How to Find Focus With a Busy Mind

When my mind is busy, forcing myself to concentrate can leave me feeling low. Unanswered messages, unfinished tasks and things I don’t want to forget all compete for my attention. Even simple work can feel difficult to begin.

I used to sit down at school, and later in my first jobs, with every intention of working but my mind was already busy. I would think about things happening at home, unfinished tasks, messages I needed to answer and the expectations I had placed on myself. It felt as though I had ten mental tabs open at once. Reaching for my phone became an easy escape, and I often left tasks until deadline pressure forced me to begin.

The following four habits have helped improve my focus when my mind is busy.

1. Removing distractions and keeping my place of work tidy.

2. Working in short blocks usually around 25 minutes then getting up for a short walk.

3. Protecting my sleep with a consistent routine and enough time to rest.

4. Practising dual n-back for 15 minutes.

1. I Remove Distractions and Keep My Space Tidy

I find one of my biggest distractions is looking at my phone, so I put it out of reach when I need to concentrate. In a widely cited study, Ward and colleagues (2017) found that participants whose phones were in another room performed better on a working-memory test than those whose phones were on their desks, even without using them. This is one experimental finding, rather than a guarantee that moving a phone will improve everyone’s focus. [1]

I also keep my room clean and tidy to reduce the visual clutter around me. In a brain-imaging study, McMains and Kastner (2011) found that multiple visual stimuli compete for processing in the brain’s visual cortex. This offers a possible explanation for why reducing visual distractions may help, although the study did not directly test whether tidying a room improves concentration. [2]

2. I Work in Short Blocks

When a task feels impossible, I make the first step smaller. “Finish the report” becomes “write the introduction.”

I choose one clear outcome, work for 25 minutes, then take a five-minute break. If that feels too demanding, I start with 10.

There is some evidence for this approach. In a study of 87 university students, those using planned work-and-break blocks reported better concentration and less fatigue than those choosing their own breaks. There was no clear increase in task completion. [3]

3. I Protect My Sleep

I notice a clear difference in my focus when I am tired.

Small distractions feel more powerful. Decisions take longer, and mentally demanding work requires more effort.

I cannot always control how well I sleep, but I can try to protect the conditions around it.

I might stop work at a defined time, reduce late-night notifications or write down tomorrow’s priorities before going to bed.

Writing things down is especially helpful when my mind is busy because it gives unfinished thoughts somewhere to go. There is some research behind this habit: in a small study of 57 healthy young adults, participants who spent five minutes writing down upcoming tasks fell asleep faster than those who listed completed activities [4]. The study covered one laboratory night, so it suggests a useful habit to try rather than a guaranteed solution.

For more practical sleep habits, see 10 ways to optimise sleep for better memory.

4. I Try a 15-Minute Dual N-Back Session

I also try a 15-minute dual n-back session before work. It challenges me to track sounds and positions while updating what I remember.

There is encouraging early research in adults with ADHD. In a small randomized trial by Salmi and colleagues (2020), participants practising dual n-back improved more on a spatial working-memory test than those playing a comparison game. [5]

Participants trained for around 25 minutes, three times a week, for five weeks, and most continued their usual medication. These findings concern repeated training: they do not establish an overall ADHD-symptom benefit or an immediate focus boost from my 15-minute session.

I treat it as an optional exercise. Our review of dual n-back research explores the findings and their limitations.

You can also practise dual n-back in our app, available on the Apple App Store and Google Play.

References

1. Ward, A. F., Duke, K., Gneezy, A., & Bos, M. W. (2017). Brain drain: The mere presence of one’s own smartphone reduces available cognitive capacity. Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, 2(2), 140–154.

2. McMains, S., & Kastner, S. (2011). Interactions of top-down and bottom-up mechanisms in human visual cortex. Journal of Neuroscience, 31(2), 587–597.

3. Biwer, F., Wiradhany, W., oude Egbrink, M. G. A., & de Bruin, A. B. H. (2023). Understanding effort regulation: Comparing ‘Pomodoro’ breaks and self-regulated breaks. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 93(Suppl. 2), 353–367.

4. Scullin, M. K., Krueger, M. L., Ballard, H. K., Pruett, N., & Bliwise, D. L. (2018). The effects of bedtime writing on difficulty falling asleep. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 147(1), 139–146.

5. Salmi, J., Soveri, A., Salmela, V., Alho, K., Leppämäki, S., Tani, P., Koski, A., Jaeggi, S. M., & Laine, M. (2020). Working memory training restores aberrant brain activity in adult attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Human Brain Mapping, 41(17), 4876–4891.