Earlier this summer, The Wealthy Freelancer introduced me to the idea of a 50 minute focus, which is a great way to learn how to improve concentration for better productivity. It’s a simple concept: spend 50 minutes intensively focused on one task, then you give yourself a 20 break and move onto the next item.
I tried it, and while it’s harder than I anticipated, it really does work. I spent 50 minutes focused on writing blog posts for a client, a task that could have stretched through most of the morning if I’d let myself check email or Facebook or send a few tweets in between blog posts. This way I got three short, yet meaty posts written in 50 minutes so I could move on to the next item.
I set the oven timer so I didn’t even waste time checking the clock, because I knew the time would alert me when 50 minutes had elapsed. Blogging is tricky, because you can’t disable your internet, and I briefly got distracted by another link on one of the web pages where I was doing research. Instead of letting that link lead me on a tangent to the Land of Procrastination, I forced myself to close the tab and refocus for the rest of the 50 minutes, which passed more quickly than at the beginning.
At first I was skeptical about how much I could accomplish in just 50 minutes, but without bouncing between browser windows and other distractions, I managed to produce quite a bit of copy.
Have you tried a 50 minute focus? What other tricks for improving concentration work when you really need results?
how to improve concentration, improve concentration, how to improve concentration and focus, improving concentration, how to improve focus, how to improve focus and concentration, how to improve concentration at work, tricks to improve concentration, how to increase concentration and focus, how to increase focus and concentration
Discussion