Wondering how to focus at work? Protect one or two blocks of time for your most important task, silence notifications during those blocks, and check email at set times instead of all day. Group meetings together, take short real breaks, and save your hardest work for when your energy is highest.
Modern work is full of interruptions. Gloria Mark, a professor of informatics at the University of California, Irvine, has tracked how long people stay on one screen before switching. On an American Psychological Association podcast, she said it averaged about two and a half minutes in 2004, about 75 seconds around 2012, and about 47 seconds in more recent years. Her research also finds that people check email on average 77 times a day.
Every switch has a cost. In experiments described by the APA, people lost time each time they switched tasks, and lost more when the work was complex or unfamiliar.
Even a buzz you ignore takes a toll. In a 2015 study, phone notifications alone significantly disrupted performance on an attention-demanding task, even when people didn't interact with their phones.
A focus block is a set stretch of time for one important task, with interruptions turned off. Here's how to set one up:
Pick the task the night before or first thing. Choose the one that moves your most important work forward.
Put it on your calendar. A booked block is harder for others to schedule over. Try 60 to 90 minutes, or start with 25 to 45 if that feels like a stretch.
Choose your best time. Mark says it's important for people to become self-aware of their own level of energy. If you're sharpest in the morning, guard the morning.
Write the first step. "Outline section 2" is easier to start than "work on the report."
Keep a parking list. When something else comes to mind, write it down and keep going.
Our sister site's guide to time blocking covers planning a whole week this way.
During a focus block, close email and chat, or set your status to busy. On iPhone, a Work Focus can silence notifications except from the people and apps you choose. Apple Support's steps:
Go to the Settings app on your iPhone.
Tap Focus, then tap a Focus, for example Work.
Tap People to choose who can still notify you, and Apps to choose which apps can.
To have the Focus turn on automatically at a set time, at a location or while using a certain app, tap Add Schedule.
To quickly silence all notifications, Apple says you can open Control Center, tap Focus, then turn on Do Not Disturb. For more ideas, see our sister site's guide on how to stop checking your phone at work.
Cluster meetings. Group them on certain days or in the afternoons, leaving longer gaps elsewhere.
Leave buffers. Warning against back-to-back meetings, Mark said we need to schedule in transitions between hard tasks. A 10-minute buffer gives you time to note actions before the next thing.
Ask for an agenda. If a meeting has no clear purpose, ask whether an email would do.
Write a restart note. Before a meeting cuts into a focus block, jot down exactly where you stopped and your next step.
Use headphones with quiet music, white noise or nothing at all. They also signal that you're busy.
Find a quiet spot for focus blocks, such as an empty meeting room or a quiet corner.
Agree on signals with your team, such as a chat status or a desk sign that means "not now unless it's urgent."
Suggest team quiet hours. Mark said organizations can create a window of time when no communications would be sent, which helps curb constant checking.
Save deep work for home on remote days, if your job allows it.
Breaks are part of focusing, not the opposite of it. Mark said it's important to take breaks and replenish, and that working until you're exhausted can lead to burnout.
Short breaks at least help how you feel. A 2022 meta-analysis of micro-breaks, defined as breaks of no more than 10 minutes, found a small boost in vigor and a small drop in fatigue. The effect on overall performance wasn't statistically significant, and the authors suggest that recovering from very draining tasks may need breaks longer than 10 minutes.
Stand up, stretch or walk between focus blocks.
Look away from screens, and get some daylight if you can.
Eat lunch away from your desk.
Protect your sleep. In Mark's words, "the greater the sleep debt, the shorter the attention spans."
Here's an example for a 9-to-5 office day. Your hours, energy and meetings will differ, so treat it as a starting point.
9:00 to 9:20: Email, messages, and choose today's main task.
9:20 to 10:50: Focus block 1, notifications off.
10:50 to 11:05: Break, then a quick email check.
11:05 to 12:30: Meetings or collaborative work.
12:30 to 1:15: Lunch away from your desk.
1:15 to 2:45: Focus block 2, or more meetings.
2:45 to 3:00: Break.
3:00 to 4:30: Lighter tasks, calls and admin.
4:30 to 5:00: Email, tidy up, and write tomorrow's first step.
If you've tried these steps and trouble focusing still affects your work or daily life, talk to a doctor or another professional. Ongoing concentration problems can have many causes, and they can help you sort them out.
Do your most demanding task when your energy is highest, take short breaks, and get some movement. If you're tired most days, look at your sleep first. Mark links bigger sleep debt with shorter attention spans.
Remove the triggers. Silence notifications during focus blocks, close email and chat, put your phone out of sight, and check messages at set times.
It varies by person and task. Try blocks of 25 to 90 minutes with breaks in between, and notice your own energy to find what works.
In many workplaces, yes. They cut noise and show you're busy. Check your workplace's norms, and agree with your team on how to reach you if something is urgent.
If you'd like a timer for focus blocks, Attention Age: Focus Test includes free 10- and 25-minute focus sessions, with 45- and 90-minute sessions in Pro, plus a Lock Screen Live Activity and optional ambient sounds. It also has a five-minute attention test with a weekly re-test, presented as entertainment and self-practice, not a medical or diagnostic test. No account is needed, results stay on your iPhone and there are no ads.
Get Attention Age free on the App Store
Why our attention spans are shrinking, with Gloria Mark, PhD (APA Speaking of Psychology)
Multitasking: Switching costs (American Psychological Association)