4. Focus

In a world filled with social media, coworkers, emails and phone calls, finding the focus needed to get things done can be difficult. In our discussing of time management, we mentioned allowing time for distractions over the course of your work day, but sometimes, that’s just not enough. A quick glance at Facebook while your screen is loading can easily become five, ten minutes wasted, especially if someone’s been posting adorable cat videos (don’t worry, we won’t link to any here).

Like with all the other skills listed here, having good focusing skills comes with time and practice, and sometimes with the help of apps. Social media especially is addicting, which is why a number of distraction reducing apps exist to help break the habit. Keeping your cell phone turned off and out of sight will minimize its siren call, and if you still feel like you can’t resist making a grab for it, you can always pick up a timed cell phone locker, and Android has a Priority mode that will only allow certain functions to be used.

For office workers who use browser based applications for work, making sure work related tabs are the ONLY tabs up will help keep you on task. Anti-Social will help by blocking out tempting sites, or you can use Concentrate, which will bring up everything you need to complete one specific task and block out everything else. Finally, if you just can’t get your brain in gear, taking one of those very important breaks and going for a walk outside can help clear out the clutter.