Digital Burnout to Deep Work: A system for building focus
Image generated with OpenAI by the Author
In our world of modern technology, focus is becoming an endangered skill.
You use all the social apps on your phone. You waste your time with mind-numbing games. You can't focus on anything for more than a few minutes. If you watch TV, you dopamine stack by using your phone at the same time. The distractions are endless.
What is it going to take to stop the endless cycle?
Focus…
I've noticed a trend in the decline in focus people have. They can't keep focused on one thing for very long. I was one of them until I started training mine.
Focus is a skill that we have to practice, or we lose it. It's like going to the gym; if you don't continuously train your muscles enough to maintain them, they will atrophy. Your ability to lift the same weight will diminish. The same works the other way around. The more you train, the more you can lift.
I have a focus problem. It tends to go to extremes; I'm either hyper-focused or can't focus at all. At least until I started to improve my focus with a system. One that I built from experimentation and experience.
Here's a quick rundown.
Focus System
Start with short, consistent sessions with breaks.
Increase durations by 5-minute increments.
Proactively eliminate distractions.
Train your mind to notice distractions.
Create focus rituals.
Embrace boredom.
Track progress & reflect.
This is just the high-level overview of the system. Let's break this down into more detail.
Start With Short, Consistent Sessions
When I first started, I was trying to focus on things like writing for 45 minutes to an hour. It was a huge struggle. I'd find my mind wandering to other things, or I'd pick up my phone to check on notifications.
I started with sessions that were too long.
In the early stages, you will want to start with a manageable time. I suggest starting with 15-minute intervals, with 5-minute breaks in between. You will want to keep this up for at least a week before increasing your time.
Jumping to higher numbers too quickly can cause you to struggle and take a step back. This brings feelings of defeat and failure and will reduce the chances of you keeping up with the system long term.
Pay attention to how you feel. It's okay to increase or decrease your time if you need it. If you can only do a couple of sessions of 15 minutes of focused work in a day, then keep to that. Don't burn yourself out.
One question that is often asked is, "What should I be doing with this time?"
This could be for anything important to you. It could be reading a book, writing, learning a new skill (take notes while you learn, it helps with learning), or anything that forces you to use your mind.
Increase Durations by 5-Minute Increments.
Once you have a good start time window, you can now increase that time by 5 minutes each week. The reason for this is to keep you from increasing too much, too quickly. As I've already said, you'll want to avoid burnout.
If you find yourself struggling with the change, give yourself a couple more days before increasing.
On the other end, you may find yourself wanting the challenge several weeks in to increase it by 10 minutes. That's what I started around week 5.
Your breaks should start to increase once you hit the 30-minute mark for your focus sessions. Increase it to 10 minutes, think of it as with longer sessions, your mind will need longer breaks.
Here's a chart of how my increases went.
Notice how I increased my breaks over time? This keeps burnout at bay and increases your mind's ability to expand, leading to more creativity and concise thinking.
Proactively Eliminate Distractions
Distractions are the death of focus.
These are phone notifications, TV on in the background, email, and anything else that pulls your attention away. If you don't eliminate them, they will pull you away from your task.
I'm not saying to turn off all notifications for all time, but there are tools to help stop them during your focus sessions. Personally, my cell phone notifications, Teams, and email on my computer are the most distracting. When I'm about to start a focus session, I proactively eliminate them.
Cell phones have a setting called "Do Not Disturb". It prevents notifications from apps, text messages, and calls from distracting you. If you need specific people to be able to get a hold of you, there is a VIP list you can add them to, which allows their calls to come through.
Computers have a similar setting.
While computers do have a "Do Not Disturb" setting, they also have a "Focus" feature that turns on "Do Not Disturb" and gives you a timer, plus other minor customizations for the settings. This is available on both Mac and Windows PCs.
Other elements help to reduce visual distractions.
Having a clean workspace decreases the physical elements from being a distraction. You can also use minimalist writing apps. I use Kortex.co, and it has a focus mode built in.
Train Your Mind to Notice Distractions
I still find myself getting distracted from random things, even when I do what I can to proactively eliminate distractions. This has forced me to learn to recognize when I am getting distracted. I am then able to snap my focus back to what I'm working on.
It's normal to still find yourself getting distracted.
Training your mind to recognize when you are getting distracted will take you to the next level more quickly. When this happens, don't get upset with yourself, or the cause of the distraction; be judgment-free, and gently return to the task.
This is called "Mindful Redirection".
This practice will expand your ability to focus for longer periods. Losing focus is a part of the process; use this to build that skill.
Create Focus Rituals
Focus rituals are little habits that are associated with your focused sessions.
My ritual is to grab a cup of coffee and start playing my focus music. These prime my mind that I will be doing some focused work. I use this most often when I'm about to write.
These little rituals start to put your mind into a prepped state for focused work. It doesn't have to be what I do; it can be taking a 15-minute walk beforehand, or sitting in only that one chair for focused work. It can be anything that works for you.
Embrace Boredom
Just me and my thoughts.
This practice is much harder than it might seem. We're used to having some sort of input 24/7. Quiet makes us feel uncomfortable and antsy, making us want to break the silence with a distraction.
A fun little side note. Try sitting with a friend without having phones out, and sit in silence. The first one who breaks is usually the one who is more uncomfortable in silence.
I had a lot of trouble getting used to sitting in silence. The more I did it, the more I found it to be rewarding.
At first, it might seem like torture. Sitting there, no distractions, no music, no inputs. The longer you sit there, the more deafening the silence.
As you get used to the silence, your mind starts to clear. You find that your ideas start to take shape, and your creativity gets a boost. While all this happens, you're building the skill of focus.
I found this to be one of my favorite practices. I often take quiet walks, and it has boosted my productivity.
Track Progress & Reflect
Tracking your progress is a great way to show yourself how far you've come. It becomes an additional motivation to keep you going. Here's the key: consider even the smallest step in progress as a win. If you've improved your focus by a minute a day, that's better than it was last week. Take it and celebrate it.
I took this approach in my early stages of building focus. No expectations, I just wanted to see improvement. Every little positive step was a win to me, and that's what kept me going.
Reflecting on your results, good and bad, helps you to see why one thing worked and why another one didn't.
Review everything, maybe you didn't use "Do Not Disturb" on your phone, so those distractions showed in your focus. Reflecting on the data and being honest with yourself will help you find other ways that work for you. This leads to more wins.
Bonus
Make sure you take the time to celebrate the wins.
Pat yourself on the back when you see that you've made progress, not just with your ability to focus, but with all areas of life. Life is too short not to celebrate.
This system has gotten me where I am today.
Let me know if it has brought any progress to your life, or if you have a different approach that worked for you. I'd love to hear.
