24. How to Focus Better: Tips for School, Work and ADHD
Episode 24
Without the ability to focus, we can’t reach our professional, academic or personal goals. And if you ask me, that’s a pretty compelling reason why learning how to focus better is critical to a meaningful life.
In this episode, you learn the following valuable nuggets about focus:
How evolution impacts our ability to focus in today’s world
The 2 primary roadblocks preventing you from being able to focus
How to identify which of the 2 roadblocks is your roadblock
What strategies to use to improve your focus, based on why you’re unfocused in the first place
How to improve your focus if you have ADHD
🎙️Other Episodes + Resources Mentioned:
→ Episode 14: Tips for Project Management and Planning Study Sessions (Q&A)
→ Episode 17: How to Use the Pomodoro Technique for School and Work
✏️Free Resources + Downloads
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24 How to Focus Better: Tips for School and Work (with advice for ADHD too)
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The following transcript was autogenerated and may contain some interesting and silly errors. But in the name of efficiency and productivity, I am choosing not to spend my time fixing them. :)
[00:00:00] Hello, hello, this is episode 24 of the Learn And Work Smarter podcast. And today we're going to talk about one of the most underrated superpowers of all time.
Oh, I know that is a huge claim, but it's the one superpower- I mean, I guess you could also call it a skill or an ability- that's behind nearly every accomplishment, goal, breakthrough, meaningful connection, creative process and achievement of our lives.
Without this superpower, it becomes really, really hard to meet our goals, both personal professional and academic.
And let's face it: meeting our goals, no matter how big or small or whether they're done on a public stage or in the privacy of our own homes gives our lives purpose.
So, what is this mysterious superpower? Well, you can probably tell from the title of this episode that it is focus.
[00:01:00]
Now, as I said, the ability to focus is the underlying skill behind nearly everything that we value as humans.
If we want better relationships, we need to focus on what the other person needs.
If we want better health, we have to focus on nutrition and movement and stress.
If we want better mental health, we have to focus on our thoughts and mindsets and behaviors.
If we want more money and financial security, we need to focus on making better financial decisions.
If we want better grades, we need to focus on [00:02:00] the right material during our study sessions.
If we want professional success, we have to focus on doing our job and over-delivering value.
If we want more gratitude in our lives, we have to focus on the things that we are grateful for and that we currently have more than the things we wish we had.
So what, in the span of 30 seconds, I just listed some of our deepest human desires, relationships, health, mental health, money, grades, success, gratitude.
And every single one of those requires focus.
If we can increase our ability to focus on the right things and for longer, we have greater access to all of the things that we want.
Now the opposite is also true. If we struggle to focus on the right things or become easily distracted, accessing what we really want in life becomes that much harder. And in some [00:03:00] cases, impossible.
So now, do you understand why I argue that the ability to focus is a superpower?
Now for the sake of keeping this podcast episode less than a million years long, I'm going to stick to the context of focusing in work and in school.
And specifically, I'm going to cover the two primary reasons why people struggle to focus.
And then I'm going to share some practical strategies as I always do that you can try to improve your own focus.
Now, keep in mind though, that improving focus is absolutely not about willpower.
We absolutely cannot just demand ourselves to focus harder. If you are someone with ADHD, then you know that it's especially true.
And that is why the strategies that I share with you today are not designed to have you muscle through what you need to focus on, but rather they help you [00:04:00] eliminate the barriers to your focus in the first place.
So if that sounds good to you, then you are in the right spot today.
All right. So I've already hinted that there are two primary reasons that we can't focus. And yes, this applies to people with ADHD.
Now of course ADHD can make focusing more of a challenge because contrary to popular belief, ADHD is not about an inability to focus.
Rather people with ADHD tend to focus on everything and then they struggle to block out all of the extra and all of the stimulation that's not related to the task at hand. I just want to make that clear. Okay.
So put another way our focus issues, ADHD or not, almost always originate from one of the following:
Number one, we don't know what to focus on. So we lack clarity. And number two, we can't focus for long enough to get the [00:05:00] right things done.
If you need to rewind the audio or the video to hear that again, it is worth it, but one more time in case you are driving and you cannot hit the rewind button.
Our focus issues, ADHD or not, almost always originate from one of the following. Number one, we don't know what to focus on. And number two, we can't focus long enough -so that's focus endurance- to get the things done. You got that?
Okay. So the first step to learning how to focus better is to figure out if your issue arises from number one or number two.
