How to Increase Focus and Concentration

Updated 20 October 2026

Quick answer: To increase focus and concentration, remove distractions (put your phone in another room and turn off notifications), work on one task at a time in focused blocks of 25 to 90 minutes, take short breaks, and plan your most demanding work for the time of day when you're most alert. Support your brain with seven to nine hours of sleep, regular exercise, water, balanced meals and limited alcohol. Mindfulness meditation, clear goals and a tidy workspace also help. Concentration is a skill: it improves with practice and the right environment.

We live in an age of constant interruption. Notifications, emails, messages, social media and open-plan offices compete for our attention every minute. Many people feel they can't concentrate the way they used to, finding it hard to read a long article, study for an hour or finish a task without checking their phone.

The good news is that focus can be rebuilt. This guide explains why concentration is so hard today, what science says about attention, and practical strategies to improve your focus at work, in study and in daily life.

Why Is It So Hard to Focus?

1. Digital Distractions

Smartphones and apps are designed to capture attention, using notifications, endless feeds and rewards that keep us coming back. Many people check their phones dozens or even hundreds of times a day. A study led by Adrian Ward at the University of Texas found that simply having your smartphone within sight on the desk, even turned off, was linked to lower performance on tests of working memory and fluid intelligence, compared with leaving it in another room.

2. Multitasking

Our brains don't truly multitask on demanding activities; they switch rapidly between tasks. Each switch has a cost in time and accuracy. Research by psychologists such as David Meyer and colleagues has shown that task-switching can significantly reduce productivity, especially for complex tasks.

3. Interruptions and Attention Residue

Research by Gloria Mark at the University of California, Irvine, found that after an interruption, it can take an average of over 20 minutes to return fully to the original task. Professor Sophie Leroy described "attention residue": when you switch tasks, part of your attention stays stuck on the previous one, reducing performance on the next.

4. Poor Sleep

Sleep deprivation impairs attention, memory and decision-making. Even one night of poor sleep can noticeably reduce concentration.

5. Stress and Anxiety

When you're worried, your mind keeps returning to the source of stress, making it hard to focus on anything else.

6. Physical Factors

Hunger, dehydration, lack of exercise, too much caffeine or sugar, and some medical conditions can all affect concentration.

7. Unclear Goals

When you're not sure what you're trying to achieve, your mind drifts more easily toward easier, more rewarding activities.

The Hidden Cost of Distraction: An Example

Imagine a typical workday. You sit down to write a report at 9:00 am. At 9:07, a message pops up and you reply. At 9:15, you check email. At 9:25, a colleague asks a quick question. At 9:40, you glance at social media "for a minute". Each interruption is short, but if it takes several minutes or more to fully refocus each time, you may spend most of the morning in a half-focused state, producing only a fraction of what you could.

Now imagine the same morning with your phone in a drawer, notifications off and a sign saying "focus time until 11". Many people find they complete in two uninterrupted hours what used to take an entire day. The difference isn't intelligence or effort; it's protected attention.

How Attention Works

Psychologists describe several types of attention:

Sustained attention: maintaining focus on one task over time, such as reading a long report.
Selective attention: focusing on one thing while ignoring distractions, like following one conversation in a noisy room.
Divided attention: handling more than one thing at a time, which works for simple, automatic tasks but not for complex ones.

The brain's prefrontal cortex plays a key role in directing attention and resisting distractions. It's also the part most affected by fatigue, stress and sleep loss. Attention is limited: like a muscle, it tires with heavy use and recovers with rest.

20 Proven Ways to Improve Focus and Concentration

Control Your Environment

1. Put Your Phone Away

Put your phone in another room, in a drawer, or at least face down and on silent. Out of sight really does help.

2. Turn Off Notifications

Disable non-essential notifications on your phone and computer. Keep only those from important people or apps. Use "Do Not Disturb" or focus modes during work sessions.

3. Use Website and App Blockers

Tools that block distracting websites and apps during set hours can help you resist temptation, especially when focus is weak.

4. Tidy Your Workspace

A cluttered desk competes for attention. Keep only what you need for the current task within view.

