How to Focus Better during Work or Study in 2025?

As we develop more flexibility on our working conditions (working hours, working location, dress code, …) and tend to grant an important amount of time to our hobbies and personal projects, it becomes essential to learn how to focus on a subject and become efficient.

The procrastination spiral

Succumbing to the temptation of doing something else when a problem arises, can make us feel guilty and lead us to blame ourselves.

These sentences might ring a bell:

• “I can’t concentrate…”
• “Maybe I’m not qualified enough…”
• “It’s OK as long as I have until the end of the week to complete this task, I can be lazy for an hour or two.”

In some critical cases, this sense of guilt or lazy behavior can lead to stressful situations…

• “How will I accomplish this task before the end of the week?”
• “What can I do? I don’t want to work on this topic anymore! I have tried everything I could!”

… and discourage us from finding solutions to make progress on a task.

That is why it is important to find ways to avoid disconnecting from our current task.

Use sound as a helping factor

A solution that helps keep our focus on a task is surrounding sound. Being in a calm environment composed of nature sounds or listening to an ambient music that is rather monotone (like the sound of birds, the sound of rain, or music styles without lyrics, such as lo-fi, classical music, and jazz, on a low tempo (60 to 70 BPM)) improves our focus on a task.
The constant rhythm and the low tempo help our brain create a mental barrier, allowing it to fully concentrate on the current objective!

Resist the urge by delaying it

According to Kelly McGonigal’s willpower instinct theory¹, resisting an urge by adopting a denial strategy increases the risk of succumbing to other temptations (of any form) later. That is why we recommend using an awesome technique: the 10 min technique. But you may ask, how does it work?

When an urge occurs, delay it by saying to yourself, “If in ten minutes I always want to do it, I will do it.”. Then, continue working. You will eventually realize that this urge was not necessary, or at least you will consciously make the choice to look away from work (therefore avoiding any form of frustration).

Another known solution consists of looking away and blinking eyes repeatedly for a short moment. The usage of breathing techniques (combined with mental imagery and visualization) can also help oxygenize the brain, allowing us to recover the focus necessary to continue.

The calming power of cool colors

Earlier, we discussed the effect of warm colors (red, orange, yellow…) on our brain, how they catch our attention. As you might have guessed, colors like blue and green² can also affect our brain in a certain way! But don’t worry, this time, it has a positive effect on our ability to work!

From the very beginning of our existence as a human species, our brains have been conditioned to associate these colors with nature. That is why these low wavelength colors are known for offering calm, lowering anxiety, but also for improving focus and efficiency!

Think about it: the next time you feel like diverting from your work, take a moment to look outside your window and appreciate nature, just as our ancestors used to do.

In the following articles, we highlight that having a clean, disturbance-free environment, and being in a positive mindset, feeling comfortable in our body are also keys to being ready for working on a task:
         • Build the Ideal Work Environment
         • Set up your Body and Mind in Condition for Work
         • 5 Tips to Get Rid of Distractions at Work

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References:

1. Kelly McGonigal (2012). “The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It”.
2. Lee, K. E., Sargent, L. D., Williams, N. S. G., & Williams, K. J. H. (2018). “Linking green micro-breaks with mood and performance: Mediating roles of coherence and effort”.