Many people who know how to be productive also understand how to focus, or at least how not to be distracted. Time management is a skill that many people don't learn or develop, and it can lead to a serious loss of productivity over time.
Understanding how to organize your tasks, professional and personal, can be extremely beneficial in the long run. By focusing on planning tasks at the beginning of your week or month, you can appreciate how much you have to do and the time you have to get things done.
After learning how to plan your task list for the week, it’s simply a matter of diligently crossing things off your list or delegating them to others as needed. Start crossing things off and you will be more productive and have time to focus on things that truly make a difference in your life.
Why is task decomposition so important?
Another reason people tend to be unproductive is that they see the tasks at hand as too complicated. Faced with a big problem, it's easy to get overwhelmed and lose interest.
However, this does not help you to achieve anything. The smart way forward is task decomposition.
Breaking down your tasks is the practice of adding subtasks to items on your to-do list. If something like “grocery shopping” was on your list, it would be wise to have subtasks of all the things you needed or wanted to buy. Without a firm plan of action, you may skip shopping altogether or forget to buy things you really need.
How to decompose a task
If the standard to-do list isn't for you, a more visually appealing format can help you get everything done.
For Mac it works like a to-do list, but it offers your tasks in a more visually appealing format, and it's available to use for free during your seven-day Setapp trial. You can create tasks and subtasks in the form of a flowchart and mark dependencies between your tasks as needed. Assign due dates and include any notes you like, including images.
Notifications for tasks with due dates keep you on track, and you can even set up location-based reminders if needed. Taskheat is truly a next-level to-do list for those who need a little help staying motivated and organized.
Why is focus on a task so important?
Carving out time to devote to a task or set of tasks associated with a larger goal helps you accomplish more.
However, focusing can be difficult. In a digital world, we constantly have distractions available. Messages from friends and family, social media and the entire internet seem to be vying for our attention all the time. Even when you plan to focus on tasks, distractions abound.
But blocking out distractions keeps you focused on what you need to accomplish. If it's hard for you to concentrate, don't feel bad - it's a common problem these days.
How to stay focused on a task
for Mac is a lightweight to-do app with a trick up its sleeve: it blocks everything else when you set a focus timer so you can get things done! It's another example of the great apps available in the Setapp suite for your Mac.
You can choose to block all or check off your to-do items and choose to allow notifications for other list items as needed. If you're working on homework and need to run away to buy an item on your "household" to-do list, Be Focused will let you know.
Set a timer on Be Focused and notifications from other apps disappear. You can also view and export statistics, so you know exactly how productive you are and where you spent your time in the last week, month or quarter.
The Out of Focus feature also works on iPad and iPhone so you can stay on task and productive no matter where you go.
Conclusion
Sometimes the simplest solutions are the best. Focusing on projects is the best way to achieve the goals you've set for yourself and can help you generate better results than you ever imagined.
Be Focused and TaskHeat are two of the best apps available for getting things done. Both are unique and offer generous platforms for carrying out both professional and personal tasks. If you need something light that keeps you from getting distracted, try Be Focused.
For those who need to create large, diverse, and deeply detailed lists of things to do, Taskheat is a great app. It can manage any workload, even across your company's teams.
Both apps are available for free during a seven-day trial of Setapp, the best suite of productivity apps you can have for your Mac. In addition to Taskheat and Be Focused, you'll have full access to over 200 other amazing apps during the week-long trial period.
When you finish the test driving apps, Setapp costs just US$ $9.99 per month for continuous access to the entire Setapp catalog, which is always expanding. It's an amazing deal that's worth every penny, so why wait – try Setapp now!