Once you figured out the root cause of your weak focus then you can use the correct strategies to get back on track.
In just a moment I'm going to share some common signs and symptoms that can help you figure out which of the two reasons is the cause of your lack of focus, but keep in mind that it could also be a combination, and that your reasons can vary from day to day, depending on the task that [00:06:00] you're doing, depending on your mood and so many different factors.
So don't just like pigeonhole yourself into one category forever. But the criteria or signs that I'm going to share in a sec, might at least give you some bit of more insight into yourself and you have now.
Now another thing real quick to know about focus is that it is so very hard for anybody to focus for long periods of time.
This is true, whether you have ADHD or not, obviously more so if you have ADHD, But still for everybody.
Okay, because what I'm saying is that our brains are, are wired fundamentally to pay attention to incoming stimulation as a means of keeping us alive.
And it's really hard to fight things that, you know, have its origin in evolution.
So let's say you are sitting down to read or write something. Okay. Both of those obviously require focus.
Let's say that you can hear a ding from your phone in the [00:07:00] background.
Now primitively speaking, your brain does not know if that sound is a lion wrestling in the brush. So it is going to stop reading and stop writing to essentially check your safety.
Now you probably already know this, but obviously the technology around us has evolved faster than our primitive reflexes. And that's part of the problem here, because let's be real: most of us are not in danger of being attacked by a lion. But we are wired to notice what's around us.
Now I already said this already, if you have ADHD, it's not that you, you know, don't notice these things and can't focus. It's just that you notice more than the average person and it's tough to know what to focus on.
So a distinction I want you to keep in mind as we move through today's episode, is that improving our focus comes not from changing our chemistry or biology or anything like that. But about optimizing our [00:08:00] external and internal conditions, as well as getting better at learning to refocus our attention when we lose it.
Because we will. All right. And then the last piece of info about focus that I want to share before we get into the strategies. Hear me loud and clear.
We can improve our focus.
You can improve your focus. Yeah, we can do this several different ways, obviously many of which I'm going to share in this episode today, but you need to go into this knowing that it is possible.
Otherwise, these strategies will not work.
Because if you've already committed to some sort of narrative that you have bad focus and it's the way you are, and it's the way you've always been is the way you're always going to be, then that is a fixed mindset and you are going to stay exactly where you are.
But you chose to listen to this episode today because you are smarter than that. And you are ready to make a change. Yes?
So, [00:09:00] as I promised, I'm going to begin with some signs. Uh, symptoms, characteristics to help you figure out if your lack of focus on any particular day is due to an inability to know what to focus on or a lack of focus endurance.
All right? Here we go.
You likely do not know what to focus on, meaning you don't know what the next step is or you struggle to prioritize, if you are a perfectionist, if you procrastinate a lot, if you're constantly waiting for the right time to start, I'm using air quotes if you're watching the video of this right now, if you get anxious when you begin working, cause you feel like you're going to do it wrong. You often tell yourself that you can't focus, and you often tell yourself that you can't begin, or the reason why you can't focus in the first place is because you just don't have enough materials or information to get started yet.
On the other hand, you're likely struggling with focus endurance if any of the following characteristics sound [00:10:00] familiar:
so just real quick focus endurance is the ability to focus or concentrate long enough to complete a reasonable amount of a task. Okay?
So here's the list:
you always have an excessive amount of browser tabs open, you can only concentrate on a task for about five minutes or less before getting distracted, you often feel sudden urges to just get up and do something more important in the middle of a task- even if the task you're working on is important- you feel sudden urges to just check things real quick.
So you might think things like, oh, let me just check my phone for a second. We just check my email. Let me just do this. Let me just. Fill in the blank for a sec. Okay. And then lastly, you get physically uncomfortable or even antsy when you sit down to work on a task.
Now, figuring out the reason behind your focus issues is really, really important, and so I do not want you to skip this step.
If you're currently dealing with something that you've been [00:11:00] distracted on, or maybe you've been avoiding it and you want to change your approach, you need to take the time here to figure out what is going on.
And that might mean either rewinding, you know, this video or this audio for 30 seconds to relisten to those characteristics, okay, so. So you make sure you get this right.
Of course you can find everything that I say, including a transcript at learnandworksmarter.com/podcast/24. If you want everything written out for you.
Some of us just learn better that way.
That link is in the show notes if you're listening to the audio version of this in a podcast app, and it is also in the description box if you're watching the video on YouTube.
