’s sleep is essential if boosting focus is your goal.

NUTRIENT DEFICIENCIES

Your body requires nutrients and building blocks to synthesize neurotransmitters and hormones. These are necessary for the execution of biological functions.
Focus is a biological function! 

It’s a brain process that requires fuel sources and efficient energy production. Food quality, its nutrients, and building blocks are major components your brain needs to channel focus.  

LACK OF ACTIVITIES ALLOWING THE RELEASE OF ANXIETY

Moving your body increases blood flow to your brain and makes you feel more relaxed, calm, and focused! Socializing and laughing are other ways to boost mood and neurotransmitter production. The idea isn’t to work out to exhaustion or spend all your time socializing! But to use these as powerful resets in your daily life. 

Now that you understand the 6 main elements that steal your focus, let’s dive into the 20 ways to become a focus beast!

20 WAYS TO IMPROVE FOCUS

SET CLEAR PRIORITIES FOR YOURSELF AND RESPECT THEM

We put so much importance on focus, but what’s more important is what to focus on! Before you dive into improving your focus, set clear priorities for yourself. These priorities must be meaningful and aligned with your goals and values. Key priorities everyone should have are health, self-development, and deep work on one main project. 

GET SUFFICIENT QUALITY SLEEP

The best way to get sufficient quality sleep is to align your lifestyle with your circadian biology. This is how you can do it:
1. Sleep as close as possible to the sunset.
2. Wake up naturally without an alarm when your body is ready.
3. Expose yourself to daylight as soon as you wake up.
4. Avoid artificial blue lights for 1 to 3 hours before sleep.
5. Keep your room temperature cool (19-23 degrees Celcius). 

OPTIMIZE YOUR NUTRITION

Here are the most effective nutrition tips to give your brain all the building blocks, vitamins, and minerals:

1. Eat natural food: well-raised animal meat, organ meats, fruits, and vegetables you like. 
2. Pay attention to how you cook your food: avoid frying with vegetable oils!
3. Eat enough high-quality meat rich in bioavailable amino acids. 
4. Eat healthy fats such as olive oil, avocados, grass-fed butter, and salmon.

Your brain will thank you! 

CHANGE YOUR BELIEF SYSTEMS 

To change your belief systems:

1. Become aware of limiting beliefs you have.
2. Educate yourself to understand and change your perspective.
3. Transform your limiting beliefs into empowering ones.
4. Believe you can change and commit to taking action. 
5. Put meaning behind every action you take.
6. Be patient to put the work on for an extended period.
7. Prove it to yourself and be proud of it.

CHALLENGE YOURSELF WITH A TIMER

Do you know that feeling when you hear a countdown and rush to complete your task before time runs out? And yes, this kick in the ass, motivated you to give everything and finish on time! Well, this is the idea of challenging yourself with a timer: 

1. Give yourself a task.
2. Allow yourself a specific time to accomplish the task.
3. Set a timer, and stick with it.

Start small (5 minutes) and work your way up!
Be okay with failing, winning every time is not the goal. The goal is to improve your focus and productivity. 

If the time wasn’t enough: 

1. Review your actions
2. Figure out why you couldn’t finish
3. Write down what you could have done better to finish on time. 

If you accomplish your task on time: 

1. Be proud of yourself
2. Write down the things that made you successful 
3. Write down how to make them even more efficient. 

This exercise is extremely powerful!
Use it. 

DO ONE TASK AT A TIME WITH FULL ENGAGEMENT

One task done correctly is worth more than 10 tasks done halfway!

Multitasking and feeling productive is an illusion! 

If you want to accomplish things fast while keeping the quality of your work up to acceptable standards, fully engage yourself with only one task and give everything you have to it! 

TRAIN YOUR EYES TO FOCUS! 

Your eyes are the primary sensory organ involved in focused attention.
When you’re very focused, your vision shifts from wide to narrow. The task becomes the only important element in your vision field.  

Now, if many things are moving around your vision field, they’ll trigger your eyes to shift away from the main focus point. 

It’s not a big problem if you have trained yourself to shift your focus back to the task. 

But it’s a huge deal for people with very short attention spans (most people!). 

Here is a simple exercise you can try to train your eyes to focus: 

1. Sit in a quiet place and focus on one object.
2. Expand your field of vision while keeping focus: Widen your gaze to catch more extra details in your side view while staying locked on the main focus
3. If you lose focus, bring your focus back and try again! It’s part of the game.
4. Spend 5 to 10 minutes practicing and make your environment more challenging as soon as it becomes easy. 

This exercise will ultimately make you focus on one object (or task) and recognize what’s happening around you without losing focus. 

PRACTICE MEDITATION

So, you sit down, close your eyes, thoughts start to race, you feel overwhelmed, and give it up. But you called it meditation. 
No worries! 

The goal is to pick one theme to focus on during the meditation: 

One sentence you want to repeat.
One idea you want to explore. 
One problem you want to solve.  
Or just nothing. 

Then, when thoughts come to you, be aware of them, embrace them, and bring your attention back to the main focus.

Stillness is when you focus on nothing! 
It’s quite challenging, isn’t it?
Just stay still and focus on your breath. 

Your attention will go in different directions, but bring it back to your breath. 

In all cases, you are training your brain to focus on one task and learning how to bring your attention back to the task as soon as you lose focus. 

