On the other hand, internal distractions come from your mind. Research has found that, once interrupted, it takes us up to 25 minutes to fully refocus again, and considering the constant prompts and nudges we’re faced with, it’s no wonder our attention is constantly pulled from one thing to another.īefore starting any task, make sure your environment is set up for your success: switch off all notifications, put your phone facing down or in airplane mode, and communicate to your co-workers that for a set amount of time you will be unavailable, so you know that you won’t be distracted. There are essentially two forms of distractions: external and internal.Įxternal distractions are things like notifications, phone calls, chatty co-workers or anything coming from the environment around you that could potentially interrupt you.
Since working in sessions requires you to focus, you need to be aware that your biggest enemy is therefore any form of distraction. It’s also one of the easiest productivity and time management methods there is, as it requires no special tool and is suitable for almost any type of work. So, as we can’t focus for long periods of time and naturally seek out breaks in order to recharge and properly function, dividing your workday in smaller chunks of focused time with frequent breaks in between, aka “working in sessions”, seems to be the most natural and effective way of working. Basically, times for focus and unfocus go hand in hand and are vital for our brain to function properly. Research has found that in order to perform cognitive tasks and to be able to focus, we need to have unfocused times. Our mind is like a muscle that becomes fatigued after prolonged use, hence breaks are fundamental. Trying to focus for long stretches of time without taking frequent breaks can lead to mental fatigue and overall burnout. We are able to refocus on the same task, but we can’t focus for very long stretches of time until our brain naturally seeks a break in order to recharge. Research has shown that the natural attention span of adults for a task that requires focused attention lies around 20 minutes. Our mind is not made to focus for 8 hours straight.
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