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How to Improve Concentration for Success

Many people have observed me crushing it throughout the day and have asked me how I get so much work done. They want to know my strategies on how to improve concentration.

The answer to getting more work done is focus and concentration. Without these two, nothing will get done.

Through consistent practice and some simple habits, I’ve become a very focused person.

BUT I didn’t always start out that way. I used to have a huge problem with concentration.

In fact, I was so unfocused in my earlier years that at a certain point I thought I had ADHD!

It’s a big problem with modern society. We have more distractions than ever, and very little time and space to get focused.

Credit: Statistic Brain

If you’re going through the same thing, I encourage you to keep reading.

Today my goal is to teach you how to improve concentration for workplace or academic success.

Concentration is what allows the top performers in the world to get more done than anyone else, in less time.

If you follow the simple habits and techniques I am going to teach you, you’ll be well on your way to becoming a more focused person.

You’ll have more free time than the average person, and you’ll have a higher chance of getting promoted faster at work (or growing your business faster if you’re an entrepreneur).

If you’re a student going for your bachelors or masters degree, you’ll find this especially useful. I know how hard it is to concentrate on your studies, believe me I’ve been there.

These techniques should help you with whatever knowledge work you’re doing in life.

We live in a noisy world, filled with distractions and diversions.

It’s amazing that any of us get anything done these days!

On a serious note, we can’t do meaningful work that requires critical thinking if our work environment is filled with distraction.

Many times, we don’t control our work environment or who we work with, but we can make some tweaks that eliminate most of the distraction.

This process is one of the most critical things I had to do in order to learn how to improve concentration.

I’m going to break this strategy down into three different parts.

Research shows that it’s best to work in quiet, but if you can’t then try listening to white noise like I do.

If that doesn’t work for you, even music is better than listening to people around you talking.

If you do listen to music, try to keep the genre consistent.

That way, you’re training your subconscious mind to respond to that type of music with concentration.

If you’re really serious, only listen to your chosen genre of music while you’re working. That will really lock in the habit!

The sound of people talking is the worst auditory distraction, so try to avoid people chatting in the background while you’re concentrating.

In the past I’ve seen a co-worker use soft earplugs to eliminate distraction, which I thought was a great idea!

I also put my phone on airplane mode (unless I am answering a Quora question on my phone or handling my other social media channels).

These days, we get so many notifications from almost every app on our phones that it’s become so important to control the tide of incoming information.

In fact, today the average person checks their phone 9 times per hour!

Credit: jaclynsalem.com

Remember, every single piece of information that you consume uses up mental energy for the day.

You have to prioritize your important tasks over Facebook notifications or the latest Tweets on Twitter, otherwise you’ll never get anything meaningful done!

I know it can feel strange to disconnect from the world, especially since we are used to non-step connectivity these days.

Ultimately, you have to decide what’s more important — social media or your future?

If you have the ability to, try to create a work-area for yourself where you only do focused work.

At my house, I’ve created a small office space where I go when I want to do undistributed, focused writing.

This room is only for work. I don’t use it for any other purpose other than working.

If you don’t have a good work environment where you can concentrate, it’s going to be hard to get anything done.

Ideally you should find an area that has good lighting and isn’t too cramped or depressing.

Your work area shouldn’t be too easygoing either! It’s hard to work on the beach or at a place where everyone around you is having a good time.

Find an area where the mood is light and bright, but that is suitable for serious concentration. A good example is your local coffee shop.

After I did step one, I realized that even though I had eliminated all of the distractions in my environment, I was still drowning in thoughts and worries in my own head!

After I looked up “how to get rid of distracting thoughts” on Google, I found tons of blogs and videos talking about meditation. It sounded weird to me at first, but TRUST ME it’s amazing if you do it consistently.

When I first started practicing meditation, I didn’t notice anything groundbreaking.

Over time though, I noticed that my concentration was much better when I had a good meditation session that day.

Now, I don’t feel like I can have an optimal day without practicing meditation!

