If you can't even sit still for 10 minutes, this isn't here to criticize you

But to learn with you: how do ordinary people achieve 3 hours of continuous focus

1. Why do we always lose focus?

It's not that your willpower is too weak, nor that you're inherently unsuited for studying and working. Your brain is just running its default program: avoiding difficulty and seeking dopamine.

Most people think focus is like flipping a switch—immediately entering a state. But before you start, there are two invisible killers blocking the way: decision fatigue and attention residue.

1. Decision Fatigue

In psychology, there's a concept called decision fatigue. Every choice you make consumes a bit of mental energy. These trivial decisions, before you even begin, exhaust you mentally, causing you to naturally do something easier, like scrolling your phone.

Think about how you usually start working:
“Today I need to write a report.”
“Review for the exam.”
“Push forward that project.”

They sound like clear goals, but to the brain, they are vague instructions. Which part to start with? Should I outline first? Do I need to look up some data? Should I check previous emails?

Each of these questions forces you to make a small decision.

2. Attention Residue

After you finally finish these small choices, 15-20 minutes before you start, you'll feel especially resistant, and your brain will frequently drift.

Because your attention is still lingering elsewhere: an unread message from before, a social media post you didn’t finish scrolling, unfinished tasks from this morning.

Psychologists call this attention residue: you think you're working on the current task, but your brain still has several open tabs quietly consuming bandwidth in the background.

So, the real challenge isn't whether you can focus for 3 hours, but how to pass the first 20 minutes of mental rebellion and enter a flow state.

2. Four simple steps to start focusing

01. Eliminate ambiguity

Let's start with decision fatigue.

Before beginning work, you need to do one seemingly simple but crucial thing: write down a specific goal that you can act on immediately.

Not “write a paper,” but:
* Outline the first chapter
* Revise two cases in the third section
* Finish reading and note-taking on that referenced paper in Chapter 3

Not “review for the exam,” but:
* Complete 20 multiple-choice questions from Chapter 3 in 45 minutes
* Copy and memorize key formulas from Chapter 5

When your goal is specific enough, your brain no longer needs to ask what to do next.

The first step of focus is never harder work, but more specificity.

02. Move your phone out of the room

Next, tackle a more insidious enemy—your phone.

A University of Texas experiment yielded terrifying results:

Even if the phone is just lying quietly on the table, screen face down, on silent mode, people's focus performance still drops significantly. The researchers called this the “Brain Drain Effect.”

Every time you restrain yourself, a little attention is drained.

So, that old saying is true: the best self-discipline is to put yourself in an environment that doesn’t require much discipline.

If you want to give your brain a fair chance, at least do three things:
1. Put your phone in another room, not just within reach to test your willpower.
2. Turn off all notifications and pop-ups on your computer.
3. Close all tabs except the one for your current task.

03. Prepare a distraction trash can for your brain

Even if you send your phone away, your brain won’t easily give up. Once you get into the zone, it will start to ask:
“Did I pay the water and electricity bill?”
“Did I reply to XXX’s message?”
“Seems like I’m running out of laundry detergent.”
“What should I eat tonight?”

Your brain is designed to scan for unfinished tasks to prevent missing important survival-related things. In ancient times, this might have been “Should I light a fire tonight?” Today, it's “Have I paid the bills?”

The best way to handle these thoughts is to give them a safe outlet. Keep a notebook or a piece of paper nearby. Once these thoughts are written down, your brain can relax a bit, knowing these things are not forgotten, just postponed.

04. Follow your ultradian rhythm

The brain's high-intensity focus has a physiological limit.

Research shows that the human brain operates in roughly 90-minute cycles, called ultradian rhythms.

So instead of trying to work for 5 hours straight, take each 90-minute session seriously.

Set a timer for 90 minutes and focus on just one task during this period. Rest for 10-15 minutes, then start the next 60-90 minute focus session.

If hearing “90 minutes” makes your scalp tingle, that’s normal. Focus is more like a muscle than a talent.

Initially, just do one thing: today, quietly focus for 10 minutes; tomorrow, extend to 15 minutes; next week, maybe even half an hour.

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At this point, you probably can recite this process:

1. Make your goal specific enough to act on immediately;
2. Move your phone out of the room, turn off notifications;
3. Use a distraction notebook to catch all wandering thoughts;
4. Respect your brain’s 90-minute rhythm, balance work and rest.

Many people reach this step and develop a familiar illusion: “I understand the principle, I’m already close to change.” But in reality, there’s a barrier between knowing and doing—the hardest door to cross: starting.

Here’s a small truth you might need to remember:

Procrastination is mostly not laziness, but psychological avoidance.

What your brain is avoiding is not the work itself, but the emotions tied to it: fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear of discovering you're not that smart. So it prefers to take you to see countless trivial things rather than confront that insecurity directly.

That’s why, once you actually start— even just writing down a small heading—things often become less scary and may even become interesting.

So, if there’s one thing you should remember now, it’s: don’t bargain with tomorrow’s self. Start with today’s 10 minutes.