Now next I am going to share strategies for each of these reasons. Okay. And it's, like I said, it's important to know which strategies to use based on what is causing your lack of focus.
All right. So. Sometimes asking ourselves questions like this, like, why am I not focused? Can be [00:12:00] uncomfortable. And we tell ourselves things like, oh, this is dumb. Just give me the strategies, right? But if you clicked on the title of this episode, I am betting that lack of focus is holding you back. And that you want things to be different. Here is your chance.
Because if you keep doing the same thing, you are going to end up with the same result. And I know, you know that.
So if you keep going into, you know, your projects and your work, thinking that, you know, you can rely on willpower to just focus better, then you know, when you're gritting your teeth or whatever, you're obviously finding that that doesn't work. And you need to do something different. All right.
So let's talk about some strategies.
If you have figured out that your primary issue here is that you don't know what to focus on, and that's what's causing your inability to focus, then the following strategies can be helpful.
Keep in mind that not knowing what to focus on is often a result of not having [00:13:00] total clarity. So the following strategies mostly have to do with gaining clarity so that you can move forward.
So strategy number one is to break down all of your large tasks, which I like to define as anything that requires more than three steps to complete. Can you break it down into smaller steps? We call these microtasks. I want you to write down these micro-tasks on a piece of paper, uh, maybe in your task management system, your project management system. I have mentioned this many times on this podcast that I use personally use something called Asana, a S a N a. I use the free version and it is fantastic for project management.
And what it does is it helps me take a big project, like put on a podcast episode, into the microtasks.
Because if we don't see all the small tasks that are associated with the larger tasks, sometimes you sit down to do the large task and you're like, where am I starting? What am I even doing? Right. If you're a student and [00:14:00] you're like, I need to write my essay and you sit down to write your essay. What, what does that even mean?
Like, did you read the book? Did you, do you know what the prompt is? Can you, should you outline it first? Do you have your sources? Have you done your research? Right. There's so many steps that are involved in projects. And like I said, I'm going to, for the sake of keeping the simple to define a project is anything that's like three steps or more, and breaking a project down helps us get clarity about what we need to do.
Also in episode 17, which is called Tips for Project Management and Planning Study Sessions, I answer a listener's question about project management versus task management. And I give very concrete strategies for breaking down tasks, into bite-size micro tasks like I'm talking about here, because let's be honest: if we sit down to complete a task, it's really more like a project it's can be really unclear and overwhelming.
Obviously. So of course our focus is going to switch to something less intimidating and more clear, which is like literally anything on our phone. [00:15:00] But if you break your project into smaller steps, You can focus on just taking the very next step.
You sit down. You know exactly what you're working on. And because you have that clarity, your brain isn't seeking clarity and relief elsewhere.
The second strategy to help you focus -if the issue was that you don't know what to focus on is just to start somewhere.
It is often diving into murky projects that makes them less murky. It is getting in there all gnarly and messy and saying, okay, what is this? Let's see what is behind the curtain?
Okay, let me give you an example of this.
Everything's, you know, better with an example.
Let's say that you have a new project to start at work and it's due in a few days. And you know that the project has something to do with like, a client process, but you haven't even dug in enough to know what the project entails. [00:16:00] So every time you have sat down to work on this project, you just, you know, you can't focus, and you end up checking your email, checking your phone, you know, suddenly finding something more urgent to do, right?
Literally, anything other than the project itself.
What I am saying is that you have to sometimes dive into the project deeper than what you've been doing.
If you just sit down to do the project and I don't know, maybe like open a file, but you don't get your hands dirty in it and dig around in it then you're going to continue to struggle with your focus because you don't even know enough about the project yet to gain clarity on it- which is what you need to have in place for your focus to kick in.
All right now, another example, I see this all of the time with my students is when they have a project, like let's say an essay to do okay.
They come to me and it's due in a few days and they're telling me that you know, they just can't focus on it.
So I ask them, you know, what the essay is about and what the requirements are, and they confess that they're not really sure. And I'm like, okay, so you can't focus on [00:17:00] your essay, but you literally don't even know what the essay prompt is yet. Oh, my gosh. All right. So we, you know, go into the assignment.
We read the prompt, we open a Google doc and we copy and paste the prompt into the Google doc. And then we just, you know, brain blurt onto the Google doc every thought that we have about the topic.
