Boost Your Focus and Productivity in English and Beyond!

Jenn Author

Summary: Fast tips to increase your focus and boost your productivity with the Pomodoro technique and a bonus hack!

Do you sometimes feel like your brain is pulled in a million different directions? Like there is not enough time to study, work, care for your family, or have a social life.

You are not alone.

I recently read that our attention span is getting shorter. We seem to be giving in to screen time more and more. Researchers have found that back in 2004 our attention span on ANY screen was about 2.5 minutes. But that fell to 75 seconds in 2012 and further to a super quick 47 seconds on average TODAY!

Wait, what 47 seconds? We should be brushing our teeth longer than that.

Is it our fault that we are shifting our attention so much? I mean look at social media, YouTube, and music videos -they all have gotten shorter over the years. This type of flash and fast content might be great to get a hot tip here or a quick trick there. But it is not going to help you get far when studying for English, or even Economics, or writing a report for work.

Our brains do not like to work this way. But good news. We can do something about it.

Today, I want to talk about how you can avoid distractions, get into a flow, and focus your attention in manageable ways to boost your productivity and study better.

These days we have a lot going on with many distractions. If you are studying English on top of managing your family, your other studies, or work -it can be a challenge to stay on top of it all.

Stop multitasking

When it comes to studying for English, I want you to minimize distractions. Those small distractions like your phone or open tabs on your computer can create an opening for multitasking.

Multitasking is not good for our brains. Not me talking here, it’s the science.

Research Gloria Mark, PhD tells us that when people multitask, they experience stress, and their blood pressure rises. They also make errors and performance can slow down. Why?
It’s called the switch cost.

So, every time you switch your attention, you must refocus your attention on that new activity, that new thing you're paying attention to, and it takes a little bit of time.

Say you are working on English grammar phrases or reading an IELTS reading passage, but your phone buzzes. You stop and look at your phone. You take your attention away from your studies and switch to the message on your phone and maybe you need to do something else depending on what was on your phone. Some time has passed, and now you are switching your attention back to your studies. You have less focus, you have lost time, and you will need to spend more time refocusing.

That’s the switch cost.

Find your flow

You may not know what being in flow is but you’ve likely been in your flow. Technically being in your flow is when you are at your optimal or greatest state of attention. It’s when you are working on something, and time doesn’t seem to matter. You could do it all day.

This is when we are using the optimal amount of challenge of our skills. Stay with me. When we are not challenged enough, it doesn’t matter what we are doing, we can’t get into a flow -we’re bored with the task. On the other hand, when we are challenged too much, we also cannot get into a flow -our task is too hard. We all have a sweet spot depending on what we are doing.

Okay, but how do I find my flow when studying English can be so hard?

I am sharing with you something I try to do every day to be more productive and in my flow throughout the day, whether I am creating a new curriculum, designing new content, teaching, or managing administrative tasks.

Time blocking or the Pomodoro technique

I use a technique called The Pomodoro Technique, some people call it time blocking or chunking. No matter what you call it is super effective to help you be productive in studying or work.

This technique is super simple as well, so let’s dive in!

The Pomodoro technique was developed by Francisco Cirillo in the 1980s and works like this:
You break your task down into small chunks of time with breaks, which can help you psychologically get through a more difficult task a bit easier. Use a timer to help you. Yep, the old kitchen timer is your partner in this effort!

The method outlines 25 minutes of a task with 5 minutes break. You can do 4 rounds of 25/5 and then take a longer break of around 15 to 20 minutes. You may not finish your task completely, which is why you have the rounds -but if you finish early here’s what to do:

1. Review your work just completed (optional)
2. Review the activities from a learning point of view (ex: What learning objective did you accomplish? What learning outcome did you accomplish? Did you fulfill your learning target, objective, or outcome for the task?)
3. Review the list of upcoming tasks for the next planned Pomodoro time blocks and start reflecting on or updating them.

However, when it is time to take a break. BREAK. Taking a break will give you more energy and is shown to provide more attentional capacity -so you can do more, i.e. be more productive.

But many of us have a lot of things to do in a full day or study session. How do you break that up?

Now, the Pomodoro stresses the 25/5-minute method. But you could try other time chunks such as giving yourself one task, setting a timer for 20/30/45/60 minutes, and getting into your flow. But when the timer goes off give yourself a REAL break afterward. Do not just scroll on your phone for 20 minutes mindlessly. Set another timer for 5 to 10 minutes and get some water, stand up, take a short walk, stretch, or do a short breathing exercise. You’ll be amazed how this little intentional reset will reenergize you to focus on the next task on your list.

Bonus productivity hack

Parkinson’s Law says the amount of work you need to do will expand to fill the amount of time you have. In other words, if you have three hours to write a report, it will take you three hours. Therefore, if you only have 45 minutes with some focus you can probably finish it in 45 minutes.

Keep this in mind when blocking your time.

In practice -how to study with the Pomodoro

You know you need to sit down and practice your English, whether it’s to work on a practice sheet or read out loud or complete an IELTS study guide. You know what you need to do but often the real problem is the motivation to sit down and start your practice. You need focus to start your practice.

First, try to consider this technique throughout your week. If you normally only block out 1 or 2 longer study sessions per week. Think about breaking those up into several throughout the week in say 25 or 30-minute blocks or even 10-minute sprints, where you are super intentional and focused.
Gather all the materials you will need to study, close any open tabs on your computer that are not study material, put your phone in another room, and try to put yourself in a place where you won’t be interrupted by family or housemates.

Using a kitchen timer (or you can find many Pomodoro clocks online) set a timer for a 25-minute block. Open your materials and get into your flow. If you find you prefer 45/ 50-minute blocks that’s okay if you have 5 to 10 minutes break to get up, walk around, stretch, or get water. Then get back to your studies.

You will find this time will be more productive as you are working in short bursts efficiently and giving yourself mental and physical breaks. Give it a try when studying English, and perhaps breaking up your workday as well.

Leave a comment or tag @yourenglishcompass on Instagram to tell me how you get on.
Good luck!

Ready to make a breakthrough with your IELTS preparation? Join one of my IELTS courses!

You may also enjoy further reading from Gloria Mark, PhD see her book: Attention Span: A Groundbreaking Way to Restore Balance, Happiness, and Productivity.

Categories: : IELTS, Mindset, Study Habits