In this era of distraction and mindless scrolling, you need just one thing to get ahead of others—focus. The more focused you become, the more successful and productive you can be. I know you’ve heard this many times, and you already know that staying focused is key to achieving what you want. Then comes the motivational speakers, repeating, “Be focused, be focused.” This is all well-known, right?
But here’s the real question—how? How do you actually focus when everything around you is fighting for your attention?
There are people like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg—these guys are super productive. Just think about Elon: one moment he’s revealing a groundbreaking rocket landing event in front of the world, and the next, he’s in an important meeting with NASA. And if that’s not wild enough, you might even see him out on a date with a celebrity!
And here we are, struggling to focus even for 10 minutes, let alone an hour—that’s a luxury we can’t seem to afford. We think that people like Elon Musk have some superpower, that they are just built differently in a way we could never achieve.
But you know what? That’s all a myth. Yes, staying focused is a superpower, but it’s not magic; it’s a skill, and we can all learn that skill. So now, let’s talk about how we can learn that skill—how to stay focused and build the ability to concentrate.
Start Small:
Start Small. Yep, you heard me right. Our common idea of productivity is working for 10, 15 hours, and more. I remember during our board exams, whenever someone did well, their parents would publish it in the local newspaper, proudly saying their child studied for 10 or 12 hours a day. But you know what? Working long hours isn’t something to be flexed about. It’s not about working long hours—it’s about working smart and using your time efficiently. So, let’s drop this idea that if you’re not grinding for hours, you’re not productive. You can be productive for a short period and still get a lot done, focusing on the tasks that deserve your attention.
And let’s be real, if you’re just starting out, focusing for 8 or 10 hours isn’t gonna happen, and that’s okay. What we need to do is start small—build ourselves up from wherever we are right now. So, start small. Seriously. Set a 15-minute timer. If that feels too long, go for five minutes. Trust me, small increments are powerful. There’s even a saying: “If you do something for 20 minutes every day for a year, you’ll become an expert.” Although this quote oversimplifies things, it’s a great way to start focusing for 20, 15, or even 5 minutes.
You’ll notice that we often delay tasks because we think, “Oh, I need to do this for 2 or 3 hours to complete it.” That overwhelming thought leads to procrastination. On the other hand, if you say, “Okay, I’m not feeling great today, I’m not motivated, the weather is cold, and I just want to relax. But let me work for 10 minutes,” you’ll see that the mental barrier you created by thinking of longer hours will vanish, and you’ll get started right away.
You see, oftentimes the hardest part is just getting started, but once the engines are going, they keep running. And this is something you improve on over time. When 15 minutes of focus becomes your baseline, 30 minutes won’t seem so far away, and that can eventually turn into an hour, two hours, or even three within a few weeks or months. And guess what? If you’re doing quality work, you probably don’t need endless hours to get everything done.
Now, I do need to mention—when I talk about working for 15 or 20 minutes, it’s not just about the time. The main point is starting small. The timing approach is very efficient for tasks like reading, writing, and for many more. But what if you’re learning something like coding? In that case, starting small doesn’t mean working for only 10 minutes, because you might need more time to get through the learning process. Instead, break the learning down into smaller chunks, like focusing on understanding just one topic.
So, try this: start so absurdly small that it feels like a joke. You’ll be surprised how those tiny efforts can turn into something huge.
Find Your Own Focus Hour:
As human beings, we’re all unique. Some people work well at night, others in the morning, or even during some odd hours. You don’t need to fall into the trap of thinking you have to wake up at 4 a.m. to be successful. Sure, morning may be a golden hour for some, but that doesn’t mean it suits you. You might be a night owl, and your best time could be in the late hours. Maybe you feel super productive around midnight—if so, work during that time. Just try to allocate your sleep hours in a way that you don’t miss sleep between 12 a.m. and 3 a.m. This is important to maintain a healthy life.
How do you find that hour?
It comes down to realizing that there are simply times when we’re more productive—those moments when work feels easy, everything flows, and you’re in the zone. We’ve all experienced those times when we’re hyper-productive, and it feels almost effortless. That’s your brain working at its best. If you can tap into that time every day, you can turn one hour of focused work into something much bigger.
