The best way to focus? Do nothing.

I can totally relate to your struggle with staying focused, especially as a self-employed individual. Your counterintuitive approach of giving yourself the choice between working during a Pomodoro or doing nothing is intriguing. The idea of embracing moments of "doing nothing" to avoid distractions and maintain focus makes a lot of sense. It's a unique strategy that I'm eager to try in my own workflow. Thanks for sharing your insights and the ongoing journey toward finding that perfect distraction-free work environment! 🚀 #ProductivityHacks #FocusOnTheJourney

Surprisingly, I was doing the same approach when I was preparing for the hardest exam in my engineering journey, doing nothing reduce the overload on the brain, also many time I found myself thinking about the task and rather wanting to do it instead of boredom, it also make you realise some points in difused mode of thinking than focused mode of focus time (pomodoro time) .Also as you mentionned the diversification of tasks ( switching subject for my case) worked good, since boredom is a THING to not underestimate it, but it should be in different nature than the former task.

Hi,
Thanks, Jacob, for sharing this. I will try this, I hope it will work.

I agree. Most people nowadays is so afraid to be bored, they get fidgety just by standing in line. Sometimes, when we sit with our thoughts long enough is when our subconscious mind is able to do the heavy lifting.

I actually do something very similar to this, but on the breaks i tend to read for about 10 minutes to escape for a lil while and give my mind a break.

let's do nothing Jacob! Let's focus. Thanks for sharing

I think that doing nothing is a way to stay and reset. On the other hand, getting distracted leads you further and further away, making it even harder to come back in the end.

I do this too. Taking walks in the morning is the best time for me to get my mind quiet for the day.

Thanks for sharing

Thank you for sharing valuable knowledge.

I will try it, thanks for sharing

"doing nothing is very boring, even more boring than working."
I love it!
I forgot about this productivity hack, this is exactly what I needed to read today! Thanks for sharing this :)

Totally agree! Just took a 12 days digital detox trying to do nothing an I am reflected and focussed as never before!

Hey, hats off to you! I'm definitely going to give it a go myself – thanks for the great tip

Great advice, I've heard this from others as well. If we allow ourselves to only be able to do 1 thing compared to doing nothing, we will find a way to make that 1 thing enjoyable.

I'll try it out, lets see

I've used the brute force method to varying degrees of success, and I've been doing this since high school. However it's high stress and doesn't always work, especially at times when I need it the most.

I think I might give this a shot and see if it works better for me!

Pure gold!

this is actually a solid advice!

thank you so much. These are really great tips. I will try to implement them. 😅

Great post, I'll try to apply this in my daily life, but for now, what I do is I set goals for every single day. So whenever I get distracted, I just look at my today's goals and then start working on them again! That's a really productive way to stay focused IMO!

Good advice. Let's try this out. haha

Haha thx for sharing. I think this might be a good hack.

Nice, on my end I try to be aware of anything that can get me addicted, even a pomodoro timer. I'm trying to get ride of any excuses to do what needs to be done. And found myself waiting for the pomodoro timer to clock in and star working

Being mindful of most aspects of myself helped me a lot.

Being more aware of my health (body and financials) and what I treasure in my current life, as well my goals. Helps me to stop procrastinating and just do what needs to be done.

One other thing that is really important is just listen to your body signs, if you found yourself really in need for a break, or day off. Just do it. It is really hard to win some battles by trying to brute force yourself.

Absolutely- spend time thinking to avoid useless rework or heading in an unproductive direction.

Very good read. It's so simple and yet so overlooked.

That is insightful.

I swear that I just started this method like a week ago and I found it all by myself, I’m glad to see other people not doing it.

Woah, I had the opposite effects with Pomodoro. I usually lock in. I silence my phone, DND, and have the time right by my laptop.

I only give myself distractions if I have to goto the bathroom whilst the timer is going but usually don't spend long on my phone I noticed.

Doing nothing at times actually do help me in feeling the itch to do something. It is why I practice meditation, sitting around breathing helps me to channel the nothingness.

The world has turned into a constant productivity obsessed mindset that we forgot the very basics of our human nature.
Getting bored is not only good for our productivity, but also for our mental health and consequentially for our creativity.

I recently decided to go on a sabbatical period to unwind and to supposedly, rest.
I have done nothing for like the first week, after that, my mind just started wondering about new ideas, new projects... I ended up not resting at all and my overall satisfaction and creativity has flourished like it has not in many years - this just because I allowed myself to wonder and get bored.

We should embrace more of sitting on public transport and just looking at the window, sitting at home and be comfortable with the silence, or simply go on a walk and listen to nature.

Thanks for sharing that less is more.

What works for me, to increase productivity, is to go out for about 40 minutes (bike, walk the dog,...).

I recommend it to everyone who works from home and has flexible hours.