I am definitely a person with a fickle attention span. I have a hard time focusing on one thing at a time. When something else shiny comes along - boom! - I'm gone.
I have found some a few things, though, that help me focus when need be.
Know when you're capable of focusing. I know what periods of the day are better for me in terms of focus than others. For me, that's roughly the late morning and the mid-to-late afternoon. I'm pretty useless first thing in the morning and right after lunch. I try to shift work accordingly. What times of day work best for you? Are you a morning person? Night owl? Knowing which definitely helps!
Get overwhelmingly busy. My brain is wired to have a focus level that is directly proportional to the amount I need to accomplish. If I have one task to do all day, it won't get done. I'll find some way to goof off. If I have a mountain of things to do, on the other hand, I'll get tunnel vision. Find your level of comfort in terms of work load and you'll be surprised what you can do.
Block some of the internets. I fully acknowledge that I can't look away from the internet. It's a real problem. So I literally have to rely on blocking certain sites from access. I found a great app called Self Control that does just that. You establish a list of sites to block - the ones that are major time sucks - and enable the blocker. For a specified amount of time, you won't be able to access those sites. You can restart your computer even, and it won't matter. Very helpful for someone like me!