Again, one hour is just a benchmark. Depending on your flow, it could easily become four or six, but it’s a skill you can develop as you improve your focus. Whether it’s 4:00 a.m. or midnight, circle that hour, star it, mark it, and make the most of it. This will let you maximize your productivity and free up time for the things you want to do. And remember, one ultra-productive hour is more effective than six mediocre, meandering, wandering hours.
Avoid multitasking:
Multitasking is a myth. When you multitask, it feels like you’re getting more done, but in reality, you’re just switching between tasks—not doing them efficiently. Studies show that this constant switching drains your mental energy, making you less effective. It’s like stopping and restarting your car at every red light—you’ll never get anywhere smoothly. Instead, focus on one task at a time. Tell yourself, “For the next hour, I’m focusing on this and nothing else,” and you’ll find you’re far more productive.
This doesn’t mean you can’t be a programmer and a great artist at the same time. Obviously, you can—but you need to allocate your time smartly. Identify your main goal and allocate your most productive hours for that. For example, let’s say programming is your primary focus; do it during the time when you’re most mentally sharp, say in the morning. Then, maybe you feel more creative in the afternoon; this is the perfect time to practice some artwork.
The key here isn’t trying to do everything at once but rather mastering one thing at a time. When you achieve mastery in one field, you’ll be surprised how that knowledge can be useful in other areas. You may wonder how programming knowledge would be useful in doing artwork. It will, and that will happen subconsciously. To understand this concept, we can take the example of Leonardo da Vinci.
He was not like a “jack of all trades, master of none.” Actually, he achieved mastery in many fields like engineering, painting, and anatomy. His understanding of anatomy made his art more lifelike, while his skills in engineering allowed him to think creatively about problem-solving. His mastery in one field helped him excel in others, and you can achieve the same.
Eliminate Distraction:
Let’s talk about getting rid of distractions. It’s an open secret that to focus better, we need to avoid distractions. Yet, we don’t take any necessary steps to avoid them. Instead, we open multiple tabs that pull our attention in different directions. We keep our phones beside us and leave social media notifications on, as if we’re superheroes who need to be aware of everything happening in the world; otherwise, it will all fall apart.
So, let’s save ourselves from our own distractions. Later, we can find time to think about saving the world! First, hide your phone—just put it somewhere you can’t see it. Close those extra tabs; they’re not helping you. And if you can, find a quiet place to work. Just try these three things, and you’ll be surprised at how much better you can focus. It’s all about creating a space where you can really dig into your tasks without distractions messing with your flow.
Parkinson’s Law:
You definitely know a classmate who keeps busy doing other work throughout the whole academic year, but just before the exam—about one or two months before—becomes so attentive and gets a very good result. Does he have any special talent? Yes, one thing he has is that he can focus when he wants to; otherwise, studying suddenly without the habit is tough.Otherwise he doesn’t have any extra superpower.But how can the same syllabus take you a whole year to complete while he finishes it in just two months? To answer your question, here comes Parkinson’s Law. Parkinson’s Law basically states that work expands to fill the time available for its completion, meaning if I give myself five hours to do something, it’ll take five hours. Now, this doesn’t mean we can compress a ten-hour project into one minute simply by giving ourselves only one minute to do it. What it really means is that we should be more careful about giving ourselves more time than necessary because the downside is that we can end up taking much longer to complete a project that should have taken us very little time, mindlessly busy in reading. Let’s be honest: whoever you are, studying throughout the year, how many days can you be attentive enough? You may sit down to study to show your parents or to convince yourself. I’m not talking about not studying throughout the year. You should, but give the necessary time. Give a task exactly that much time that it demands. For example, if you just need 3 or 4 hours to complete a chapter, why would you waste one week on that chapter? That’s a waste of time. So, it’s a skill to know how much ideal time is needed to complete a task. You should not allocate more or less than that time. The same person who can finish the syllabus in two months won’t be able to complete it in just seven days. So, I hope you’ve understood the game.
