Perceived Difficulty is a Productivity Killer: How to Build Focus

3 steps to beat procrastination and building focus.

Do you find it hard to focus when solving a new hard problem? Do you spend hours sitting with a difficult problem and have no outcome? Do you give up prematurely? I do.

For example, I neither write about productivity nor have I coached people to be more productive. So, when I decided to write an article on how I find “focus” and be “productive”, I perceived the problem to be extremely difficult. I considered giving up.

Fortunately, I beat those thoughts and avoided procrastinating on this one, and have an article for you.

I followed these three steps:

🚫 1. Block distractions for 30 minutes

Try the following to get in the “zone” to solve your problems:

1. Introspect things that can cause distraction. Knowing those helps block those.

2. Pick a time when you are energetic and not when you are already tired.

3. Choose to scribble or type things instead of just ‘thinking’.

4. Have a timer and focus on the problem until the timer runs out.

5. Keep those distractions away for at least 30 minutes until creativity kicks in.

Examples that distract me these days,

• Worrying if my contractor will finish the renovation on time can spiral in my head. OR

• Acting on other “important” problems is a classic guilt-free way to procrastinate. OR

• Notifications on my phone.

Here is what I did for writing this article

• I chose to start only when I didn’t feel tired.

• I picked a quiet corner of my house and kept my phone away.

• Had my text editor on full screen to minimize distractions.

• Every time I got distracted I yelled the article's name out loud.

The first 10 minutes were hard but distractions died down over time.

🔍 2. Break it down into simpler problems

Don’t tackle the giant monolith

New problems seem harder when we see them as a giant monolith. We tend to focus on the scary parts and find N reasons to avoid solving them.

In this case, when I started with the high-level goal, ‘write 5 actionable steps to avoid procrastination’, it made things worse. I over-indexed on writing the article instead of going deep into the topic.

Identify what scares you

This was the first time I was writing about productivity. So, I was afraid of coming across as fake.

Find similar experiences

I have written other articles out of my comfort zone before. So, I looked at those to recall the journey and the outcome. That helped me with two things:

1. Tricking my brain to think it was achievable

2. How to define a simpler goal.

For the newsletter, I created these simpler goals

1. Make a list of past situations when I procrastinated and how I managed them.

   1. That helped me focus on what I already knew instead of obsessing over the article.

2. Draw parallels between those experiences and what I was facing while writing this article

3. Later, check to see if I have an article to share.

   1. That helped me postpone the difficult part of the problem until I had more information and a writing mindset.

An engineering example, is when I need to refactor a huge codebase: I fear the number of files, tests, frameworks, etc. that would have to be updated. Then I worry about the time I need to spend. That can scare me from taking the first step. My hack is to curb those thoughts and focus on fewer changes at a time.

🏃‍♂️ 3. Don’t stop when you just get started

It is hard to get my brain primed to solve hard problems. But, once I am past the initial hurdle the worst thing I can do is stop. That means I have to get over the hurdle again.

Think through the harder parts now

Building focus can be hard, so don't break it. This is the best time to tackle the hardest parts of the problem. Convert that 30-minute focus time into an hour or two session as the minor setbacks won’t demotivate you while you have momentum.

Pause after an “accomplishment”

Some problems are too large to be solved in a single session. Also for various reasons, you need to pause your session and return later. If possible, take that break after you hit some “milestone”. That leaves a good feeling for when you come back.

Serialize your thoughts

Capture detailed notes. In addition to the technical details, also capture

• How you felt about the problem at first and how you feel now

• Challenges that remain and how you perceive them

• Notes for the future you who may procrastinate

These help me with continuity and reduce the chances of procrastination.

Parting Note

Building focus for a hard problem can be a challenge for me. Involuntarily, I had been following these aforementioned steps to get in the “zone”. So, I hope it helps those of you who, like me, get scared by the perceived difficulty of the problem.

Focus is a very personal thing so this article may not resonate with all. So, please share what works for you in the comments.

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While my family continues to deal with the loss of a loved one, my writing schedule will remain erratic. Thanks for your continued readership.

Hit the ❤️ button if the article resonates with you.