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17 Micro-Habits to Improve Your Focus

2026-02-05 · Long video (solo, talking head or whiteboard) · Ali · recording, 10:15 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Productivity and time (also: Health, sleep and habits) · mode: List of tips or lessons · tags: Lesson from a book, Feel-Good Productivity thesis, His medical past, Sponsor segment present, His own products discussed

Ali gives 17 micro-habits to train your attention span: the five-minute rule, more long-form content, the phone out of the bedroom, blocked and limited apps, no subtitles, varied work places, sitting with internal triggers, tracking progress, recharging breaks, working near others, fixing sleep, food and exercise, muting notifications and asking what would make a task fun.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Introduction: 17 micro-habits to fix your attention span

  • ★★ Ali says the first five minutes of any task are when we are most prone to distraction, peaking just before we start; about five minutes in it becomes much easier to stay focused. — 00:00:00
  • ★★★ Ali's first micro-habit for focus is the five-minute rule: tell yourself you will do the task for just five minutes, or, when distracted mid-session, for another five minutes. — 00:00:00

00:00:10 — The five-minute rule

  • ★★★ Ali advises consuming more long-form content such as books, audiobooks and movies rather than TikToks, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts, which trains your attention span to focus for longer. — 00:00:29 · TikTok, Instagram

00:00:47 — Long-form content, the phone out of the bedroom, app blocking at night, TV without the phone or subtitles

  • ★★ Scrolling on the phone at night for no reason is one of the biggest time sinks in the world, Ali says, terrible for attention span, focus, sleep and mood. — 00:01:04
  • ★★★ Ali advises charging your phone outside the bedroom; if it must be in the bedroom, put the charger across from the bed so you are not tempted to reach for it when you cannot sleep. — 00:01:04
  • ★★ Ali advises setting your phone to block offending apps automatically after a certain time at night, since he believes in building a system rather than relying on willpower. — 00:01:04
  • ★★ When watching a TV show or a movie, Ali advises not reaching for your phone, so that you consume long-form entertainment without doing something else at the same time. — 00:01:34
  • ★★ Ali suggests watching TV shows and movies without subtitles: though the plot can be harder to follow, it trains your attention span while you are entertained. — 00:01:34
  • ★★ Ali advises changing the environment you work in, such as taking your laptop to a crowded, busy coffee shop, to train yourself to focus in almost any environment; noise-cancelling headphones make it easier. — 00:02:03
  • ★★ In his first year of medical school Ali could only focus in his own room, which got lonely; from his second year he worked in different libraries and coffee shops, which he enjoyed more and which trained his focus. — 00:02:03

00:02:10 — Changing the environment you work in; a free focus email course

  • ★★ Ali says the phone tends to be the thing that steals our attention span more than anything else, which is why many of his focus tips are about it. — 00:03:01
  • ★★ Ali advises using the phone's built-in screen time limits, such as limiting Instagram to 10 or 15 minutes, and guarantees a far better attention span than someone with eight hours of screen time on Instagram or TikTok. — 00:03:01 · Instagram, TikTok
  • ★★★ For focusing, Ali ranks where to keep the phone: the gold standard is another room, silver the same room on a do-not-disturb focus mode away from the desk, bronze, which he admits he uses, on focus mode and face down. — 00:03:01

00:03:04 — Screen time limits and where to keep the phone

  • ★★ Ali advises getting good at understanding your internal triggers for distraction, recommending Indistractable by his friend Nir Eyal, a book on taking control of your attention. — 00:03:30
  • ★★★ Nir Eyal (quoted): The research Nir Eyal summarises in Indistractable suggests, as Ali tells it, that in around 80% of cases the key trigger of distraction is an internal emotional state we seek to escape, such as boredom, anxiety, fear, insecurity or perfectionism. — 00:03:30

00:03:47 — Internal triggers for distraction, from Nir Eyal's Indistractable

  • ★★★ When you feel an internal trigger to get distracted, Ali advises stepping back to name the emotion (fear, uncertainty, doubt, anxiety, perfectionism), then closing your eyes and fully feeling it rather than escaping it. — 00:04:30
  • ★★ The more you practise recognising an emotion and letting yourself fully feel it, Ali says, the more it trains your brain and body not to run from unpleasant emotions, and the less you get distracted. — 00:04:59

00:05:24 — Sponsor read

00:06:45 — Tracking progress, recharging breaks, working near others who focus

  • ★★ Ali advises tracking your progress on whatever task you are doing, as writers track their word count and video games like World of Warcraft show an experience bar: we are hardwired to seek progress, and feeling it helps us focus longer. — 00:06:45 · World of Warcraft
  • ★★ Feeling progress, even arbitrary progress like killing bears in World of Warcraft or a salesperson putting a bead in a jar for every call, is profoundly motivating because humans are hardwired to seek progress, Ali says. — 00:06:56 · World of Warcraft
  • ★★★ Ali advises taking recharging rather than stimulating breaks: people starting businesses often spend breaks checking email, Slack or social media notifications, which adds to their mental to-do list instead of recharging them. — 00:07:25 · Slack
  • ★★ Ali advises surrounding yourself with other people who are trying to focus, as in libraries or coffee shops where everyone is working: it naturally nudges you away from distraction and towards work. — 00:07:55

