It would be nice if we're all blessed with steely concentration that allows us to focus solely on a task and work flat out, accomplishing tasks in record time and easily moving on to the next one and finishing that as well. But many of us aren't, and too often, we cave in to the siren song of various distractions that capture our interest and give us short-term joy. These distractions are ultimately our undoing, and we realize that a half-hour has gone by without us achieving anything, and pretty soon, we find ourselves rushing to make sure that at least one thing gets done for the day.

Distractions have added a new member to their team: social media websites, which many people access throughout the day and spend a significant amount of time on. Such sites are so popular that many companies have blocked them at work or are considering doing so. However, these sites aren't the only culprits that hamper workplace productivity. You could not belong to a social networking site and still find yourself being unproductive at work. That is why other forms of distractions need to be addressed and you have to learn how to improve your focus.

Joseph, a graphic designer, layout artist, and owner of a photography company, sets aside a block of hours each day in which he will spend time working, selecting and post-processing photographs and coming up with layouts for posters and albums that he is designing. He says that devoting those hours exclusively to work helps him focus, and he doesn't allow anything else to interfere with his work, be it the Internet or phone calls. "It helps to remember that whatever I want to check out online will still be there after I complete my work and that it will be much more satisfying and relaxing for me to unwind, surf the Net, or do other things once I've completed my tasks," he shares.

That's really something that can help you increase productivity: focusing on your work now will give you much more time to relax later on without worrying that there are still a lot of things left for you to do. Setting aside a few hours for yourself--without going out to talk to coworkers, checking every single e-mail that pops into your mailbox, checking the latest status updates from your old friends, and taking any phone calls--can really keep you focused. You don't need to know everything right away, and although you might be worried that any new messages or calls are urgent, just remember that you will be much more equipped to deal with them once you have everything on your to-do list checked off.