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In today’s world, we are surrounded by numerous digital distractions that can make it difficult to maintain focus and engage in deep thinking. Whether it’s the constant stream of notifications on our smartphones or the lure of social media, staying focused has become a significant challenge for many professionals.
The ability to concentrate and engage in deep thinking is crucial for success in today’s fast-paced work environment. Fortunately, there are a variety of exercises and techniques that can help improve focus and facilitate deep thinking. Here, 15 Forbes Coaches Council experts share some of the most effective ways for professionals to boost their concentration and focus on the task at hand.
1. Start The Day With Intentions
Set the intention every morning: What will you bring into your day? Attention follows intention, and energy follows attention. When we learn to master the simple skill of consciously directing intention and attention, we tap into a different source of thinking and feeling and start to flow. - Alessandra Marazzi, Alessandra Marazzi GmbH
2. Take A Short Break From Devices
Commit to 20 minutes without digital distraction; move away from your devices and, if you like pen and paper, bring them along to capture any ideas or questions that arise while you are “screen clear.” Ideally, you’ll start your time with a specific question or issue you’re seeking to solve, or come with a mantra or idea to meditate on to begin. Then, see where your mind takes you. - Jennifer Wilson, ConvergenceCoaching, LLC
3. Practice Breathwork
Use your breath to draw your attention inward. Just notice the fact that you are breathing. Withdraw your attention from external things toward an internal focus. This helps us slow down and calm the mind. This triggers our relaxation response and shifts our perspective. Deliberately focusing our attention inward helps build neuronal networks to higher levels of consciousness or deep thought. - Michelle Anne, MichelleAnne.com
4. Get Up Early
Disconnect from the internet and make it a source of information that only you decide when to use. Check emails and answer phones twice a day. This helps you connect with the world as you wish and live by your own rules with respect to others. If you want to create a space for real deep thinking, get up early at 4 or 5 a.m., when everyone is asleep and you are sure no one will interrupt. - Dominik Szot, MIA
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5. Engage In Prayer
Prayer, in whatever form, gives us a sense of grounding and connection. Prayer has been proven to reduce feelings of isolation, anxiety and fear, calm the mind and help people reconnect to who they are at the deepest level. It also provides a sense of purpose while attuning us to the ethical paradigm. All of these carry significant benefits on individual and collective levels. - Agata Dulnik, Ph.D., Global Leadership Experts
6. Leave Your Phone Behind
Leave your phone in your car, or turned off, at least one day a week. Unless your smartphone is truly essential to getting things done, do a digital detox. Remove it from your possession, turn it off if you have to, and leave it in your car or at home before you start your workday. Lock it up. Don’t touch it all day. This one move, after some trepidation, will help you focus, and that will help you. - John M. O’Connor, Career Pro Inc.
7. Get Into ‘Monk Mode’
People do their best work focusing on one thing for a short period of time. “Monk mode” is when you turn off distractions for 20-minute intervals and focus on accomplishing that one thing. Take a 10-minute break to get your energy back up, and then do another monk mode interval. It will help you be uber-productive! - Christopher Mullen, PhD, chrismullen.org
8. Try The Pomodoro Technique
The Pomodoro Technique involves breaking up work into focused, 25-minute intervals, followed by a short break. This structured approach helps professionals avoid distractions and maintain concentration during their work periods. By taking short breaks, professionals can recharge their minds and return to their work with renewed focus and energy, thus enhancing their ability to focus deeply on complex tasks. - Savannah Rayat, Rayat Leadership Coaching
9. Conduct A Body Scan
A two- to five-minute body scan is a practice that involves intentionally focusing your attention on your senses and the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting any thoughts or emotions that arise. This can help to train the mind to become more focused and less distracted, allowing for deeper levels of thinking and concentration. - Lara Augusta, Embracing Potentiality
10. Create Boundaries With Devices
Digital distraction only happens if we lack boundaries. Boundaries with devices are necessary. Choosing focus over distraction is a behavior that can be difficult. Like mindlessly wandering to the fridge for ice cream, keeping it around can be the downfall of the new behaviors we want to establish. Try leaving devices in a drawer, making you less likely to give in to impulses. - Carry Metkowski, Carry Metkowski
11. Give Your Top Priority Your Full Focus
For every distraction, it takes the brain about 20 minutes to get back into the flow state. Identify the No. 1, most important thing you want to do today, and do it without distraction. You’ll get the benefit of accomplishing the No. 1 thing and feeling better by yourself. Decide when you have your highest capacity for thinking, and block that time on your calendar to do the most important activity. - Yvette Owo, Yvette Owo Coaching & Consulting
12. Don’t Reply To Every Message
Don’t feel compelled to reply to every message sent to you. Simply delete any email that doesn’t matter. If it’s truly important, it will come back and you can reevaluate its importance. Your time and focus belong to you, and you have the choice of where you want to invest it. You wouldn’t let a stranger walk up to you on the street and take your money—why should they get to do the same with your time? - Glenn Grant, Selfassembled Ventures
13. Check Email Three Times Daily
Commit to checking email three times a day. Try to clear your inbox(es) within 20 minutes. According to an email usage study by Adobe, the average person spends about five hours a day reading, writing and managing work and personal emails. This is cause for email burnout and undue stress. Inform people in your signature line of your policy of checking emails three times. Let them know to call you if indeed the message is urgent. - Rick Itzkowich, Vistage Worldwide, Inc.
14. Schedule Time For Specific Purposes
Schedule time for specific purposes, such as client appointments, meetings or projects. Just as you would schedule lunch and keep that time secured with a friend or colleague, to focus and think deeply and creatively, there needs to be time for specific tasks. The scheduled time also means that no digital distractions are allowed, The email and cell phone need to be turned off. - Diane Hudson, Career Marketing Techniques, LLC
15. Exert Control Over External Triggers
There are external triggers that we can control. A useful approach is to shift your focus from only the tasks on your to-do list to identifying how much time you plan to spend focusing your attention on those items. The new focus on your time means you will protect it when you work and avoid the distractions that would otherwise be tempting and pull you off-focus. Protecting your time will be easier now. - Sheila Goldgrab, Goldgrab Leadership Coaching
