Research & Discovery

Trouble focusing? These UVA experts can help

You’re on a deadline at work, but a string of Slack notifications distracts you from putting the finishing touches on that project. Or you want to read a book, but you can’t seem to stop picking up your phone to check for texts or news alerts.

We live in a distracted age, where a meeting or a feature-length movie can seem impossible to get through without your mind wandering. But your attention can be retrained.

portraits of Michael Sheehy, left, and Leidy Klotz, right.

Michael Sheehy, left, is a meditation researcher, while Leidy Klotz, right, studies the intersection between engineering and behavioral science. (Photo by Molly Angevine; contributed photo)

UVA Today talked to two University of Virginia experts – Michael Sheehy, the director of research at the Contemplative Sciences Center, and School of Engineering and Applied Science professor Leidy Klotz – for advice on how to boost your focus.

Protect your attention

It’s easy to take your attention for granted – after all, it’s always there, Sheehy said. But it can be depleted, leading to feelings of exhaustion, burnout and anxiety. That depletion is habitual. If someone is used to hopping between their work email, personal texts and The New York Times app on their phone, for example, they may be more likely to let their minds wander even if they don’t have a device in front of them.

“Let’s remember our attention is a precious human resource. If we treat our attention as something we need to guard, to protect, and we direct it toward what we want to pay attention to, that resource is strengthened and becomes more abundant,” Sheehy said.

Sheehy suggested imagining your mind as a kind of garden. If you don’t tend to it, weeds will encroach, what you planted may wither, and the garden can become wild. When you tend to the garden, you flourish.

Consider your goals

“You can’t multitask important things. You might be able to have a conversation with someone and check your texts at the same time, but you’re not going to be doing a good job of either of those things,” said Klotz, who researches the overlaps between engineering and behavioral science.

That means you have to set priorities. You may want to spend your day painting, or focus on time with your kids, or enjoy the scenery while hiking. When you take the time to think about your goals and values, Klotz said, you’re less likely to fritter away time on busy work. Odds are, you don’t dream of sending the fastest email reply or reading the most Tweets in a day.

Schedule your time

Give yourself a slot of time for tasks that might otherwise take up the whole day, with myriad interruptions in between. That way, you can decide when you want to read your emails, rather than blindly reacting to every alert that comes through.

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Klotz said on a given day, he might set aside three hours to write and 30 minutes to answer email, then plan to go for a run afterward, which allows him to process the work he just completed.

“I’m not saying people need to adopt my schedule, but saying you should think about the different types of mental work you need to do and match it with your surroundings,” Klotz said.

Turn on your notifications

As an experiment, try turning on every notification, alarm and sound on your phone. Let your colleagues and anyone you live with know you are doing this. Give it a week and notice your reaction every time your phone goes off. The sheer volume of beeps and tones may help them become less addictive and more annoying.

“This is an antidotal approach. … After that, you’re going to have to decide if you want to allow this thing to constantly disrupt your thought flow and your relationships,” Sheehy said.

Take time to reset

If you don’t have time for that experiment and need help getting through the next couple of hours, try finding a quiet place, like your car or a private nook. Set a timer for five minutes and close your eyes. Breathe in for three seconds, hold your breath, then exhale for three seconds. Repeat the cycle until the timer goes off.

“It’s a biological reset of your nervous system,” Sheehy said.

Technology is here to stay, Sheehy said, so people need to be intentional about how they use it. Otherwise, most people will default to hours upon hours of screentime and near-constant interruptions to their daily life.

Don’t be afraid to set an example

Despite your best intentions, you may be tempted to check your devices when it seems like everyone around you is doing the same thing. But, like your family may have warned you, just because other people are jumping off a bridge doesn’t mean you need to.

“Let’s orient how we value our attention. You have to ask yourself, ‘Are there other ways people act that don’t exemplify how I want to behave in the world?’” Sheehy said.

If your friend is checking their phone while you’re having lunch, try keeping yours stowed away. You can set an example.

“The more that you demonstrate you’re thoughtfully prioritizing things, the more other people realize that it’s OK to do that, too,” Klotz said.