Focused work isn’t easy. Visually, an app flashes in the taskbar, another signals some event with a sound, the phone rings, and a colleague asks a question. The list goes on and on. Concentrated work is instantly lost because your attention is constantly diverted. Regaining focus is a challenge.
Many of us will likely find this familiar. It happens constantly throughout the workday unless you actively try to prevent it. There are various methods, recommendations, gadgets, and apps available to help with this.
Support via standard Windows function
Support via an app is available for free in Windows 11. The feature is called “Focus Session” belongs to the “Clock” app, and is easily launched by left-clicking the time/date field in the taskbar. It helps avoid some unwanted distractions, such as badge notifications in the taskbar, during a Focus Session.
Just think of the number in the Teams app that indicates unread activity within Teams. This number, and the associated new activity, constantly tempts me to quickly open Teams. Immediately, my focus shifts to Teams and away from my actual work. I think many users experience this.
Time management as the real advantage
Avoiding distractions is a good start. Even better, however, is being able to set the duration of your focus session yourself from predefined values, such as 30 or 50 minutes, with or without 5-minute breaks. The minutes are visualized on a large clock. If this sounds familiar, that’s because it’s the Pomodoro Technique.
From my own experience, I can say that limiting the time for completing a single task with clear focus is very helpful. Otherwise, Parkinson’s Law applies: “Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” And that’s precisely what you need to avoid if you want your tasks to get done.
Summary
Anyone unfamiliar with the Pomodoro Technique can try it out for free using a standard app within Windows 11. Once you become a fan, using focused sessions will become second nature. Like all methods, however, it requires a basic level of self-discipline, without which, unfortunately, there is no success.
Have fun trying it out!
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Michael (a mind forever voyaging)