5 Ways To Stay Focused Naturally

An Article by Amy Boyington

Focus is key to every task in your life. When you’re focused, time can seem to fly by- but you still manage to get everything done. On days when you’re unfocused, time can seem to creep by until it feels like you haven’t made even a millimeter of progress. No matter where you are, there are ways to get it in gear.

1. Change Your Audio Input

There are going to be a lot of times in your life when you need to get something done, but your external environment is incredibly noisy and hectic. The simplest solution is to put on your headphones, but not every audio track will provide the same level of focus.

• Neutral Background Noise – If you can’t focus and listen to music of any kind and you don’t have any noise canceling gear, choosing a “white noise,” “nature,” or “ambient noise” track can help you focus as well as boost your creativity. It’s considered a slight, positive distraction.
• Noise Cancellation – Noise canceling headphones emit a particular frequency that cancels out other noises, creating a neutral audio profile for your environment. This is the closest to silence you might get.
• “Instrumental” Music – Music with lyrics is more distracting that it’s instrumental counterpart. Further, instrumental music still gives you a mind-sharpening mood boost.
• Repeat It – Maybe you have a song that energizes you and gets you psyched up to work on whatever needs to be done. Listen to it. Put it on repeat. If it works for you, don’t stress about any rule that says “no words in your focus music.” Listening to the same song over and over can help you focus faster, if not longer.

2. Try Aromatherapy

The human sense of smell is frequently overlooked. However, your sense of smell could be the key to tapping into calm, sustained focus. How? Aromatherapy.

For some people, scent can act as a powerful psychological signal to queue up a particular mental state. This may take practice, but if you stay consistent, it’s more than possible to use aromatherapy to create a focused work environment, no matter what the rest of your space is like.

Certain essential oils, such as Vetiver and Lavender, promote calm and focus. Alternatively, you can just pick a scent you like and refresh the diffuser whenever you need to start work. The habit and the environmental stimulus should help you stay on track.

3. Triage Your Decisions

Focus is an act of will. The less willpower you have to spend on the little things, the easier it will be to remain focused on what matters. Still, it’s possible for willpower (and focus) can be trained. The more your practice, the easier it gets. Even after building up to the point where you could, feasibly, focus 100% on any task in seconds, you’re still going to get worn down from time to time. Focusing that intently on anything takes a lot of brain power.

Avoid getting burnt out by taking plenty of breaks and deciding certain things ahead of time. For example, meal plan and prep make it, so you don’t have to spend willpower on meal decisions, even when you are ravenous. (And then, when you are better nourished, you’ll have more energy to focus on what matters.)

4. Don’t Self-Sabotage (Without Realizing It)

Your lack of focus might be because of something you’re doing. Of all the ways to fix lack of focus naturally, there are a few that involve not doing what you might be doing. Sugar and energy drinks can overstimulate your nervous system, leading to distracted feelings. Taking on too much and overextending yourself can have similar effects, no matter how it might feel at first.

5. Load Up on Dopamine

If you are making slow progress, can’t keep your eyelids from feeling like lead, or seem to be spacing out far too much– stop. Taking a few scheduled minutes to do something easy and fun to boost your mood can make all the difference. It can be listening to a single song, standing up to get a few energy boosting stretches in, or playing five minutes of Tetris.

The more dopamine in your system, the easier it will be to zero-in on any task. Dopamine is produced when you are happy, you exercise or get a massage, you discover something new, or you accomplish something (even something minimal, like making your bed.)

Conclusions

We all need to focus at times and we all may need a little boost to make it happen. Focusing is the path to responsibility. Be sure to have fun with it. Fun and responsibility is the balance beam of life. The good news is, the above ways to help in focusing are all fun.

Amy Boyington

I’m Amy, a content writer from Ohio. As a work at home business woman, I enjoy helping other women learn how to create their dream careers with the perfect balance between their professional and personal lives. You can find some of my work on Reader’s Digest and other online lifestyle publications.

Freelance Writer and Editor of The Work at Home Mom Blog