5. Manage Noise

Some people focus best in silence; others prefer gentle background sound. Noise-cancelling headphones, instrumental music, white noise or nature sounds can help block distracting conversations.

Change How You Work

6. Single-Task

Work on one task at a time. Close unrelated tabs and windows. Finish or reach a clear stopping point before switching.

7. Use Time Blocks

Schedule specific blocks for focused work in your calendar and treat them like meetings. Many people find 60 to 90 minute blocks work well for deep work.

8. Try the Pomodoro Technique

Developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s, the Pomodoro Technique uses 25-minute focused work sessions followed by 5-minute breaks. After four sessions, take a longer break of 15 to 30 minutes. The short time frame makes starting easier and builds focus gradually.

9. Do the Hardest Task First

Tackle your most important or difficult task when your energy and focus are highest, often in the morning for many people.

10. Batch Shallow Tasks

Group emails, messages, calls and admin into set times of the day rather than responding constantly. Computer science professor Cal Newport, author of Deep Work, argues that protecting time for focused, cognitively demanding work is increasingly valuable in a distracted world.

11. Set Clear Goals for Each Session

Before starting, write down exactly what you want to achieve: "Draft the introduction and first two sections" rather than "work on report".

12. Keep a Distraction List

When an unrelated thought or task pops into your head, write it on a notepad and return to work. You can deal with it later without losing focus.

Take Care of Your Brain

13. Sleep Well

Aim for seven to nine hours of sleep. Consistent sleep times improve both sleep quality and daytime alertness.

14. Exercise Regularly

Physical activity increases blood flow to the brain and is linked to better attention, memory and mood. Even a 10 to 20 minute walk can improve concentration for a period afterwards.

15. Eat for Steady Energy

Balanced meals with protein, fibre and healthy fats provide steady energy. Heavy, sugary or very large meals can cause energy dips. Foods like nuts, seeds, fish, eggs, whole grains, vegetables and fruit support overall brain health.

16. Stay Hydrated

Even mild dehydration can affect attention and mood. Keep water at your desk and drink regularly.

17. Use Caffeine Wisely

Moderate caffeine can improve alertness, but too much causes jitters, anxiety and sleep problems. Avoid caffeine late in the day.

Train Your Mind

18. Practise Mindfulness Meditation

Meditation trains attention by repeatedly bringing your mind back to a focus point, such as your breath. Studies have found that even short mindfulness training programmes can improve attention and reduce mind-wandering.

19. Read Long-Form Content

Regularly reading books or long articles, without skimming or switching, helps rebuild sustained attention that constant scrolling erodes.

20. Take Real Breaks

Breaks restore attention. Step away from screens, stretch, walk or look out of a window. Research suggests that time in nature or even viewing natural scenes can help restore attention, an idea known as attention restoration theory.

Why We Procrastinate, and How It Affects Focus

Many focus problems are really procrastination in disguise. Research by psychologists such as Tim Pychyl and Fuschia Sirois suggests that procrastination is often an emotional problem rather than a time-management problem: we avoid tasks that make us feel anxious, bored, confused or insecure, and turn to distractions that offer quick relief.

Ways to break this cycle:

Make the first step tiny: "open the document and write one sentence".
Name the feeling: "I'm avoiding this because I'm worried it won't be good." Acknowledging it reduces its power.
Commit to five minutes: starting is often the hardest part; once you begin, focus tends to follow.
Clarify the task: vague tasks invite avoidance. Break them into specific actions.
Forgive past procrastination: a study by Michael Wohl and colleagues found that students who forgave themselves for procrastinating on one exam procrastinated less on the next.

Train Your Focus Like a Muscle: A 4-Week Plan

Week	Focus session length	Extra habit
1	Two 25-minute sessions a day	Phone in another room during sessions
2	Three 25-minute sessions, or two of 45 minutes	Turn off all non-essential notifications
3	Two 60-minute deep work blocks	Five minutes of daily breathing meditation
4	Two 75–90 minute blocks	Batch email and messages into three set times

Track what you complete in each session. Seeing your output grow is strong motivation to keep going.

