Understanding the Struggle to Concentrate

Facing challenges in focusing on your tasks is more than just a hiccup in productivity.

Over the long term, an inability to concentrate at work can erode your confidence.

Missed deadlines and overwhelming information inflows can wreak havoc on your routines, and without establishing new habits, your productivity will only decline.

Dissecting the Terms: What Does Concentration Mean?

Time management, productivity, focus, and concentration are terms often used interchangeably.

Let's set the record straight:

Time Management: The strategic planning of how you allocate your time across various activities.
Productivity: Efficiency in getting the right things done, not merely more things.
Focus: A focal point or center of attention.
Concentration: The ability to focus on a single task for a fixed duration.

In short, it’s Time Management > Productivity > Focus > Concentration. A failure at any stage affects the whole chain.

Procrastination: A Symptom or a Cause?

Is your inability to concentrate at work just a form of procrastination?

My college roommate used to rearrange furniture whenever it was time to study for finals. Talk about task avoidance.

However, lacking concentration is not the same as procrastination.

The latter often occurs when you're surrounded by distractions—like an untidy desk, incessant notifications, or pressing deadlines—that make concentration difficult.

When you can't concentrate, procrastination becomes an easier choice.

Adulting and the Will to Focus

Sure, part of being an adult involves tackling tasks head-on. But if the solution were just a matter of willpower, you wouldn't be here.

Increasing your ability to focus isn't a mysterious skill; it’s more like an experiment that needs time and practice to yield results.

Steps to Tackle the 'I Can't Concentrate at Work' Issue

Open a Google Doc: Record how your inability to concentrate has been affecting you at work and at home.
Health Check: Consult a doctor to rule out underlying health issues or undiagnosed conditions that may be affecting your focus.
Dopamine Detox: Be aware of where you're getting your dopamine hits from and try redirecting them to more productive activities. I’m going to bet it’s a Digital Detox you need.

Breaking the Cycle: Coached Solutions

I once coached a manager who always worked with her door open.

Through coaching, we realized her open-door policy was a response to her need to feel needed.

This disrupted her concentration, and her team had become accustomed to interrupting her whenever they had questions.

By breaking this cycle, we helped her focus on her work. And helped her team to become more self-sufficient.

Products to Try for Enhancing Concentration

Nootropic Supplements: These cognitive enhancers can support mental clarity and focus. But consult your doctor first, especially if you have any medical conditions.
Brain Alpha Wave Music: Listening to music that induces alpha brain waves can help improve focus.
Pomodoro Technique Apps: These apps can help you work in short, focused bursts.
Standing Desk: Sometimes, changing your physical posture can also help your mental posture.

Final Thoughts: Training Your Brain to Focus

You're not alone in feeling like you can't concentrate at work.

The brain is a muscle that can be trained.

Your inability to focus at work is more than just an inconvenience; it's an obstacle to your growth.

Be intentional with your concentration to build a stronger, more focused you.

5 great things to do when you can’t focus

Why only five? Because you don’t need more distractions.

Seriously.