I don't know, this takes like five or six minutes tops to do. And at the end, the students are like, oh, you know, this essay is not gonna be that hard.
Like I get it now. And from that point, They can usually focus on writing the paper often in short spurts, which is what I recommend, over the next few days.
But to get to that level of focus, they needed clarity. And to get the clarity, they just needed to start. All right. So just start the darn thing.
All right, moving onto the third strategy for increasing focus if the issue is that you don't know what to focus on is to learn the skill of prioritization.
Prioritization is a process by which we determine the [00:18:00] order of tasks to work on based on a set of criteria.
Now in most cases that criteria is urgency. So when is it due?
The scope and size of the project: so you know how big it is and how many people are working on it and how long you estimate it to take.
The importance of the project: this is oftentimes determined by its connection to other projects, profits, things like that.
And then finally the consequence of that project not being completed.
So what happens is if your tasks aren't prioritized, you may begin to work on something, but the voice in the back of your mind is telling you that there might be something more important for you to be working on. So that is an internal disruption to your focus.
Obviously there's the external. The phone calls and the noises and like the washing machine and the colleagues are well, all this up. Right. But then we have the internal distractions, which are often the worst.
Now, it's that voice of doubt that saying, is this the [00:19:00] right thing to be working on?
Like, are you forgetting anything else that's more important?
And that's enough to make you stop what you're doing and go, oh, let me go check something else. And you've already lost focus at that point, right?
That is why the strategy of prioritization is essential. Because it increases your confidence that you are working on the right thing. And when you're confident, then you're working on the right thing,
you can better focus on it.
Now if prioritizing is a skill that you haven't quite mastered yet, here are two strategies.
One, you can literally just write down all of the tasks that are competing for competing for your time in, let's say in an afternoon, and then rank them in the order that you think you should complete them.
You want to consider the criteria that I just mentioned, which is deadlines, like when's it due, the scope and size, the connection to other things, probably profit. Um, and then the consequence of them not getting done. I think I hit them all. I might've missed one.
When you're done ranking them, you know, one through five or whatever, find the project you [00:20:00] listed a number one. And do it. Work on it and be confident that you chose the right project.
Now another strategy is to use the Eisenhower matrix.
That can be a helpful way to distinguish between important and urgent tasks.
The Eisenhower matrix is essentially a graphic organizer. It's like a two by two grid that helps you sort tasks into different categories of importance. I'm not going to go over it in detail right now. You can Google it. Eisenhower matrix.
Okay now I do think it's time to move onto the strategies for what to do if you lack task endurance.
That was the second reason why we lack why we sometimes struggle with focus. So let's say that you have prioritized your tasks, you know what you're supposed to be working on and you have total clarity. That is awesome. Right. But then you sit down to do your task and then within just a few minutes, you're already distracted. What do we do in these scenarios?
Well, the first strategy is actually something that we should do every single [00:21:00] time we sit down to do any work. And that is to clear all distractions from our workplace.
This does not mean flipping your phone, you know, upside down on the desk next to you. It means putting your darn phone in another room. You have to stop pretending that you are the only one who can resist the power of your phone. No, you can't.
Neither can I, neither can any human being. Put your noise-canceling headphones on, clear the clutter from your desk. Shut your door if you have one, turn your back to other people in the room. If you can't do that face a wall. If you have to put a, do not disturb sign on your desk or your workspace or your cubicle or your door.
These are the absolute basic steps of setting you up for good focus. If you struggle with task endurance and you are not clearing away, the external distractions every single time, then I argue you're not even trying. [00:22:00] That might sound harsh.
And I don't mean it critically. I mean, it truthfully. And with love.
Because that is at the bare minimum. Like quite literally the least you can do is remove the external distractions because it's the internal distractions that are a little bit more challenging to manage. Right. That's an inner voice. It's like, are you even working on the right thing? Oh, I'm just going to go check my email and it's going to go check this thing right now.
Oh. Like, I don't even know what I'm doing. Those are sort of the things I've already covered in the earlier part of this episode for, you know, reason number one, why you can't focus. Right. It's sort of like that internal stuff, the cognitive stuff. This is the external stuff you have 100% complete control over your external environment.
And if you are the listener right now, who's like, but no, I don't. Yes, you do. You have some control over your external environment. Yes, you do.
Now another strategy, and you might think this sounds silly, but it's to write down the exact task that you're working on on a [00:23:00] sticky note, and you put that sticky note in your line of vision where you're working.
