In an age where devices all over the house are fighting for our attention, it is becoming very difficult to stay focused on what is essential. Have you had days where you opened the phone to note something in the calendar but got dragged down into a rabbit hole by means of notifications and suggested feeds? You are not alone. These and other distractions have made everyone vulnerable to attention deficit. Here are five simple ways to win back some control on your focus and improve your attention span.

#1 Declutter

Start with decluttering your digital space and achieve a decluttering of your headspace. Follow a clean desktop policy on your PC. Close multiple tabs on your browser and put those orphan files into designated folders. In the case of mobile phone, turn off all notifications that are not urgent. You will soon realize that most of them are not urgent.

Once the digital clutter is gone, go for the more tangible physical clutter around your house. Tackle the easy spots. Cleaning and organizing the top surfaces of furniture and racks can really help take away the visual complexity of the space around you. Simply keeping the kitchen appliances back into the cupboard is a popular habit to take up.

#2 Meditate regularly

The benefits of meditation in improving attention span is known worldwide. However, people postpone it by saying that the place is not right or the time is not right. You don’t need a quiet surrounding. You need to find the quiet within. Challenge yourself to meditate anytime and anywhere you feel overwhelmed.

Meditation is not only for exercise or for better sleep, it can reduce anxiety and stress significantly. Deep breathing lowers the heart rate. This in turn reduces cortisol levels. Stress reduction can empower you to focus better on the work at hand.

#3 Use Pomodoro timer

In the book Hyperfocus, the author Chris Bailey emphasises the reduction of context switching. When we multitask, what we are doing is that we are switching between multiple contexts in quick succession. This tires the decision making part of the brain. You start losing focus on the task as soon as this happens.

One of the simple methods to prevent this switching is to use the Pomodoro technique. You can try the Pomodoro timer apps to do this or get a physical old fashioned timer. Enable the TikTok sound in the background if you can. In this technique, you set the timer for 25 minutes of focused work and 10 minutes for break alternately. You can repeat the intervals all day or use them strictly for the primary tasks.

#4 Eat right

There are times when you had an argument with someone but later realized that it was because you missed your last meal. It is tough to listen properly on an empty stomach. A missed breakfast or lunch can cause this. On the contrary, a heavy lunch can impact your attention too. The key is to maintain a balance.

Understand the needs of your body and plan important tasks accordingly. Schedule key meetings post lunch or coffee breaks. The sugar rush helps with the attention span immensely.

#5 Exercise

Your level of energy often dictates your concentration. It is funny to hear people say that I don’t have energy to exercise. You don’t get energy before exercising. That is the point of exercising. Regular morning workouts will make you realise how the energy carries forward throughout the day.

Some parents are aware to include at least one outdoor activity in their kid’s lifestyle. Exposure to sunlight is a key to feeling energised. And stepping outside will create a distance from gadgets. Now, that’s the best benefit to take out of this. A distance from distraction is a step towards better focus.

Hope you found this article helpful. Please leave a comment to share your thoughts and experiences below.