Try This Tip to Improve Focus

It’ll come as no surprise that we are a world in the throes of a social media addiction. While some studies estimate that 210 million people globally are addicted to social media, research by US driving school driversed.com has also shown that there are no limitations to our consumption, with over half participants admitting to checking social media while driving.

There’s no doubt that social media has an impact on concentration and productivity in the workplace, whether you work from home or head to an office. When you use social media, your attention is constantly being piqued by an incoming notification or alert. This puts the brain in a constant state of multitasking, which in turn shortens our attention span and ability to focus. One study found that the error rate increased by 50% while the shift between focal points, such as work tasks, took twice as long to happen. If you’re on a platform where likes and views are an integral part of the infrastructure, there’s the addition of “rewards”, dopamine hits that our brains receive every time we get one. Once that starts, it can understandably be hard to compete against.

To maintain a clear focus on other tasks such as your work schedule, it’s essential to limit the number of distractions coming from your devices. One simple way to do this is to use your phone’s airplane mode to completely cut out the steady stream of distractions. To start set a timer, starting off in manageable time chunks and building up as you go. Once the time is up, allow yourself to check your social media feed but set a timer for that browsing as well. Once that time is up, be regimented about getting back to work. Keep going with this pattern until it becomes a habit, and you ought to find your productivity and positivity improving.