Focusing Your Attention, One Mental Tab at a Time
By Christine Ciampini
Do you ever feel like you have multiple tabs open in your brain? Like your mind is shifting between two to three different tasks and unable to find closure on any of them?
This definitely happens to me as I try to juggle work and volunteer projects, my children’s school happenings (What is the show-and-tell letter for tomorrow, again??), and… meals. My partner often teases me that I eat like a college student because I will get caught up in a work project and end up scarfing down a piece of toast and avocado in my kitchen — all while thinking about the work project and the various emails I have yet to answer.
I know, I know, there is a better way.
Professor Sophie Leroy at University of Washington Bothell defines our inability to fully switch from one task to another as “attention residue.” She writes:
“Attention residue represents the extent to which a person’s attention is only partially focused on a current activity (task or social interaction) because a prior activity is still holding part of his or her attention.”
In her research study, she found that in order for people to perform tasks well, they needed to stop thinking about one task they were working on, so they could focus their full attention to another. She also found that people were most successful in transitioning to a new task when they completed the previous task and had time pressure (think, a looming deadline).
Professor Cal Newport’s concept of “deep work” complements these findings. “Deep work” is a specific type of work that happens when we rid ourselves of all distractions and devote a period of time to focus on a cognitively demanding task. He argues that our tendency to “just check” our inbox for a few minutes or “just check” our phone for a second has cut into our ability to focus deeply on our work.
Newport often talks about this equation:
Work Accomplished = Time Spent x Intensity
For example, two hours of focusing intensely on a writing project without distractions will yield more accomplishments then four hours of writing while answering emails, messaging on Slack with a colleague, or texting back a friend. (I may or may not be guilty of the latter!)
Long story short, in order to perform tasks to our fullest potential, we need to develop the ability to focus fully on one task at a time. And for tasks that require more brain power, we ought to block out time to work — and think — more deeply and creatively.
Here are three ways you can work on focusing your full attention to a task:
- The next time you need to transition between tasks, take three minutes to write down any unfinished parts of the first task. Writing down the steps necessary to finish the previous task will clear mental space for deep focus on the new task.
- Block off 90 minutes in your calendar for a work project you feel particularly excited about or challenged by. Allow yourself to feel the mental strain and push through it to create something new and meaningful. (This also means you’ll need to close your inbox and turn off any ping and whoosh sounds on your phone beforehand!)
- Practice being present. Mindfulness is a great way to build focus. If you find yourself getting distracted at your desk, sit back and take three deep breaths in and out, feeling the sensation of the air underneath your nose. Re-center your attention to the task you were working on.
Newport also has a daily ritual where he reviews his weekly plan, task list, and calendar at the end of his workday. He then tells himself a little shutdown mantra (“schedule shutdown complete”), so that his work tasks don’t spill over into his home life. While this isn’t about focusing on one particular task at a time, it can help you find closure to your workday, so you can go home and enjoy the evening.
I’ll leave you with some shutdown mantra ideas off the top of my head to get your ideas going:
- Workday Finito
- Powering Down
- Breathing In, I Calm My Body. Breathing Out, I Smile. (This is actually a wonderful mindfulness meditation by Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh)
- No More Work, Work, Work, Work, Work (To the tune of Rihanna’s song — half joking, but this could very well work for you!)
And with that, I will wrap up and complete my one task of writing this article.
Another way to improve your focus? Take a scheduled break! Join The Better Breakroom for 15-minute live streamed conversations every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 1PM ET. It’s like a water cooler chat for the remote working community, except you provide your own water.
