You’re reading this sentence, but are you also checking your phone or thinking about what’s for dinner? It’s not just you. Attention spans are changing faster than ever. Twenty years ago, people switched their attention from one screen to another every 150 seconds. Today, it’s down to 47 seconds, CBS News reports. The good news is you’re still getting things done amid these fast-paced shifts. The problem is that competition for attention can decrease your health and performance.
Frequent changes in focus can:
- Make us more prone to mistakes
- Reduce our efficiency
- Increase our stress response and blood pressure
To combat these effects, it is helpful to understand two types of focus: hyperfocus and scatter focus. It is also important to know when to use them to achieve different goals.
Hyperfocus occurs when you are so productive that you lose track of time while finishing your task. This level of commitment tends to come and go at different times of the day, depending on your internal rhythms. But there are strategies to take advantage of hyperfocus and increase your ability to concentrate. Doing so can help you get more done, faster.
Scatter focus arises when you let your mind wander and do its work in the background. It is a natural complement to hyperfocus because it does not require the same sustained effort. The scatter approach helps with innovation, creativity, and planning for the future.
Hyperfocus
To make the most of your time in hyperfocus:
- Avoid multitasking.
- Notice your triggers and redirect.
- Reduce distractions.
Avoid multitasking
With hyperfocus, you focus on a task and maintain your attention until it is completed. You can choose to research data, write a report, read industry news, or listen to a colleague’s presentation. During the selected task, avoid checking email, looking at your phone, or thinking about other items on your to-do list. Here’s why developing your ability to focus is essential: On average, people switch tasks every minute. But when you shift your attention, it takes up to 23 minutes to refocus. Hopping between tasks may provide short-term gains, but the end result is mental exhaustion and reduced performance and efficiency. Single-tasking also allows you to focus more deeply. Hyperfocus helps you learn complicated materials faster and produce higher-quality work, according to performance management company Full Focus.
Notice your triggers and redirect
At first, your mind is likely to wander, even when you have selected a single task for your attention. Learning about what tends to distract you and redirecting your attention to the task at hand will strengthen your ability to concentrate for long periods. Start by noticing common interruptions, both internal and external. Internal distractions include daydreaming and thinking about the past, future, or other tasks. External factors include text messages, social media and email notifications, and news sources.
Once you notice a distraction, write it down. For example, let’s say you catch yourself thinking about lunch during a colleague’s work presentation. Write down where you want to go or what you want to eat, and then redirect your attention to the presentation. Or count each time you leave a task to check your email. At the end of the day, review your most common interruptions. Observing patterns of distraction can help you minimize them.
Reduce distractions
It’s impossible to eliminate all distractions, but try to reduce them. Scan your environment for barriers to hyperfocus.
Common distractions include:
- Social media platforms
- News and entertainment websites
- Apps and games
- Telephone notifications
- Email Notifications
It is better to preemptively block a distraction than to try to ignore it. Take smartphones for example. Regardless of whether you check your phone, notifications interrupt your thought process and reduce your concentration. Even when you turn off your smartphone, its mere presence can reduce your reasoning ability and emotional intelligence, according to the LinkedIn learning course Building Better Digital Habits for Focus and Well-Being.
Tips to reduce interruptions include:
- Place your smartphone out of sight.
- Use your phone’s focus or airplane settings to silence notifications.
- Check your phone once every hour to avoid picking it up without thinking.
- Delete social media apps from your phone to make them harder to access.
- Block news and entertainment websites on your laptop or desktop.
Email represents another major impediment to hyperfocus. Knowledge workers address more than 125 emails on a typical day. And 70% of those emails are read within six seconds of arriving, according to Substack’s Beyond Productivity newsletter. Instead of checking emails as they come in, schedule times during the day to read and respond to them. For example, you can check your emails at 8 am, 11:30 am, and 4 pm. The rest of the day, close your emails to avoid notifications and the temptation to check them. If you’re worried about missing important emails, create an autoresponder that alerts your colleagues and clients to your system. Provide a phone number for people to contact you for urgent communications.
Scatter focus
The sustained attention of hyperfocus is powerful. But it has its limits. Your mind also needs periods of rest. Choose times throughout the day to let your brain recover without technology. Examples include stepping away from your computer and phone while eating lunch, taking coffee breaks, and chatting with colleagues. Just because your brain is resting doesn’t mean it’s not working. That’s where the scatter focus approach comes into play. Instead of directing your attention, let go of your mind. When you daydream or deliberately allow your thoughts to wander, your brain is still processing information. For tasks that require innovation, originality, creativity, and planning for the future, use scatter focus instead of hyperfocus. A wandering mind thinks about the future almost 50% of the time, according to LinkedIn Learning’s Hyperfocus course.
The scattered approach includes three modes of thinking:
Capture mode — Notice what’s on your mind as you jump from side to side. Write down your thoughts as they arise. These thoughts may include household chores, work assignments, social outings, people you need to contact, etc. Capturing these thoughts frees your mind for later moments of hyperfocus.
Problem-crunching mode — Think freely on a single topic and let your mind search for new ideas and solutions. A classic example of this mode is having an innovative idea in the shower.
Habitual mode — When you perform a simple, repetitive task, your brain can work on other thoughts. Regular mode lets you brainstorm while washing dishes or vacuuming.
The thoughts and images that arise during scatter focus can connect disparate ideas to form solutions. To encourage this process, write down your current challenges. Periodically review your list. Doing so will keep unresolved issues top of mind and increase your chances of making productive connections. Another way to increase your odds is to be selective in your attention. Find high-quality resources on topics important to your personal or work life. Exploring indirect but closely related questions can also lead to new ideas. Books, podcasts, and online courses can improve your ability to make novel connections and generate solutions.
Harness both types of focus
Learn your attention rhythms. These are the times of day when you naturally have a greater capacity to go into hyperfocus or scatter focus. Practice hyperfocus to increase performance and efficiency. Use the scatter focus approach to encourage creativity and innovation. Both types of approaches are beneficial. By balancing both, you can learn to manage distractions and get more done in less time.
