10 Tips on how to increase your focus and productivity

Over the years, the concept of multitasking/parallelism has been leaked outside the computer world into ours and we see a lot of folks (including recruiters) talk about it and how to be a "multitasker" which ironically seems to be a badge to brag about ¹. However, there’s just one little problem with that: We can’t actually multitask.

Sometimes, you’ll be more liable to get the impression that multitasking is the source of someone's success, when in fact she’s probably successful in spite of her multitasking and would almost certainly be even more successful if she focused on just one task at a time.

And the fact that you can walk and listen to music is not actually multitasking because each set of activities uses a different group of cognitive resources of the brain ².

Multitasking is the real enemy of focus. Simply, don't do it!

Tips to stay focused ⚡️

Try one or a mix of these tips to increase your focus when needed.

1. Clean your desk before starting a new task.
2. Never listen to music while doing any intense mental workload.
3. For noisy environments, try to use noise-cancelling headphones
4. When you attend a meeting never use your phone or Slack. You can change Slack status and pause notifications.
5. Meditate for at least 20 mins daily. Mindfulness thickens your frontal cortex, which increases your capacity for attention and processing power.
6. Work on one task at your desk and then pick up your laptop and move to a different location before starting the next task. The subtle change in your work environment will provide a signal to the brain that you’re tackling something new.
7. If you're a regular email-checker, try to block some time in your daily calendar for emails and stick to it.
8. Have a well-defined goal before starting any new task.
9. Use a tracking app to limit your distraction. I use Rize.
10. Don't resist distractions. Get rid of them.