How to increase your focus - Simple hacks from a PhD

Staying focused starts with treating attention like a limited resource that must be cleared, supported, and protected—not something you can “force” through willpower. The first move is to offload mental clutter: write down everything that’s on your mind for about five minutes at the start of the day, then jot down any sudden thoughts immediately as they appear. The point is practical—freeing working memory so the brain can focus on the task at hand, rather than holding reminders for later. Keeping paper and a pen within reach turns distractions into captured items, signaling to the brain that the issue is handled and the work can continue.

Beyond mental clearing, focus depends heavily on basic human needs that people routinely ignore. Toilet breaks are framed as the most common cause of fidgeting and lost concentration; if the body needs relief, attention will drift. Hunger and thirst matter too: having a healthy, energy-supporting snack before studying or exams can improve performance, with a banana used as a personal example from an undergraduate chemistry degree. Hydration is treated as non-negotiable—keeping water nearby and sipping prevents the subtle discomfort of being thirsty from hijacking concentration. Temperature also plays a role; working in a comfortable environment (warm when cold, cool when hot) reduces physical distraction, and the speaker describes using heaters/air conditioning and seeking warm study areas in libraries.

The next layer is environment control, especially around digital temptations. Reddit is blocked at the router level to prevent easy drift into scrolling. The phone is kept completely silent, notifications are turned off, and the device is put away after 5 p.m. until the next morning (roughly 8–9 a.m.), reducing the constant stream of information that fragments attention. Email and other alerts are also silenced to keep the work session from being repeatedly interrupted.

Routines then make focus easier to initiate. A simple “lead-in” ritual—like making a cup of herbal tea before sitting down for an hour or two—creates a habit cue so the brain shifts into task mode with less resistance. The advice is to build focus gradually: start with five minutes (or wherever current ability sits), add only a little time, and increase over weeks or a couple of months. Trying to jump straight to long sessions, such as moving from short meditation to an hour, is described as miserable; focus, like a muscle, needs progressive training.

Finally, the process requires self-compassion. “Best” performance changes day to day due to factors outside control—sleep, stress, missed opportunities, or other life spillover. Progress should be judged by the overall upward trend, not by whether every day is excellent. The goal is to teach the mind to be focused more often, so that in a month the baseline improves—like moving from 15 minutes to 45—despite the normal noise of uneven days.