Experiment
Commit to doing this experiment for a month. Set a reminder on your phone or whatever you need to do keep it top of mind.
Set up your focus environment
1. Set up a supporting environment - in coaching, we call this ‘setting yourself up for success.’
  1. Remove as many temptations as possible that can break your concentration, like email, calendar, and Slack alerts.
    Do not underestimate the power of those little notifications on your laptop and phone, even if you’re not consciously aware of their interruption. Turn them off. Set up your phone’s do-not-disturb. And most do-not-disturb settings allow certain numbers you designate through in case of emergency.
    Most apps or programs have a ‘Focus’ setting - clearing out all peripheral clutter, allowing you to concentrate on the matter right in front of you.
  2. Set aside time - schedule concentration blocks. More on that below.
Use your mental tools
Use your brainpower for your good. Help it work for you with your concentration.
1. Help your brain associate the time set aside for concentration by anticipating the positive outcome you’ll gain from task completion. Tell yourself something agnostic like, “I’m interested in this experiment I’m doing.” Sounds a lot better than, “Crap, I have to do those stupid expense reports.”
2. Music can positively affect your focus. So why isn’t music included in the Environmental category above? Because it turns out, what you’re listening to while you’re concentrating can really affect your brain’s ability to focus. You’ve got a natural noise filter (think: working on a report while sitting in a coffee shop). The right focus music can keep the part of your brain that tempts you with distractions busy. Try:
  There are plenty of concentration music options on YouTube to experiment with. Use your headphones while listening, surrounding your brain with the sounds- an important part of this experiment to see if this helps you.
  1. The guys at brain.fm will give you three free sessions and they’re coming at it from a scientific angle. I’ve used this in the past and have enjoyed a noticeable difference in my concentration.
  2. I now use Focus@will, more ‘brain music’ used by some big names. They say when “...members use our unique neuroscience-based web service it helps increase their focus by ‘zoning out’ distractions.” The approach is more customized based on the type of person you are. You’ll get a week free with them for signing up and it’s risk-free, meaning you can cancel anytime.
3. I urge you to try focus@will or brain.fm first instead of listening to something random you found on YouTube - you can’t be certain the music you’re playing has the researched-backed sounds to help your brain filter out distractions.
4. Find your ‘passive action’ - those distractors that feel productive but really aren’t. Raise your awareness about the activities you’re doing, not on your to-do list, that feel productive to you. What are those things you gravitate toward when you’re procrastinating? Raising your awareness is the first step in redirecting your attention and therefore, your concentration.
5. Help your brain help you. Give it what it needs. Eat more vegetables. Start your day with a tablespoon of MCT oil. Experiment with taking a nootropic (here’s my favorite, check out the reviews).
6. Just like with #5, this focus herbal tea is another way to get your brain to help you concentrate. I love this brand for all my supplements, and the tea is herbal so you don’t have to be concerned with extra caffiene.
Be social - to a point.
1. Tell someone you’re committing to a couple of “Focus Sessions” per week, or tell your team you’re going to knock some things out - when my husband and I are both working in our home offices, I tell him I’m going to shut my door for a couple of hours and he knows I”m trying to knock some stuff out and unless it’s an emergency, wait to knock and talk to me. Unfortunately, my cat doesn’t understand that cue with the closed door.
Be accountable to yourself and someone else.
1. Don’t underestimate the power of telling someone else what you’re going to do. This accountability factor can increase your social feedback, which your brain may like (hello, dopamine!).
2. Challenge a friend or partner to complete two focus sessions of 55 minutes each per week. SCHEDULE IT IN YOUR CALENDAR, find a way to look forward to it by telling yourself you’re excited about this experiment and freeing yourself (instead of dreading it which can also cause avoidance).
3. Give yourself a false deadline.
  1. Part of why people procrastinate is they are adding an adrenaline-inducing deadline to make the task more interesting. You put off those expense reports because you think the work will be exceedingly dull. So by putting the reports off until the last day to get them in to get paid in this credit card cycle gives you that deadline you need to force yourself to get it done. And the impending deadline can raise your adrenaline, even an imperceptible amount to your conscious - but your brain knows. And that makes meeting the deadline a wee bit exciting. So change your false deadlines using this next tip.
4. Employ the Pomodoro technique.
  1. Essentially, it’s a work block timer. This technique puts the tasks you need to concentrate on in 25-minute increments, with a 5-minute break in between. The key is to not let that break go longer than 5.
    Challenge yourself to work in these blocks. There are a million apps and Chrome extensions. Using the method can be your game-changer.
    Here’s a good free one to try, and I like that the timer stays visible in the tab while you’re working. I use this in conjunction with my Panda Planner.
5. (I’m biased here because it works and I am one but) Hire a coach.
  1. Time management is a very common leadership coaching topic for clients (so is procrastination, can’t focus, increase productivity, no time for big-picture thinking/being strategic, getting sh*t done...they’re all pieces of the same puzzle).
    Coaching provides some skin in the game; social, accountable, and financial, which raises the commitment bar to solve the concentration puzzle once and for all.
    Most coaches, including me, offer a first discussion free of charge before committing. Let’s talk.

Keep Concentration Top-of-Mind

Here are my favorite productivity resources for further learning:

While I don’t subscribe to his system anymore, reading this book resulted in about 53 “a-ha!” moments; I do take bits and pieces of Getting Things Done by who some think is the Godfather of Productivity, David Allen. It’s worth a read - definitely.

Another favorite is not so much a book as it is a system, the Panda Planner. So instead of having to read a book and reengineering how you’re functioning, you can watch a couple of quick videos and be on your way. Here are my favorite ways of using it.

A Kindle for reading these kinds of books - you can highlight notes and passages or segments that spark ideas and email them to yourself for organization and implementation.

Deep Work by Cal Newport - if the thought of reading the book is too draining on your focus, you can get this gist on this podcast.

Beyond the To-Do List Podcast - I love this resource, started years ago by a guy in graduate school who made productivity a study ever since.

Concentrate on Concentrating

Try an experiment - for just this week. Heck, even tomorrow. Implement one of the five - just one. See how it affects you.

Don’t fall into the passive action trap.

Remember:

Information plus inaction equals...information.

However,

Information plus action equals knowledge and change.

A little experimentation is all it may take.

I Can’t Concentrate at Work: 5 Ways to Boost Your Focus and Productivity