Self Improvement

• Meet your new best friend, Pareto - The Pareto principle states that for most things, 80% of the results come from 20% of the causes. Before you even begin focusing on executing your tasks, understand where to focus your energy.

• 30 minute marathons - For 30 minutes, focus on doing only one thing with all of your effort and energy. Sounds like a sprint right? It's not. Focusing 100% of your energy on one task for 30 minutes is a long sustained period of time. I call that a marathon. When you're done, take a break.

• Be zen - Research dating back to the 1970s show that Buddhist monks that meditated for years regularly performed well on concentration tests. During your 5 minute break, take the time to meditate. Close your eyes, focus on your breathing and let go.

• Honor Edison - Thomas Edison, one of the most iconic American inventors, was also a world champion napper. Okay, so there's no such thing as a world champion napper. My point is that he was an avid napper. Long period of intense focus often require you to be well rested. Make sure you're getting high quality sleep when you can (for most people it's around 8 hours). #DoTheEdison

• Listicle - I get it, there are a million listicles out there. Don't worry, I'm not here to tell you to read them. I'm here to suggest the opposite: it's time for you create your own daily listicle. Each day, focus on the top 3 goals you need to accomplish that will make the biggest impact.

• Rising sun method - For the majority of people, the best time to focus is in the morning. Tackle your toughest challenges right when you wake up. Your energy will typically be higher and you won't encounter as many distractions.

• The single tab approach - When you work on a task, make sure it's the only task you're working on to stay focused. Get rid of all the distractions. I call this the single tab approach. For example, when I write for Quora, I typically close out all the Chrome tabs so that I don't start perusing newspaper articles, Facebook or start a Skype call. Multitasking is overrated when it comes to high quality work.

• Batch your emails - Checking your emails and then responding to each email as it comes in is usually really unproductive unless your role is one that requires an immediate response. In most cases, it's better to only check your email 2-3 times a day in batches and then to prioritize your email responses accordingly (you can set up email rules in Gmail and Outlook to also help with prioritization too)

• Switch out caffeine with exercise - Studies have shown that aerobic exercise may improve our short and long term functioning in brain regions related to attention. I used to drink coffee in the morning. Now I just work out.

• Be happy - If you're in a bad mood, the negative thoughts will often drag you down into a long spiral of worry and fear. Don't let it happen to you. If you have to, watch a funny Youtube video, have a fun talk with a good friend or dance like nobody's watching. Happiness can increase your focus. If you need more tips here are 10 on how to be happy in life.