Dr. Patricia Schmidt

How to improve your focus immediately (backed by science)

Many people complain about short attention spans and that with today’s omnipresence of technology, it’s impossible to focus.

There is some truth to it (and attention is and has always been a limited resource anyway), but still: your focus isn’t broken. It’s being stolen. And the fix is surprisingly simple.

Think about your work setup

You probably sit down at your desk, maybe with coffee or tea, and your computer is switched on.

But let me ask you something:

Where’s your phone?

Personally, I put mine far away, ideally in another room.

At home, I sometimes don’t even turn it on before noon. At my university office, I can’t leave it in another room, but I keep it out of sight, across the room.

And all notifications are off: no sounds, no buzzes.

It’s not because I’m overly rigid. It’s because I don’t want to sabotage my focus.

Let’s dive into the research.

How much do we really use our phones?

A 2015 study revealed that participants picked up their phones on average 85 times per day. 85 times! Considering 16 waking hours, that’s 1x every 11 minutes.

They used a tracking app installed on participants’ phones, so the data are reliable.

And participants underestimated how often they checked their phones in a day: They thought it was 37 times.

So, you probably pick up your phone more than you think.

And it’s getting worse: A more recent survey revealed that US Americans check their phones 205 times daily. That’s once every 5 minutes!

With so many phone contacts, it’s impossible to get focused work done. And even if your phone is “just there” without you picking it up, it still steals your focus.

How your phone ruins your focus

This was tested in a seminal study from 2016. The researchers conducted 2 experiments, with an impressive 800+ participants across both.

In both experiments, participants worked on a set of mentally challenging tasks, and they were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 groups:

• Group 1: Desk—They left their phones face down on the same desk where they executed the tasks.
• Group 2: Pocket/bag—They kept their phones where they usually would, either in a pocket or in their bag. So: The phone wasn’t visible, but it was in the same room.
• Group 3: Another room—They left their phones in the lobby before entering the test room.

You’re probably imagining what happened: Group 1 had the worst performance, and Group 3’s performance was best. Group 2 was between the other groups.

In Experiment 2, in addition to the 3 possible phone locations, the researchers tested whether switching off the phone had any effect. It didn’t, which rules out the explanation that the awareness of potentially incoming notifications contributed to the results.

Importantly, participants in both experiments switched off all sounds and vibrations before starting the test.

This study shows that if you want to perform at your maximum cognitive capacity, it’s best to leave your phone in another room.

And if that’s not possible, at least leave it out of sight.

What happens when we add incoming notifications to the equation?

(Remember that in the study I just described, all participants’ sounds and vibration were turned off, and Group 1 put their phones face down so they couldn’t see their phone screens activating.)

A 2022 study measured brain responses to smartphone notification sounds.

Results showed that the brain exerts more cognitive control when a smartphone notification sound is presented. In other words, people need to use more of their mental resources to focus on the main task when interrupted by a smartphone notification sound.

Smartphone notifications made focusing on the experimental task more effortful.

Regarding reaction times, participants slowed down a little when a smartphone notification sound was presented, indicating distraction by the sound. This slower response was not observed for a simple “beep” sound used for comparison. The slower responses were specific to the smartphone sound.

This study shows how smartphone notifications distract us and impair our cognitive performance.

Notification sounds decrease your focus, even if you say, “I’m just ignoring them.”

Wrapping up

So, the bottom line is: If you want to get focused work done, leave your phone out of sight, ideally in another room, and switch off all sounds and vibration.

You might not like this because your phone is important to you, but it ruins your focus.

I recommend you define fixed usage and no-usage times across your working day, so you always know when you’ll be “allowed” to pick up your phone again.