A Simple Digital Detox

Audit your screen time using your phone's built-in report. Note which apps take the most time.
Delete or hide the most distracting apps from your home screen.
Set app limits for social media and video apps.
Use grayscale mode, which some people find makes their phone less tempting.
Create phone-free zones, such as the dining table and bedroom.
Schedule offline time, such as an hour every evening or half a day at the weekend.

Focus Techniques Compared

Technique	How it works	Best for
Pomodoro	25 minutes work, 5 minutes break	Starting tasks, studying, beginners
Time blocking	Scheduling focused blocks in your calendar	Professionals with busy schedules
Deep work sessions	60–90+ minutes of uninterrupted focus	Complex, creative or analytical work
Eat the frog	Do the hardest task first	Procrastinators
Two-minute rule	Do tiny tasks immediately, schedule bigger ones	Clearing small tasks without derailing focus
Body doubling	Working alongside someone, in person or virtually	People who struggle to start or stay on task

A Focused Workday: Sample Schedule

Time	Activity
8:30–9:00	Plan the day, choose top three priorities, quick email scan for urgent items only
9:00–10:30	Deep work block on the most important task (phone away, notifications off)
10:30–10:45	Break: walk, stretch, water
10:45–12:00	Second focus block or meetings
12:00–12:30	Email and messages batch
12:30–1:30	Lunch away from your desk, short walk
1:30–3:00	Meetings, collaboration, lighter tasks during the afternoon dip
3:00–4:30	Third focus block
4:30–5:00	Email batch, plan tomorrow, shutdown ritual

Adapt the schedule to your role and energy, but keep the core idea: protect at least one or two uninterrupted blocks every day.

Focus Tips for Students

Study in a dedicated place, away from your bed and TV.
Keep your phone in another room or use an app blocker.
Use active learning: summarise in your own words, test yourself and teach concepts to others.
Study in focused sessions with breaks rather than marathon sessions.
Review material regularly using spaced repetition, which improves long-term memory.
Sleep well before exams instead of staying up all night.

Focus Tips for Working From Home

Create a dedicated workspace, even a small corner.
Keep regular work hours and a start-of-day routine.
Dress for work to signal a shift in mindset.
Agree boundaries with family members during focus time.
Use a "shutdown ritual" at the end of the day to separate work and home life.

The Role of Motivation and Meaning

It's easier to focus on work that matters to you. When a task feels pointless, the mind wanders. Before starting, remind yourself why the task matters: who it helps, what it moves forward, or what skill it builds. Linking daily tasks to bigger goals increases engagement. For tasks that are genuinely dull, small rewards after completing a focus session, such as a short walk, a favourite drink or a few minutes of a hobby, can help.

Focus and Social Media: Setting Healthy Limits

Social media isn't inherently bad, but its design encourages frequent checking. Try setting a daily limit, checking only at set times, unfollowing accounts that don't add value, and avoiding social apps for the first hour of the day and the last hour before bed. Many people find that a week of reduced social media use noticeably improves their ability to concentrate on reading and work.

Helping Children Concentrate

Create a quiet, consistent homework space without TV or phones.
Break homework into short chunks with movement breaks in between.
Make sure children get enough sleep: school-age children generally need nine to twelve hours.
Encourage outdoor play and physical activity every day.
Limit recreational screen time, especially before bed.
Praise effort and focus, not just results.

Creating a Focus-Friendly Workplace

Managers and teams can make concentration easier for everyone:

Agree on "focus hours" when meetings and non-urgent messages are avoided.
Reduce unnecessary meetings and keep them short with clear agendas.
Set norms for response times, so people don't feel they must reply instantly.
Provide quiet areas or allow headphones in open-plan offices.
Respect people's time off and avoid sending messages late at night.

