Confession time: I am ridiculously easily distracted.

Because I run my business by email and I have a few Facebook groups for paying clients, I find it rather too easy to flick over to check them out whenever my mind wanders.

That and checking the Newcastle United news and other trivia.

(I've just been tempted to check out the Newcastle news right now as I type this – but I came to my senses and resisted).

Important work requires concentration.

Writing. Thinking. Creating.

These are the things that earn experts their reputation and their clients.

And you can't do them at all well if you constantly flip over to check email (or Facebook or Linkedin or Twitter or whatever) whenever you're struggling for inspiration or have a moment's boredom.

That interruption will take you 15 minutes+ to recover from and get back in flow.

I don't think there's an easy answer or trick to improve your concentration other than to work at it.

Just like I did a few seconds ago: recognise when you're distracting yourself and you're tempted to get a “fix” from social media, google or email. Pause for a second. Get back to work.

And give yourself a little pat on the back for resisting the distraction.

The more you're able to do that, the stronger your concentration will get.

And the stronger your concentration is, the better your results will be across the board in everything you do.

PS For me, the best book for ideas on overcoming distraction and really focusing on doing quality work is “Deep Work” by Cal Newport. If you haven't read it I recommend you do.