  • ★★★ Ali frames focus as software and the body as hardware: if your attention span is struggling, first check your sleep, nutrition, exercise and basic socialising, since fixing the hardware often fixes the software. — 00:08:24

    “the hardware problems that often end up fixing the software problems”

00:08:33 — Fixing the hardware: sleep, nutrition, exercise, company; muting notifications

  • ★★ Ali advises turning off all notifications except those from friends and family; whenever he sees a notification from an app that is not immediately actionable or is annoying, he long-presses it and mutes all notifications from that app. — 00:09:22
  • ★★★ With whatever you are doing, Ali advises asking what it would look like if it were fun: making a task even 10% more enjoyable makes you less distracted, more productive and creative, with more energy, the thesis of his book Feel-Good Productivity. — 00:09:22 · Feel-Good Productivity (book)

00:09:31 — What would this look like if it were fun; Feel-Good Productivity

In the description and comments

  • ★ Ali Abdaal (channel): Asked by a viewer to credit Alora Young, whose work the viewer says parts of this video take word for word, the channel replies that it has never heard of that author. — creator comment

Threads in this video

  • refine · How do you improve your focus? — Ali frames focus as software and the body as hardware: if your attention span is struggling, first check your sleep, nutrition, exercise and basic socialising, since fixing the hardware often fixes the software. (00:08:24)
  • restate · How do you beat procrastination? — Ali's first micro-habit for focus is the five-minute rule: tell yourself you will do the task for just five minutes, or, when distracted mid-session, for another five minutes. (00:00:00)
  • restate · How do you improve your focus? — When you feel an internal trigger to get distracted, Ali advises stepping back to name the emotion (fear, uncertainty, doubt, anxiety, perfectionism), then closing your eyes and fully feeling it rather than escaping it. (00:04:30)
  • restate · How do you stop your phone and social media from eating your time? — Ali advises charging your phone outside the bedroom; if it must be in the bedroom, put the charger across from the bed so you are not tempted to reach for it when you cannot sleep. (00:01:04)
  • refine · How do you stop your phone and social media from eating your time? — For focusing, Ali ranks where to keep the phone: the gold standard is another room, silver the same room on a do-not-disturb focus mode away from the desk, bronze, which he admits he uses, on focus mode and face down. (00:03:01)
  • restate · How do you sleep better? — Ali advises charging your phone outside the bedroom; if it must be in the bedroom, put the charger across from the bed so you are not tempted to reach for it when you cannot sleep. (00:01:04)
  • refine · Should you watch TV? — Ali suggests watching TV shows and movies without subtitles: though the plot can be harder to follow, it trains your attention span while you are entertained. (00:01:34)
  • refine · Where should you study: at home, in a library or in a coffee shop? — Ali advises changing the environment you work in, such as taking your laptop to a crowded, busy coffee shop, to train yourself to focus in almost any environment; noise-cancelling headphones make it easier. (00:02:03)
  • restate · Should you study alone or with other people? — Ali advises surrounding yourself with other people who are trying to focus, as in libraries or coffee shops where everyone is working: it naturally nudges you away from distraction and towards work. (00:07:55)
  • refine · How do you deal with difficult emotions? — When you feel an internal trigger to get distracted, Ali advises stepping back to name the emotion (fear, uncertainty, doubt, anxiety, perfectionism), then closing your eyes and fully feeling it rather than escaping it. (00:04:30)
  • restate · How do you make boring work more enjoyable? — With whatever you are doing, Ali advises asking what it would look like if it were fun: making a task even 10% more enjoyable makes you less distracted, more productive and creative, with more energy, the thesis of his book Feel-Good Productivity. (00:09:22)
  • restate · Should productivity be about efficiency or about enjoying the work? — With whatever you are doing, Ali advises asking what it would look like if it were fun: making a task even 10% more enjoyable makes you less distracted, more productive and creative, with more energy, the thesis of his book Feel-Good Productivity. (00:09:22)
  • refine · How do you make boring work more enjoyable? — Ali advises tracking your progress on whatever task you are doing, as writers track their word count and video games like World of Warcraft show an experience bar: we are hardwired to seek progress, and feeling it helps us focus longer. (00:06:45)
  • refine · How do you have more energy during the day? — Ali advises taking recharging rather than stimulating breaks: people starting businesses often spend breaks checking email, Slack or social media notifications, which adds to their mental to-do list instead of recharging them. (00:07:25)

Mentioned

Central: internal triggers

Also: People: Nir Eyal

Works: Feel-Good Productivity (book) · Indistractable

Organizations: Instagram · TikTok

Concepts: five-minute rule

Products: Focus mode · World of Warcraft · YouTube Shorts

Also centred on internal triggers: How to Not Waste Your Life (Stop Getting Distracted) · This is actually why you can't focus

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