Tricks to Staying Focused as a Freelance Writer

The human brain is naturally hardwired for distractions. We crave pleasurable, novel, and highly addictive tasks that are a complete time sink.The brain doesn’t really multitask. It switches rapidly between tasks. That explains why most people can't work one hour straight without switching between tasks. Ever heard of novelty bias? According to this finding, the brain is flooded with chemicals such as dopamine that aggravate the need for pleasure. That’s why it’s easier to track social media gossip or binge-watch favorite TV shows at the expense of finishing a task that pays the bill. These behaviors when cultured impair our work schedule and can pottentially make life miserable.  

Learn the Proven Ways to Stay Focused

The crux is, you cannot completely take down all your distractors since we are both externally and internally attuned to them. Some of these distractions are complex and unique to every person. However, you can find a way to mitigate their effects, track your input, and realize your potential.

Conduct a Self-Assessment

Self-assessment makes it easy to achieve self-awareness. You can effortlessly spot the key gaps in your behavior that drain your focus. In the end, you’ll be able to identify the key models to employ to live your dreams.

• Do you spend most of your time daydreaming?
• Do you lose track of your tasks and leave them hanging halfway?
•  Are there specific tasks you dread and are likely to leave hanging next time you take them?

Finding the answers to these three questions will greatly help gauge your mental focus and identify a correction path.

Identify and Rid Your Time Wasters 

If you procrastinate and don’t beat deadlines, then there’s no doubt you have time wasters you need to declutter. These can be your obnoxious co-workers or friends, mind-blowing series, hot-cake media posts, or popular video games. Start by eliminating your time wasters. Apps such as Rescuetime can help track social media sites and websites you’ve subscribed to that munch on your work time. Firefox’s Leechbox and Chromes’ Stayfocusd are also apt at keeping any infuriating site at bay. Check this post for more tips on keeping your focus, especially when mid-way a technical task.

Establish a Time Management Routine

How well you manage your time can help keep you laser-focused. If you have three tasks you need to handle, don’t multitask. Rather, attack each one at a time, starting with the most energy-draining.

The time block method works for many people, including Bill Gates. It’s ideal for complex tasks that are likely to plunge you into an abyss of procrastination.

With the time block method, you need to divide your workday into 3 blocks—consisting of high-intensive, medium intensive, and quick win tasks. Then, divide each chore into 3:2:3 blocks—each consisting of 90, 60, and 30 minutes respectively.

Beginning with the high-intensive task, focus on the work for the first 90 minutes. Take a 15-minute break once the alarm rings. Proceed to the next block and focus for another 60 minutes. Take a mid-break of 15 minutes. Finally, finish off the chore in the last 30-minute block.    

Take one hour’s break and return to your working desk for the second, middle-intensive task. If you have no work pending from the first block, you need to complete it. Repeat the procedure above until you are done with all the pending chores.

Short Breaks are Good for Your Health

Do you know that prolonged gazing at something can cause that object to gradually “fade” out of sight? It is called Troxler fading effect.

According to scientists, fixating your gaze on a visual element for hours cause the constant light stimulus to desensitize the linked neurons. Consequently, the strength of the light stimulus weakens, and the object appears faded.

Whenever you take a short break, you let the light stimulus rejuvenate. The whole body also regains strength from constant burnouts. This way, you can proceed with the work undisturbed and hack even the task you dread the most.

A Self-Reward Can Help You Keep Track

Self-reward is the glue that sticks focus and consistency to your daily routine. However, an ideal reward doesn’t have to be costly. It should be something that:

• Is void of discretionary foods that are complete junk or deleterious to your health
• Is compassionate to your general well-being

If you’ve been staying indoors for weeks, this is your perfect chance to enjoy the gems nature has in store. Go for hikes, backpacking, or camp packing for a breath of fresh air or morning sunbath. Yoga sessions can help stretch the burnt nerves in your body, whereas a family pluck gaming night can help recover the time spent away.  

It’s Never Too Late to Reboot

Staying laser-focused is a behavior you may not be able to nurture overnight. You are losing the fight the moment you allow your thoughts to wander. As a result, you also need to practice mindfulness and adopt psychological remedies such as meditation as a cherry top to the five remedies listed above.

All the best in your endeavor!