So for example, let's say you're working on a report and specifically you're going to be working on writing parts a and B of the report. Then you would write down “write part a and B” on your sticky note.
Do not underestimate the power of a visual reminder.
Now a third strategy is to use the Pomodoro technique. Episode 14: how do you use the Pomodoro technique for school and work explains this technique step by step as well as the, the science behind why it works.
It's not just a hack. It really works. I will leave that link in the show notes in the description box and all the things, or you can go to learnandworksmarter.com/podcast/14.
The Pomodoro technique is a clock based time management strategy that involves setting a timer for 25 minutes and working straight through. And then setting a timer for five minutes, taking a break, and then you repeat that 25 minute, five minute interval until your [00:24:00] project is complete. It is critical to use a timer because like I said, there's science behind it, which I explain in episode 14.
And then finally you can try focus training. So in just, you know, 10 seconds ago, when I'm explaining the Pomodoro technique, I'm saying, okay, set a timer for 25 minutes and work on your thing for 25 minutes. If you, at that point are already like, oh my gosh, I can't even focus for 25 minutes, like I'm not even there yet... First of all try the Pomodoro technique because there is something insanely powerful about the timer. Okay. You do not knock it till you try it.
But if you're like, no, I've tried it have genuinely tried it and it doesn't work. And I can't get myself to focus for 25 minutes, then focus training might be for you.
This is not a strategy that works overnight.
This is not a Hail Mary that you can use to try to, you know, focus on something that is due tomorrow. If you've got something due tomorrow, you're gonna have to try some of the other strategies that I just listed. But if improving your focus is something that you want to [00:25:00] do long-term, and you're serious about it, then you can try focus training.
This is best for people who tend to lose focus anywhere around the five to 10 minute mark. If you can't focus on something for five to 10 minutes, then that puts you at a huge disadvantage for school, for work, and honestly just your life.
Focus endurance training works by slowly increasing the amount of time that you ask yourself to work on cognitively demanding tasks.
You make small increases incrementally over time so that you can eventually work for longer periods of time without distraction.
So let's say that 10 minutes is your baseline. Okay.
That's the max you can focus on something without getting distracted. So the next time you go to work on a challenging task, you would set a timer for 11 or 12 minutes. Notice just the teeny tiny, small increments here. And you would work for 11 or 12 minutes without [00:26:00] any distractions, if you can. If you cannot work for that amount of time without losing focus then you would stay at that increment for as long as you can at that 10 to 12 minute mark. Until you can hit that mark.
Once you can focus on something for 11 or 12 minutes, then you would increase the timer to maybe 13 or 14 minutes.
Again, notice the really small increments here.
And then you would work in that manner until you can focus without distractions for you you know, 25 to 30 minutes.
For some people, this could take a week. But for others, it can take several weeks or even months, honestly. It depends on how many times you sit down to like actually do a focus training session.
It can honestly take months.
But if you are serious about improving your focus, because it's impacting your daily life and your performance across multiple contexts, then do this. Why would you not?
That is an actual [00:27:00] question to you. Why would you not do everything you possibly can to improve your focus if you know that it's possible to do so? Because it's hard. Yeah. I get it, but so it was trying to do anything without focus. So choose your hard, my friend.
Also, I mentioned ADHD at the top of this episode because most people with ADHD identify that an inability to focus is one of the most detrimental characteristics of the disorder.
So, let me just repeat for the record that if you have ADHD, Focusing has absolutely nothing to do with willpower. You can not grit your teeth and tell your brain to just focus harder. Because neurologically, that is not how it works.
People with ADHD have different wiring and do not let anyone tell you otherwise.
But hear me loud and clear.
When I tell you that these [00:28:00] strategies will still have a positive impact on your ability to focus. Yes, you can do focus training if you have ADHD. And it can help.
Yes. You can put your phone in another room and remove all of your external distractions if you have ADHD. And it can help.
Yes, you can break larger projects into smaller steps so you know exactly what you're working on and you can set a timer and try the Pomodoro technique if you have ADHD. And it can help.
So, if you were listening to any of these strategies and your default response is like, yeah, but I have ADHD and you know, that won't work. Then you are stuck in a narrative that is not serving you. Because ADHD or not, there are many, many things that we can do to increase our concentration and how long we can concentrate for. And it would be so darn silly not to try [00:29:00] them all.
And without my friends, we are going to close out the episode, but not with one more final piece of advice, which is to never stop learning.
