2 tips to help you focus effectively
I want to share with you three techniques I use in my work to help me stay focused. Because yes, I have a tendency to flit around and get distracted very easily!
1. The Pomodoro Technique 🍅
What is the Pomodoro technique?
First of all, you should know that this name, which means "tomato" in Italian, comes from the timer (the one in the shape of a tomato!) Francesco Cirillo (the one to whom we owe this technique) realized that with this timer, he reached the end of all his tasks in an optimal way !
Here is the famous simple and useful method in 4 steps:
Plan precisely the task you are going to do and start the timer.
Concentrate for 25 minutes on the task only.
Take a 5 minute break
Do it again and again
And that's the secret of this time management technique for a guaranteed maximum concentration.
The benefits
By using this technique, you will realise that you can accomplish in a short time tasks that, at first glance, seemed complex and time consuming. The other advantage is that it will allow you to readjust your vision of time and urgency.
2. More efficient in monotask
Contrary to a widespread myth, our brain is not designed to work in multitasking but sequentially (yes, even the female brain!).
Research shows that this multitasking mode leads us to consume much more of our brain resources, while degrading the quality of our work and our well-being. Its harmful effects are numerous, and scientific contributions on this subject are multiplying. Multitasking, especially related to the use of smartphones, even puts us in danger, for example when we drive or cross the street while on the phone: 20% of teenagers hit by a car in the United States were on the phone at the time of the accident.
According to the universities of Illinois and Chicago, multitasking consumes most of the brain's memory capacity, to the point of leaving no room for creativity. This saturation of attention no longer allows us to be fully present, to be able to imagine a blank page that encourages the emergence of new ideas or solutions.
All our technological gadgets are designed to encourage us to relentlessly multi-task. We can be interrupted up to 400 times a day!
So we need to consciously practice monotasking and set rules for working and using connected tools. The two major sources of distraction in our daily life are: emails and messages (SMS, Messenger, WhatsApp, etc...)
When you are concentrating on a job, close your email, turn off the phone's sound notifications, close the open tabs you don't need. Also reduce the frequency of your visits. Find a time slot that works for you, such as 5 minutes at the beginning of each hour or 3 times a day: in the morning, at lunch time and at the end of the day.
If social media is your biggest distraction, you can use apps that block social media during certain times of the day (this article offers several https://www.strategies.fr/actualites/marques/4024289W/5-applis-pour-lacher-son-telephone.html) or put your phone on airplane mode.
At this point, I hope three things: first, that you read this article in one sitting without doing anything else; second, that you didn't read it while driving a car or crossing the street; and third, that you'll change the way you work, if only slightly, in the next few weeks.
