How to Stay Focused and Productive (Without Getting Burnt Out)

Staying focused and productive without getting burnt out is kind of like skipping.

With a little of focus and momentum, you can go for a long time, but waste too much energy jumping, and you’ll either fall on your face or collapse in a sweaty heap.

So how can overworked Steemit reader focus on their work without wasting a lot of energy and burning out?

Break difficult projects down

When I think of writing a book, I bite my nails, bang my head off the table and moan, “Why is creative work so difficult?”

And I give up.

When I think of writing an article or a chapter, I throw a stress ball at the wall for a few minutes. Then, I get to it.

“I can this this!”

You see, when you break a big project down into smaller milestones, it easier to stay focused because these milestones are reassuring.

“Yes! This is what progress looks like.”

This feeling is enough to sustain you when you want to pick lint out of the carpet instead of, you know, working.

My favourite smaller milestones include:

• a publication date for a blog post
• writing a chapter instead of a book
• a commitment to a third party like an editor or beta customer

Identify if it's maker or manager work

Maker work involves tasks like writing, painting, coding, composing, anything that's creative. This type of work requires intense focus and energy.

It’ll drain you completely if you don’t recharge.

Manager work, on the other hand, involves things like reviewing your numbers, hiring, outsourcing, deciding what tasks you should do and what others should do on.

Typically, it is best to do maker and manager work at different times during the day because they engage different parts of the brain.

For example, a writer may write a difficult first draft in the morning and then deal with his or her correspondence late at night.

An executive may work on a business case first thing and then update his or her boss via email or Slack after lunch.

Motivate yourself with a deadline

A deadline that looms like a guillotine has a way of focusing the mind.

So set yourself an internal deadline for reaching a small milestone in your project.

Then, set a public deadline for delivering to your readers, customers or boss.

After a number of missed deadlines, Elon Musk now sets public and private deadlines. He said,

“I say something, and then it usually happens. Maybe not on schedule, but it usually happens.”

If all this talk of deadlines puts you off working, this trick might help.

• Get an egg timer
• Turn off everything else that rings, whirrs, flashes or buzzes
• Prepare your work
• Set the timer for thirty minutes
• Work on one task (yes one task, see below!)
• Stop when the timer rings

Now repeat.

Develop your mental muscle

The most productive people today are strong enough to focus on one task for an extended period. I say “strong enough” because this is a mental muscle you develop rather than one to take for granted.

American author and high-priest of productivity aficionados everywhere Tim Ferris says he spends much of his day with his phone in airplane mode while writing or working on his podcasts.

"This is particularly critical post-dinner all the way until I finish my morning routine the next day.”

So don't stop every five minutes to press that red notification button on your Facebook app or to see if Donald Trump is trending on Twitter moments again.

When you switch your attention from one task to another, you’re engaging two different parts of the brain and splitting your cognitive attention.

Remember, a warm sun can heat na entire field, but a single concentrated ray can start fire.

Know (and how) to stop

Putting in more hours at the end of the working day, each night and over weekend feels like you're accomplishing more, but you're deluding yourself,

When the end of the working day rolls around avoid cramming in more work because you can.

Instead, clarify what you're going to do tomorrow and prepare your work in advance. Then, get up, shut down your computer and go home.

Cal Newport, author of Deep Work, goes as far as saying “Shutdown complete” at the end of his working day. He said,

“This final step sounds cheesy, but it provides a simple cue to your mind that it’s safe to release work-related thoughts for the rest of the day.”

At the weekends do things that have nothing to do with your work like exercise or a hobby. This way, you’ll feel mentally recharged when Monday rolls around.

Look for the positive

For a 2016 study, a team of psychologists surveyed 183 workers in various industries. They found those with a positive outlook on life found it easier to switch off at the weekend, while those with a negative outlook struggled.

"People with a tendency to see the worst in a situation tended to find it difficult to unwind, whatever they did.”

Can you guess which type of workers can back feeling refreshed and productive on Monday morning?

So rather than bemoaning how much you’ve go to do consider, “What can I learn from this experience?”

Then goof off.

You’ve got my permission.