The task is big, the deadline is close and your thoughts race. You tell yourself to calm down, but your focus keeps slipping away from the task.
Here is how to remain calm and focused on a task. Put it into one block of focused work with a clear frame. You get four steps along that block and three things to check before your next one.
Put the task into one block with a clear frame
Instead of telling yourself to calm down, put the task into one Deep Work Block. That’s a timed stretch of focused work on one task, usually 45 minutes.
Three things make a task feel heavy. A goal that’s too big means overwhelm, and overwhelm means you freeze. A task with no end in sight is harder to start, especially an unpleasant one.
And your brain won’t let go of thoughts it’s afraid to forget. The block has a tool for each of these three: a block goal, a timer and a thought sheet.
The four steps below follow one block, from before the start to the end. Here we stay with the task itself. If you wonder whether focus can reduce stress in general, that has its own answer.
Step 1: Put distractions away, then breathe for a minute
The frame starts before the work. Turn your phone off, put it out of sight and close apps you don’t need. You’ll notice how quiet your mind gets.
Then close your eyes and use box breathing, the 4x4 method. Breathe in for 4, hold for 4, breathe out for 4 and hold for 4. Keep going for one to two minutes or 10 cycles.
Perciavalle and colleagues (Neurological Sciences, 2017) studied 38 young adults. One group did 10 weekly sessions of deep breathing, 90 minutes each. Their stress, mood, heart rate and cortisol, a stress hormone, improved.
That’s far more than a minute, and the study doesn’t show what one minute does. To see where breathing fits outside work, read about mindfulness techniques for focus.
Step 2: Make the task small and give it an end
With a clear head, set a timer. It tells your brain that the work won’t last forever, because it has an end and will be over soon.
That makes starting easier, especially with unpleasant tasks. If you’re unsure about the length, start shorter, since you can always keep working past the timer.
Then make the task small. Your protocol sheet is a blank page for your goal and your steps. On it, write one block goal: the result you want in the next 45 minutes, not the whole project.
- Done, not do: write it as a finished state, like “First draft of the outline is done.”
- Ambitious but doable: too big means overwhelm, too small means no drive.
- One next step: if the start isn’t clear, add the smallest step you can take right now.
A finished state gives your brain a clear picture of the result. Facing a pile of tasks? First look at how to prioritize deep work tasks, so the right one gets this block.
Step 3: When your mind races, write it down
The timer runs and the goal is written, but thoughts still come. Write each one down and go back to the task.
Other tasks, ideas and errands come into your head, and that’s normal. They go on a thought sheet, a second blank page next to your protocol sheet.
- Catch it: notice that you’re following a thought that has nothing to do with the task.
- Write it down: note the thought in a few keywords on the thought sheet.
- Return: look at your protocol sheet and keep going.
Once the thought is on paper, your brain knows it won’t get lost, and it calms down. Don’t think the thought through, because a keyword is enough.
It takes some practice to catch these thoughts when they come up. But the effect is the same every time, and my head gets quiet.
Sometimes you can’t concentrate, or you lose track of where you are and don’t know how to go on. Then write the next mini step on your protocol sheet and do it. More tools for the middle of a block are part of how to stay focused.
Step 4: End the block without judging yourself
Sooner or later the timer rings. If you’re in flow, fully absorbed in the work, keep going. If not, stop now and don’t add extra minutes.
Note the next step on your protocol sheet in one sentence, so you can pick up right after the break. Then check the result against your block goal: reached, partly reached or not at all.
So don’t judge, just observe. Over time, checking your block goal trains you to see what’s realistic in one block. Then your next goal fits better.
At the end of the day, look back at your protocol sheet. The list of steps you wrote yourself brings satisfaction. For the right moment to stop, read when to stop a deep work session.
Before your next block, check your state
The block is over, and the break comes next. Before the next block, check your current state, so the next block fits how you are now.
When you’re tired, you can’t concentrate. Three states are worth checking, and each one has a clear answer.
- Tired: ask yourself honestly whether you’re awake. A little tired means a shorter block. Very tired means a power nap or a later block.
- Too much coffee: caffeine gives energy and drive. But energy without direction is restlessness. Test one block with coffee and one without.
- Rushed: when time is short, skipping the break is tempting. Don’t, because without breaks the quality of the next blocks drops.
Tiredness gets its own answer in how to focus when tired. If you want to drop the coffee, look at how to focus without caffeine. And how long deep work breaks should be depends on the length of your block.
Then run the next block the same way: breathe, set the timer, write the goal. After a few rounds, that takes only minutes, and each block starts with a clear head. See how it works →
FAQ
Is it better to calm down or get excited before a hard task?
Before a short performance, getting excited may work better than calming down. Brooks showed this in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General (2014).
People who called their nervous feeling excitement sang, spoke and did math better. Long tasks were not tested.
Does media multitasking make you easier to distract?
Media multitasking means using several media at once. It is linked to being easier to distract, but it isn’t shown to cause it.
Moisala and colleagues (NeuroImage, 2016) tested 149 people aged 13 to 24. Those who multitasked more with media each day did worse when distractors were present.
Is it normal to run low on calm and focus before the day is over?
Yes. When your blocks get noticeably less calm and focused, your workday is over, even if it was short.
Starting takes longer, and the task doesn’t move forward. Count results, not hours, because a short day with good results beats a long day without them.
