{"id":8234,"date":"2011-12-12T22:26:27","date_gmt":"2011-12-13T06:26:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/?p=8234"},"modified":"2013-09-16T12:30:49","modified_gmt":"2013-09-16T20:30:49","slug":"4-simple-ways-to-increase-focus-and-get-things-done","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/4-simple-ways-to-increase-focus-and-get-things-done\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Simple Ways to Increase Focus and Get Things Done"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Screen-shot-2011-12-12-at-1.43.41-PM.png\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Not too long ago, I set up a reminder for an event that my boss would be attending. When the day of the event came we received the reminder about three hours before the start time. I was shocked \u2013 I am usually much better at reminding him than this. We got everything taken care of and in the aftermath I started to evaluate what went wrong. Where had my focus been hiding the day before?<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve all had the kinds of days where we seem to float from one incomplete project to another.\u00a0 We start the morning with enthusiasm and then pepper our days with trips to Facebook and Twitter. Hey, nothing wrong with it \u2013 we\u2019re human beings and the shiny things on the internet can interfere with what we\u2019re trying to get accomplished.<\/p>\n<p>If you feel like you\u2019re spending <em>too much<\/em> time being distracted and not enough time being focused on what you have on your to do list, try these four things to see if they help you to tick off the things on your list.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Sleep More, Eat Less. <\/strong>Try going to bed thirty minutes earlier every night to increase the chance that you\u2019ll reach the deepest sleep and wake up feeling rested.\u00a0 If you\u2019re looking at the clock to see if it\u2019s time to go home so you can catch a cat nap that is going to be your focus for the day. Eat less at lunch because once your belly is full the productivity level will slowly go down. I\u2019m not suggesting you skip lunch but if you chow down on that turkey dinner, we all know what is going to happen.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Change Your Environment.<\/strong> Clean up the clutter on your desk or grab a notepad (yes people still use paper) and camp out somewhere for the day.\u00a0 Sometimes getting out of the norm will inspire you to get down and get some things done.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Stop Multitasking.<\/strong> Believe it or not, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2001\/04\/08\/magazine\/how-to-multitask.html?src=pm\">we cannot multitask<\/a>. The human brain is not built like a computer and lacks the ability to focus attention on two or more things that once. Create daily tasks lists to keep track of all the things you need to get done in your day. Use the timer system to be sure you don\u2019t get lost on the internet \u2013 for example, I\u2019m going to spend thirty minutes commenting on blogs and then move on to the next task.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Throw Yourself a Bone.<\/strong> Remember to reward yourself along the way as you get things accomplished. Not only is it good for your soul to take a moment to pat yourself on the back and say <em>job well done, <\/em>it\u2019s also an important part of keeping yourself motivated to go on to the next project.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Have you tried any of these before? What was your success rate? I have personally found that cleaning up my desk is a huge boost to my productivity levels but I\u2019m sure that doesn\u2019t work for everyone.\u00a0 What are some of the things you do to get yourself motivated to have a focused and fulfilling day at work?<\/p>\n<p><em><strong> <\/strong>Maranda Gibson is the quirky social media manager for all pro in beautiful Fort Worth, Texas. She gives tips and advice on productivity, time management, and staying organized on the <a href=\"http:\/\/all.pro\">all pro<\/a> blog.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Don&#8217;t Forget To sign up for the\u00a0<a href=\"..\/no-spam-guarantee\/\">PTB NEWSLETTER!<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Related Reading:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/11-simple-ways-to-become-confident-like-a-rap-star\/\">11 Simple Ways To Be Confident Like a Rap Star<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/6-tips-to-writing-a-successful-life-plan\/\">6 Tips To Writing a Successful Life Plan<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Not too long ago, I set up a reminder for an event that my boss would be attending. When the day of the event came we received the reminder about three hours before the start time. I was shocked \u2013 I am usually much better at reminding him than this. We got everything taken care of and in the aftermath I started to evaluate what went wrong. Where had my focus been hiding the day before? <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/4-simple-ways-to-increase-focus-and-get-things-done\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12163,"featured_media":8237,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[6],"tags":[158,1636,849,66,4629,4640],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>4 Simple Ways to Increase Focus and Get Things Done  - Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Not too long ago, I set up a reminder for an event that my boss would be attending. When the day of the event came we received the reminder about three hours before the start time. I was shocked \u2013 I am usually much better at reminding him than this. We got everything taken care of and in the aftermath I started to evaluate what went wrong. Where had my focus been hiding the day before?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/4-simple-ways-to-increase-focus-and-get-things-done\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"4 Simple Ways to Increase Focus and Get Things Done  - Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Not too long ago, I set up a reminder for an event that my boss would be attending. When the day of the event came we received the reminder about three hours before the start time. I was shocked \u2013 I am usually much better at reminding him than this. We got everything taken care of and in the aftermath I started to evaluate what went wrong. Where had my focus been hiding the day before?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/4-simple-ways-to-increase-focus-and-get-things-done\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-12-13T06:26:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-09-16T20:30:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Screen-shot-2011-12-12-at-1.43.41-PM.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"302\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"201\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Erin Falconer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/4-simple-ways-to-increase-focus-and-get-things-done\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Screen-shot-2011-12-12-at-1.43.41-PM.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Screen-shot-2011-12-12-at-1.43.41-PM.png\",\"width\":\"302\",\"height\":\"201\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/4-simple-ways-to-increase-focus-and-get-things-done\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/4-simple-ways-to-increase-focus-and-get-things-done\/\",\"name\":\"4 Simple Ways to Increase Focus and Get Things Done - Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/4-simple-ways-to-increase-focus-and-get-things-done\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-12-13T06:26:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-09-16T20:30:49+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2da8ae162c097bdb749ab098472b4cc5\"},\"description\":\"Not too long ago, I set up a reminder for an event that my boss would be attending. When the day of the event came we received the reminder about three hours before the start time. I was shocked \u2013 I am usually much better at reminding him than this. We got everything taken care of and in the aftermath I started to evaluate what went wrong. 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