How to improve concentration and reduce digital distractions?
The following techniques are easy to implement and enjoy a relative consensus among professionals dealing with (among other things) creativity and screen time. They are part of my recommendations for mediation workshops.
Identify your digital weaknesses.
I define a digital weakness point for concentration as anything time-consuming that steals your time or encourages doom-scrolling . Perhaps you particularly enjoy browsing the internet in search of information, or scrolling through Reddit and watching TikTok videos? Depending on the amount of time you spend on them, websites and applications constitute attention vulnerabilities. If you want to stop procrastinating and improve your concentration, block these platforms, or even remove your access to them. Uninstalling an app takes less than a minute. Getting rid of a shortcut takes just as long. Losing direct access maintains the possibility of connecting to these platforms, but removes the ease and automatic responses. This makes them less desirable. As for abandoning an account properly, it’s always possible: I closed my Facebook and Messenger profile in 2026, without regret.
Set time management goals
If simply saying “I resist distractions” were enough to bring about change, everyone would know it. To improve your concentration, you need to set clear goals for managing your time. You are responsible for their completion, and as such, you must feel involved. Many of us start the week with grand projects that, by Friday evening, have not progressed beyond the initial spark. Because deep down, we didn’t really care about how they were made. When you’re not fully engaged in your actions, it’s unrealistic to expect to focus on them. Distractions will always seem more appealing. I therefore encourage you to take stock (honestly and objectively!) of how you manage your daily life. This will help you identify the tasks on which you struggle the most to maintain your concentration. You can base it on your usual schedule or your to-do list, or rely on the Toggl tool . Chances are, you’ll be surprised at how much time you waste by poorly planning your days.
Manage your relationship with email.s
Do you sometimes wonder how to improve your concentration at work? Stop wasting hours sorting and classifying your inbox! It’s a never-ending task that hurts your productivity, because the more time you spend in your email, the more communications you receive. It’s a vicious cycle, since you’re at the mercy of everyone who writes to you. Admit one essential thing: in this matter, you have relative, or even non-existent, control. Following on from the previous technique related to scheduling, limit the amount of time each day allocated to processing emails. No more than once or twice a day if possible! Outside of these specific periods, keep your messaging app closed.
Unsubscribe from unnecessary mailing lists
By the way, since we’re talking about emails, how much time do you waste reading or dealing with spam or commercial messages from mailing lists? Probably too much. Do you want to give your future self hundreds of hours of freedom? Go into berserker mode, and unsubscribe from all those newsletters that drain your time and energy. With each new newsletter of this kind you receive, drastic times call for drastic measures: click on “Unsubscribe”. Only keep what teaches you something or proves useful. Radical and effective, like all anti-advertising techniques.
Remove all notifications
Assume that any notification disrupts your concentration. A millisecond of attention given to a slight beep, and it collapses.Â
To improve your concentration:
- Turn off all your notifications
- Put your phone in “Do Not Disturb” mode.
Leave your phone in another room
Your phone doesn’t need to be within 20 centimeters of your hand all the time.
Practice leaving it in another room during your work or creative phases to improve concentration.
While this advice may seem simple and effective, some habits die hard. Adopting it is even more difficult in cases of nomophobia (anxiety about being away from one’s phone).
Limit yourself to a computer screen.
Having two screens for computer work is convenient because it allows you to see more content at once. However, it also increases distractions:
- More clutter
- No more open windows or tabs
- No more software is currently running
Stick to a single screen. This technical minimalism will force you to concentrate and declutter what you display.
Learn to disconnect for long periods of time.
If you’re going to improve your concentration, you might as well bring out the big guns sometimes. In this case, it means taking full days off to disconnect.
Yes, I mean periods of 24 hours a day without a computer or smartphone.
Not only is it calming, but this sort of digital Sabbath also allows for:
- A complete absence of digital distractions
- Social relationships where you are 100% involved
- Time to clear your mind and improve your concentration
If this idea of ​​radical disconnection seems like heresy to you, it’s because you have no control over the technology you use – but we’ll have the opportunity to talk about that elsewhere,e another time.
Reward your concentration
Finally, although it might seem silly to mention it, we like to be rewarded for our efforts. Whether these efforts are voluntary or imposed from the outside, this need deserves to be met. Set yourself a goal related to improving your concentration, then treat yourself to a little pleasure when you have achieved it.