PRACTICE AWARENESS AND PRESENCE

Being present and fully aware of what’s happening in the present moment is part of deep focus. To make it happen actively sharpen your attention when you notice it starting to loosen. You can do this exercise daily on so many occasions!
For example:
During conversations pay close attention to the ideas and words being used. If you ever miss a detail ask them to repeat it and refocus on the now. Keep repeating this process and you’ll soon master presence. 

PRACTICE ATTENTION TO DETAILS

If you want to take it one step further, you can train yourself to be present with extreme attention to detail. It’s as if things are boring to the point you have to make them more interesting by looking for more fascinating features.

You can do that by simply walking in nature and focusing on the details of a tree or a flower. You will begin to pick up new patterns and surprise yourself with the amount of information present that you never saw. 

This practice will transfer to your work. You will start to pay attention and identify valuable details that will make you achieve your tasks much faster.

IT’S OKAY TO TAKE A BREAK

It’s better to take a break rather than break your focus with distractions. It’s especially true when your attention span decreases to the point you no longer can process information! 

These are the moments when your brain needs a break. We’re not machines!

Sometimes a 5-minute break, standing up, doing some stretches, and drinking water can be incredibly effective at rebooting the focus system.

CHANGE TASKS WHEN YOU REACH SATURATION

Repeating or working on the same task for a prolonged period can also make you lose focus. Sometimes, deciding to shift gears and working on a different type of task can bring back your attention and make you productive. Don’t stubbornly force yourself to do something you cannot stand anymore. Figure out ways to shift the types of tasks you do. Don’t make them too long and boring to execute.   

SPEND TIME OUTDOORS IN NATURE

Remember that when you are overly stressed, you can’t focus! 

Take a break in nature. It’s a powerful way to disconnect, release stress, and give your brain a break to recharge!

ENGAGE IN PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES

Engaging in physical activities is another fantastic way to give yourself a break, increase blood flow to your brain, and release the pressure of long working days! A quick workout, a few push-ups, some jumping jacks, and you’re back! 

DISCONNECT TO RECONNECT

Many people live connected to their work 24/7! 

Our phones, e-mail, notifications, and social media bombard us without a break. Your brain, drowning in stress, loses freshness. As a result, you encounter more problems and can’t seem to solve them.
To improve your focus, mentally and physically disconnecting from work is crucial. Here’s how you can do it:  

1. Set a clear time to disconnect from work every day!
2. Put an alarm as a reminder and shift your mindset as soon as the alarm goes on.
3. Hold yourself accountable for that.
4. Avoid talking, checking, or doing anything related to your work during this time.

Bonus:
When you truly disconnect from work, your problem-solving abilities increase dramatically. The insights you get when you are fresh are astonishing! 

Trust me, Disconnect!

SHIFT YOUR MINDSET IN PREPARATION FOR THE TASK

When facing a big project that needs fully locked attention, prepping ahead is a surefire way to crush it! It’s the difference between failing miserably and accomplishing it with pride! 

Improve your focus by taking 5 minutes to: 

1. Remind yourself of the meaning behind your actions.
2. Plan the step-by-step process you will take.
3. Visualize your upcoming actions.
4. Refine the action sequence to make it the most productive. 

This strategy locks your focus on the key steps and pumps you to tackle the work. Plus, it keeps you from wasting time on unnecessary moves. 

SET YOUR WORK ENVIRONMENT 

Imagine working in front of a TV playing your favorite TV show! 
Okay, I admit, it’s a bit extreme, but you got my point!

Make your environment distraction-free and supportive to focus and productive work:

1. Surround yourself with everything you need to work.
2. Nothing else. 
3. Quiet space
4. Blank wall in front. 
5. No phone. 

Make it a habit to dive deep into the same environment as it trains your brain to associate that place with peak focus. 

ENJOY THE WORK YOU DO

Do you remember those childhood days and how time flew by crazy fast when playing with your favorite friends?

Enjoyable things capture your attention and keep you engaged! 
Reverse this principle and use it to your advantage:

1. Make your work fun, or at least approach it positively.
2. Find ways to gamify repetitive and boring tasks. 
3. Be happy about the actions you’ll take.
4. Appreciate the things you did.
5. Look back and be proud. 

Enjoying and expressing pleasure during and after a task significantly decreases your perceived effort and can boost your focus to a new level.

DO NOT FOCUS ON THE RESULT

Focusing on the result is a distraction. It will frustrate you more than anything. Instead, focus on the process and the actions you need to take. Most meaningful results require time and patience! Back to the previous point, find a way to make your daily work more enjoyable. 

TRAIN YOUR FOCUS DAILY

Improving focus is a daily practice, and you have the opportunity to improve it every single day. Your brain will do what it’s conditioned to do. If you constantly distract yourself, you train your brain to be constantly distracted. If you intend to improve your focus daily, you will condition your brain to become a focus master! 

Stay fully focused for 2 minutes, then 3 minutes, then 10, etc.
Step by step, you’ll train your brain to focus for hours without getting distracted. 

CONCLUSION

If you don’t improve your focus with all these tips…
I’ve got nothing else to say! 

These 20 tips guarantee a significant improvement in your focus. Focus is the ultimate skill that everyone wants, but a few have. 

Now, it’s all yours! 

Get it!