Focus, like many skills, can be improved, but takes practice and training to build up longer focus times. The below is mostly based on ideas from the Pomodoro Technique®[1]
To start, do a task without distractions for your current ability - 15 minutes. Set a timer and stay on task until time runs out.
Take a short break - 5 minutes, maybe 10 at most.
Repeat the above 2-3 times, then take a longer break, something around 25-30 minutes. If you feel OK, do another 2-3 rounds and then go do something less taxing that doesn't take deep focus.
If you have truly focused for the time, you'll know it. Just starting out, a couple of hours of work will definitely sap your energy.
Gradually increase you focus works times by 5 minutes. If you can get to 25 minutes without feeling the need to do something else, that's great. If you can do the above cycles with your full attention for a total of four hours, you're doing well. Not a lot of people can do really intense, focused work for more than four hours a day. The rest of your work day, do low-intensity things like answering emails, cleaning up your work area (both physical and virtual), and such.
There's an entire book devoted to this that I can recommend: Deep Work
Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World, by Cal Newport.
To start, do a task without distractions for your current ability - 15 minutes. Set a timer and stay on task until time runs out.
Take a short break - 5 minutes, maybe 10 at most.
Repeat the above 2-3 times, then take a longer break, something around 25-30 minutes. If you feel OK, do another 2-3 rounds and then go do something less taxing that doesn't take deep focus.
If you have truly focused for the time, you'll know it. Just starting out, a couple of hours of work will definitely sap your energy.
Gradually increase you focus works times by 5 minutes. If you can get to 25 minutes without feeling the need to do something else, that's great. If you can do the above cycles with your full attention for a total of four hours, you're doing well. Not a lot of people can do really intense, focused work for more than four hours a day. The rest of your work day, do low-intensity things like answering emails, cleaning up your work area (both physical and virtual), and such.
There's an entire book devoted to this that I can recommend: Deep Work Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World, by Cal Newport.
1 https://francescocirillo.com/pages/pomodoro-technique