Small Things That Can Disrupt Your Focus
Small Things That Can Disrupt Your Focus
Having your focus disrupted can interfere with your creative process as well as make you lose productivity. While you might immediately think about all the big things that can do this, such as people interrupting you or your phone ringing, more often than not, it’s the small things that end up stealing your focus.
If you’re trying to work in a room that’s too cold, this can be a culprit because your body is forced to use more energy to keep you warm. If you feel chilled or reach the point of shivering, it means your body is using energy.
In order to focus more, keep the room where you’re working a comfortable temperature. Noise can be a problem for some people. You might hear other people talking, the noise of kids at play if you work from home or dozens of other sounds and this might bother you.
While there are people who can’t stand to have noise when they’re working, silence can be a distraction as well. You need to figure out which sound it is that helps you to focus.
You might have to choose a few options to see which sounds work best for you if silence is a distraction.
One of these is a coffeehouse background noise. This is the quiet sound of dozens of conversations taking place in the background. You can often hear trays being set down, silverware clinking and soft laughter.
This kind of noise deals with silence but at the same time remains in the background so it doesn’t disrupt your creative flow. Some people use white noise. White noise is the same continual sound at a specific intensity level.
What this frequency does is it hides the other sounds that would disturb you. The brain tunes in to the white noise sound and blocks other disruptive noises. Video game music is another option.
This kind of music raises your focus because it stimulates the brain. If you listen to a recording that features several different kinds of video game music, it also works to prevent sound boredom.
The lighting in the room you’re working in needs to be right. Otherwise, it can cause eye strain. You want to make sure that the lighting you use doesn’t make you drowsy. For example, fluorescent lights can bother your circadian rhythm and make you sleepy during the day.
What you eat or drink can have an impact on your focus too. Foods and beverages that are high in calorie or salt content can make you feel drowsy and give you brain fog. Too much salt interferes with the amount of blood flow the brain receives, and steals focus.
If you want to boost creativity and focus, think about your décor. It’s a fact that certain colors have been known to help with both. Green is known to boost concentration. The color red stimulates the mind. Yellow is known to boost creativity and blue is known to help with alertness.