Myths About Focus

"I'm good at multitasking." Most people who believe this perform worse on demanding tasks when multitasking. Research by Clifford Nass and colleagues at Stanford found that heavy media multitaskers did worse on tests of filtering out irrelevant information.
"Focus is about willpower." Environment and habits matter far more. Removing temptations works better than resisting them.
"Long hours equal productivity." Fatigue reduces focus and quality. Fewer, well-focused hours often achieve more.
"Brain-training games will fix concentration." They improve performance on the games themselves, but evidence for broad improvements in everyday attention is limited.

Signs Your Focus Is Improving

You can read for 30 minutes or more without reaching for your phone.
You start tasks more quickly, with less procrastination.
You finish important work earlier in the day.
You feel less mentally scattered and less tired by evening.
You remember more of what you read and hear.

When Poor Concentration May Need Medical Attention

Occasional difficulty focusing is normal. But persistent, severe concentration problems may be linked to conditions such as:

ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder), which affects both children and adults.
Depression or anxiety.
Sleep disorders such as sleep apnoea or insomnia.
Thyroid problems, anaemia or vitamin deficiencies, such as B12.
Side effects of medication.

If concentration problems significantly affect your work, studies or relationships, talk to a doctor. Proper assessment and treatment can make a big difference.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long can a person focus?

It varies by person, task and conditions. Many people can sustain deep focus for 60 to 90 minutes before needing a break. The popular claim that humans have a shorter attention span than goldfish is not supported by solid evidence.

What foods help concentration?

No single food dramatically boosts focus, but a balanced diet with whole grains, protein, healthy fats, fruit and vegetables, along with adequate water, supports steady energy and brain health.

Does music help you concentrate?

It depends on the person and task. Instrumental or familiar music can help some people with routine tasks, while lyrics may distract during reading or writing.

How can I stop getting distracted by my phone?

Keep it out of sight, turn off notifications, use focus modes, remove distracting apps from your home screen, and set specific times for checking messages.

How long does it take to improve focus?

Many people notice improvements within a few weeks of reducing distractions, improving sleep and practising focused work. Like any skill, concentration keeps improving with consistent practice.

Can breathing exercises improve concentration?

Slow, deep breathing calms the nervous system and can help you reset between tasks or before demanding work. Even one minute can make a difference when you feel scattered.

Is it better to work in the morning or at night?

It depends on your chronotype. Many people focus best in the morning, but some are sharper later in the day. Notice when you feel most alert and protect that time for your hardest work.

Do focus supplements work?

Evidence for most "nootropic" supplements is limited or mixed. Sleep, exercise, nutrition and fewer distractions have far stronger evidence. Speak to a doctor before taking supplements.

Why do I lose focus after lunch?

Many people experience a natural dip in alertness in the early afternoon, linked to the body's daily rhythm and sometimes worsened by large, carbohydrate-heavy meals. A lighter lunch, a short walk and saving routine tasks for that time can help.

Can meditation apps really improve focus?

Guided meditation apps are a convenient way to build a regular practice. Studies on app-based mindfulness programmes have found modest benefits for stress and attention, especially with consistent use.

How do I focus when I'm stressed?

Write your worries down to get them out of your head, take a few slow breaths, then choose one small task to begin. Physical activity can also help clear your mind.

Does reading on paper help focus more than reading on screens?

Some studies suggest people understand long texts slightly better on paper, possibly because screens encourage skimming. Whatever format you use, reading without notifications and other tabs open helps most.

How can I focus in a noisy home?

Use noise-cancelling headphones or earplugs, play steady background sound, agree quiet times with family, and work during quieter hours such as early morning when possible.

Final Thoughts

Focus is one of the most valuable skills in a distracted world. You don't need superhuman willpower; you need a better environment, better habits and a well-rested brain. Put your phone away, work on one thing at a time, take regular breaks, sleep and move enough, and practise paying attention. Start with one focused session today, and build from there. Your ability to concentrate will grow, and so will the quality of your work and life.

If you found this guide helpful, share it with someone who struggles to stay focused.

Cite this page: Blog Digest, “How to Increase Focus and Concentration”, updated 2026-10-24, https://randomthoughtsever.blogspot.com/2022/01/how-to-increase-focus-and-concentration.html