Seven ways to fix your fragmented focus – from doodling to deep work

With infinite distractions on offer thanks to screens and smartphones, many of us struggle to focus. But these psychologist-backed strategies could help to clear your mind

In some ways, it’s never been easier to strike a healthy work-life balance. Many of us can split our time between the home and office, switching out the morning commute for a workout and creating more time for family and friends. And yet, we’re finding it increasingly hard to stay focused on our work when we’re at our desks. Several tabs open, scrolling instead of researching and comparing our lives with those of strangers online before remembering we’re meant to be on a Zoom call.

“So many of us struggle to focus now because of the stimulation, pace and volume of information, communication and decision-making in modern life,” says Suzy Reading, a chartered psychologist and the author of How to Be Selfish. “The evolution of the human body can’t keep pace with the evolution of technology and the impact that has on our attentional demands.”

For me, one of the most effective changes has been separating the places where I think from the places where I communicate. I use my reMarkable Paper Pure when I want to plan, take notes or develop an idea without emails, messages and notifications competing for my attention. Here are seven more ways to create the conditions for better focus.

1 Set up for focus

“When we sit down to work and can’t concentrate, it helps to take an inventory of the reasons why we’re struggling to focus and see where we can make some tweaks,” says Reading. That includes our physical environment, but also our digital one. Before starting a piece of focused work, make sure you have what you need and remove what you don’t. Rather than keeping my laptop open while I’m developing an idea, I’ll often start on my reMarkable paper tablet, where I can write, sketch and organise my thoughts without browser tabs or incoming notifications. Notes can be organised into digital folders and transferred to Google Drive or Dropbox when I’m ready to move into the next stage of work.

2 Put boundaries around interruptions

We can’t remove every distraction, but we can decide how much access we give them. If emails arrive throughout the day, for instance, try checking them at set intervals rather than responding to each one as it lands.

It can also help to separate communication from concentration. If I’m preparing for a meeting or trying to untangle a complicated idea, I use my reMarkable paper tablet rather than switching between the document I’m working on, my inbox and Slack. Once I’ve worked out what I want to say, I can return to my laptop to type it up.

3 Get distracting thoughts out of your head

Sometimes the distraction isn’t an incoming email – it’s your own brain. A half-remembered task, something you need to tell a colleague or an unrelated idea can suddenly feel impossible to ignore.

Instead of acting on every thought as it occurs, capture it somewhere and carry on. When my thoughts are whirring, I use my reMarkable Paper Pure to write them down by hand, whether that’s a quick to-do list or a more free-flowing visual diagram. Knowing the thought is safely recorded makes it easier to return my attention to the task in front of me.

4 Make progress visible

Big projects can be difficult to focus on precisely because the end feels so far away. Breaking work into smaller, visible stages gives us something concrete to complete. I use the to-do and checklist functions on my reMarkable paper tablet to break complicated pieces of work into manageable steps, ticking them off as I go. There’s something surprisingly satisfying about physically marking a task as done. Reading recommends acknowledging progress rather than immediately racing on to the next thing.

“Take a moment to congratulate yourself for staying focused,” she says. That doesn’t need to mean an elaborate reward: simply noticing that you’ve moved something forward can help create momentum.

5 Doodle your way through a problem

Not all productive thinking looks like typing. When you’re stuck on an idea, switching modes can help you approach it differently.

I find that spending a few minutes doodling on my reMarkable paper tablet gives my brain room to wander without pulling me into an entirely different digital environment. Because I can combine handwriting, sketches and notes on the same page, I can move between words and visual thinking as an idea develops.

Doodling can be useful precisely because it gives the mind a different kind of task. Rather than forcing yourself to stare at the same paragraph or spreadsheet, giving your thoughts room to roam may help new associations emerge.

6 Build your own rhythm

You might like to set yourself goals around productivity, like working in 20 or 30-minute chunks and taking five minute breaks between them. But there’s no reason to interrupt yourself when you’re genuinely absorbed.

If you’re feeling really focused and don’t want to break the flow, keep going. The important thing is recognising when concentration has gone. Instead of spending another half an hour staring at the same screen, change context. Take a walk, make a coffee or move somewhere else to work.

Reading recommends a walk in nature. “Movement is a mood booster, and I always find this sparks fresh associations,” she says. “When you get home there will be fresh energy and new ideas.”

I always take my paper tablet with me, on these walks, to journal along the way, drawing or making notes that capture what I’m seeing. It’s light enough to carry around, and I love returning to these documents, which I store in their own designated folder.

7 Don’t waste time beating yourself up

Finally, accept that nobody maintains perfect concentration all day. “Compassion is a non-negotiable,” says Reading. “Being tender with ourselves shifts us out of the stress response and into the spaciousness of rest and digest mode, which is equally vital for focus and creative thoughts. Being tough on ourselves seldom sparks newness.”

Rather than treating a distracted morning as a write-off, notice what derailed you and adjust. Perhaps you need to close your inbox while writing, move away from your phone during meetings or give yourself a dedicated place for uninterrupted thought.

For me, that has been one of the biggest benefits of using a reMarkable paper tablet: it creates a clear distinction between the technology I use to communicate and the space I use to think. In a working day full of competing demands, sometimes focus is less about trying harder – and more about giving your attention somewhere to go.

Made for Thinking
Find out more about replacing your notes and printed documents with a digital notebook that feels like paper at remarkable.com