If you don’t have time to do it in the morning, try to do it during your breaks throughout the work day.

Even 5 or 10 minutes of mindfulness practice can help you learn how to improve concentration, as well as actually improving it in and of itself.

Ultimately, meditation leaves you with the mental space you need for razor-sharp focus.

How much do you think the average knowledge worker in an office is working each day?

Go on, take a guess.

Isn’t the work day 8 hours?

Oh but what if they work overtime, wouldn’t it be more like 9 or 10?

Oh I guess including a lunch break it would really be 7.

All wrong.

The rest of the time is spent (on average among the employees in a study of 2000 workers):

As you can see, we tend to think we are working a lot because we are in an office, or in our study room, or at the library BUT that’s not reality.

The reality of productivity: We are only working when we are working. Not when we are “at work”.

Therefore, my ONE productivity habit that has eclipsed all others in its effectiveness is FOCUS TIME.

If you want to learn how to improve concentration, you need to understand this concept. It’s critical.

I measure how much time I am doing focused work every day.

I literally keep a time log of how long I can stay focused on work related tasks throughout the day with no interruptions, no phone calls, no social media, no Quora, NOTHING distracting me.

If and when you first start doing this, you’ll be amazed at how unproductive you are in reality (at first).

I think this is a major reason why people don’t do this habit.

It can really screw up your self-esteem when you realize how much you’ve been screwing around with your work.

When I first started doing this, I thought I was already productive enough.

After my first week, I was shocked to discover I had only gotten to 15 hours of productive work.

That was insane considering I was going to school full time, had a part time internship, and was developing mobile apps for iOS in my spare time.

BUT over time, you will learn how to improve concentration, just like I did. You’ll find ways to stay more focused for more time, like a mental game.

I find myself always trying to beat my “high score” of focus time for the week.

Today, I can consistently reach anywhere from 40–50 hours of focus time per week.

Now that’s a true 8 hour work day!

It’s made me more productive than anyone around me, and people often ask me how I have time to get so much done.

I smile and reply, “it’s simple, I just work all the time that I work.”

You can imagine the looks of bewilderment.

As you’re learning how to improve concentration, you’ll want to remember to take strategic breaks.

This is because your focus dulls the longer you use it.

Think of it like a mental muscle. Muscles get tired the longer you lift weights. So does your brain the longer you focus!

There is research to back up my claim. A study by Bligh (1998) looked at performance of two different groups of college students.

One group sat through the entire one hour lecture without a break, and the other was allowed to have a break to mentally recover.

Credit: (Bligh 1998)

As you can see, the students who got a chance to take a break performed better than the control group.

Therefore, when you feel like you’re starting to lose attention it’s most productive to step away from your work!

Don’t go on Facebook, YouTube, or read blog posts at this time.

Just let your mind decompress and wander freely.

It would be best for you to take a walk or stare at a wall, to be honest with you!

When you give your mind the mental space it needs for 5 to 10 minutes, it can come back more focused than before!

Taking strategic breaks will also keep you going strong for longer, and you won’t get as tired throughout the day.

When you’re taking a break, I recommend drinking some water.

Most people are dehydrated throughout the day, and even mild dehydration can cause severe fatigue.

Also, take some deep breaths. Oxygen is the most natural and free energy source there is!

You’ll be amazed at how much deep breathing can calm your nerves and get you refocused.

I personally use the Pomodoro technique because I’m a very structured person and I like to hustle like clockwork.

Ultimately, it’s up to you to structure your work in a way that best suits you.

Just remember the importance of strategic breaks for improving your focus and concentration.

I hope this post helped you learn my strategy for learning how to improve concentration.

Remember, concentration is a combination of practice, measuring progress, and simple tweaks to your work environment.

If you discipline yourself to concentrate every single day, eventually you’ll see incredible results.

Did you like this story? I would love to hear what you think about focus and concentration. Please leave a comment below, I respond to every comment.

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