How to improve focus and concentration: simple habits that help

Most people do not lack the ability to concentrate. They lack the conditions for it. A notification every few minutes, ten tabs open, a phone on the desk, and too little sleep: under those conditions, anyone struggles to focus.

The good news is that conditions are easier to change than willpower. Here are the habits that make the biggest difference, with what research says about each.

1. Do one thing at a time

What we call multitasking is usually fast switching between tasks. Each switch has a cost: you need a moment to reload where you were, what you were trying to do, and what comes next.

A 2008 study by Gloria Mark and colleagues at the University of California, Irvine, looked at what happens when people are interrupted while working on a task. Interrupted participants compensated by working faster, but they reported more stress, frustration, time pressure and effort. Getting the work done under constant interruption is possible. It just costs more.

How to single-task in practice:

• Decide what the next task is before you start, and write it down in one line.
• Close everything unrelated to it: tabs, email, chat apps.
• When another idea pops up, write it on a “later” list instead of acting on it.

2. Put your phone out of sight

This is the simplest change and often the most effective. If the phone is on the desk, every buzz or lit screen pulls your attention, even if you don’t pick it up.

You may have read that the mere presence of a smartphone reduces your mental capacity. That claim comes from a 2017 study by Adrian Ward and colleagues. To be fair, later attempts to replicate it, including a preregistered replication published in 2022, did not find the effect. So the honest version is this: the phone’s notifications and the habit of checking it are clearly distracting, but there is no solid evidence that a silent phone, face down, drains your brain by just being there.

The practical advice is the same either way:

• Turn on a Focus mode or Do Not Disturb during work sessions.
• Put the phone in another room, or at least in a bag.
• Turn off non-essential notifications for good. Most of them are not urgent.

3. Time-box your work

Concentration is easier when there is a clear end in sight. Time-boxing means deciding in advance how long you will work on one thing, then stopping when the time is up.

The best-known version is the Pomodoro Technique, created by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s and named after his tomato-shaped kitchen timer. The idea:

1. Pick one task.
2. Set a timer for 25 minutes and work only on that task.
3. When it rings, take a 5-minute break.
4. After several rounds, take a longer break.

The numbers are not magic. Some people prefer 50 minutes of work and 10 of rest, or 90-minute blocks for deep work. What matters is the commitment: for this period, you do this, and nothing else. Experiment for a week and keep the rhythm that suits you.

4. Take real breaks

A break where you scroll social media is not really a break for your attention. You are still processing a stream of new information.

Better options:

• Stand up and walk, even for five minutes.
• Look out of a window or at something far away.
• Get a glass of water.
• Do nothing for a moment.

The goal is to come back to your task with a little more energy than you left it.

5. Sleep enough

Sleep deprivation is one of the fastest ways to damage concentration. After a short night, attention lapses become more frequent and you need more effort for the same result.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society recommend that adults sleep seven hours or more per night on a regular basis. If you regularly sleep less and struggle to focus, start here before trying any productivity method.

6. Move your body

Exercise helps in two ways.

In the short term, a 2012 meta-analysis by Yu-Kai Chang and colleagues, covering dozens of studies, found that a single session of exercise has a small positive effect on cognitive performance, during and shortly after the effort. A brisk walk before a demanding task is a reasonable habit.

In the long term, regular activity supports overall health, sleep and mood, which all affect concentration. The World Health Organization recommends that adults get 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity activity per week, or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous activity.

7. Train your attention gently

Attention is also a habit. Reading a long article without switching apps, listening to someone without checking your phone, or playing a short game that requires sustained focus are all ways to practice staying with one thing.

Attention and speed games are one option for this. A daily session in Esprio takes a few minutes and includes games that ask you to stay focused on one task. You will improve at those games, which is satisfying, but don’t expect them to fix a noisy work environment. The habits above matter more. For an honest view of the research on brain games, read do brain training games work?.

A simple plan to start this week

• Monday: turn off non-essential notifications.
• Tuesday: work in two 25-minute blocks with your phone in another room.
• Wednesday: replace one scrolling break with a short walk.
• Thursday: go to bed 30 minutes earlier.
• Friday: look back. What helped most? Keep that.

Better concentration rarely comes from one big change. It comes from removing small distractions, one by one, until focusing becomes the easy option. And since attention and memory are linked, our guide on how to improve your memory is a natural next step.