Focus Pocus, how to stay focused

This is the age of multitasking, I know.  Why would you settle for just one task when you could perform three or more at once. If you don't get the point of keeping your mind on point consider this: multitasking makes our work 50% less valuable and take 50% longer to complete. So, your administrative juggling may look impressive at the office, but you'd probably get more done if you just stuck to one task.

The reason is it takes out brain a while to really begin concentrating. If you sat down at the computer to do, say, your taxes.  Blood would begin to rush to the part of your brain that controls concentration, basically the switchboard of your brain. Then your brain will begin firing the correct neurons and impulses causing you to type numbers and do math or pick up the phone and call your accountant. Regardless, the brain must first concentrate on a task before you're able to perform it to your best abilities.

So, that sounds great right? The brain gets fired up, and issues commands.  However, when you hear the familiar ding of a new message in your inbox, or your phone rings, or you get thirsty, or the cat meows, suddenly you've lost your focus and your brain is starting to concentrate on something else, thus starting the cycle over. Every time you perform another task or are distracted the cycle starts over and you must develop concentration again. This makes your work take longer, feel more taxing, and suffer from gaps in quality.

How do you avoid this and stay focused on the task at hand?

• Have a well-defined goal. Write for 20 minutes. Do three loads of laundry. Organize your desk. Set out with a clear idea of exactly what you are going to do.
• Break things into chunks. Last week we talked about chunking information to help retain it in your memory. This applies to staying focused on long term complicated projects. Separate the project into several parts and focus on just one at a time.
• Constantly prioritize. Every time you complete something, redetermine your priorities before continuing on to the next task.
• Identify distractions, and remove them. What stops your flow of work? Is it e-mails? Set aside time for yourself to check e-mails. Check them every hour if you can, or at least every fifteen minutes so you have a solid block of time to work between e-mails.
• Reward yourself, but only if you really deserve it. If you buy yourself ice cream every time you complete a project you're going to eat too much ice cream and not be much more productive than you ordinarily would. Treat yourself if you double your productivity, or if you perform something exceedingly well. You may not always reach your requisite for a reward, but that's what makes the reward, well, rewarding.
• Delegate if you can. Can someone else answer the phone for you so you wont lose momentum? Can you give smaller tasks to an assistant so you can focus on the bigger one? Can parts of what you're working on be split up among more than one person?
• Separate personal from business.  Many of us use our personal phones for business, which can cause our boundaries to deteriorate between work and free time. Yes, it's annoying to everyone at home when you take a work call. But, it's also annoying to everyone at work when you take a personal call. Set aside time during the day to deal with personal e-mails and matters and focus on work when you are at work.