When your day or week is jammed with deadlines, due dates and deliverables, you might be tempted to juggle them all. But, as you probably know, multitasking doesn’t work. It only zaps your productivity and adds to your stress.

Science shows the best way to boost your productivity isn’t to bounce around between projects – it’s to focus on a single task at a time. The more focus you dedicate to this one task, the more efficiently you can complete it and then move on to the next one.

If you’re still feeling the stress of a full plate, try out some proven ways to stay focused at work. In this issue of PromoPro Daily, we share tips from Vartika Kashyap, the CMO at ProofHub, on how you can zero in on the task at hand, even when you’re swamped. Read on for her focus-boosting suggestions.

Organize your desk. If your workspace is a mess, you’ll probably feel distracted all day. That’s because our brains are directly influenced by things in front of us or immediately next to us, says Kashyap. Take a few minutes to tidy up and you’ll kick up your productivity.

Make a plan. Kashyap recommends creating an hour-by-hour plan to give structure to your workday. When you have multiple things competing for your attention, this helps you prioritize. 

Understand how you work best. Are you most productive when you work in small intervals of time, or do you prefer blocking off a longer stretch of time to complete something? When you work in your zone, you can strengthen your ability to concentrate.

Take brief breaks. Even with looming deadlines and upcoming meetings, you can benefit from taking a break. Kashyap says our brains are simply not designed to retain attention for long stretches of time. She advises taking short breaks every hour or so of focused work.

Cue up the music. Background music can improve your focus at work. According to Kashyap, music that is positive with slow tempos could improve your concentration, help you block out distractions and even make a complicated task more enjoyable.

Procrastinate no more. Chronic procrastinators may find it particularly difficult to focus. Make a commitment to complete the tasks you’ve been putting off. Block off time on your calendar, and to make it more interesting, Kashyap says you could reward yourself when you finally accomplish those to-do items.

Put up your phone. Your phone could be your biggest enemy when working, so Kashyap suggests placing it in a drawer or out of sight. This way, you won’t be tempted to respond to texts or Facebook notifications.

It can be hard to stay focused at work sometimes. Whether you’re checking emails while managing Slack messages or you’re distracted by workplace chatter, your focus might be broken in all kinds of different ways. Get back on track by considering the pointers above.

Compiled by Audrey Sellers 
Source: Vartika Kashyap is the CMO at ProofHub, a leading project management and team collaboration software company.