When your brain feels like mush and concentration seems impossible, these expert-backed techniques can help. Andy Wright (CEO Streamtime, Never Not Creative founder) hosts this practical discussion with Renee Hyde (client leadership specialist at Howatson+Company with extensive experience managing complex integrated accounts) and Martine Beaumont (mental health educator and psychotherapist with over 30 years supporting workplace wellbeing). They share surprisingly simple methods to tackle focus problems at work, from 30-second sensory resets backed by University of Melbourne research to practical list-making strategies that actually work. If you have a really hard time trying to focus at work, this conversation offers genuine, actionable solutions without the corporate fluff.
We've all been there: staring at your screen, mind wandering, feeling like your brain has turned to mush. If you're struggling to focus at work right now, you're definitely not alone. Between endless video calls, constant notifications and the general chaos of modern work life, maintaining concentration has become genuinely challenging.
The good news? There are some surprisingly simple techniques that can help reset your focus without requiring a complete life overhaul. Sometimes the smallest shifts make the biggest difference.
This question was answered by Andy Wright – Host, CEO Streamtime and founder of Never Not Creative, Renee Hyde – client and agency leadership specialist at Howatson+Company with extensive experience running large integrated clients, and Martine Beaumont – founder and CEO of Select Wellness, a mental health educator and psychotherapist with over 30 years of experience supporting workplace wellbeing.
Before diving into solutions, it helps to understand what's actually happening in your head. As Martine explains: "Think of your brain like a series of networks. To function well and to keep that clarity of thought, you need to spend time in three main networks: your task network where you're doing things and consuming information, your thinking network where you're integrating everything you've just taken in, and your sensory network when you're really fully present in your senses."
The problem with our current work culture is that we're stuck in an endless loop of task-task-task, thinking-thinking-thinking, without giving our brains the sensory break they desperately need. "Because we're not doing the being, the being is what feeds and fosters focus," Martine notes.
Here's a game-changer that takes less time than making a cup of tea. Martine shares a technique based on research from the University of Melbourne, where students who used this exercise "far outran the others in terms of focus, energy and lower levels of stress."
The exercise is beautifully simple:
"What we did just then was make the sensors just sticky enough. Hopefully what you would have experienced is that you stopped thinking because you were so intent on connecting with the sense," Martine explains. "It's the perfect thing to do during your day at the end of every call."
For those moments when you need to dive deep into a specific project, try this eye-brain connection method. "You get a piece of paper and you draw a little cross, and you hold the piece of paper on the cross about equal distance from whatever you're going to be focusing on," Martine suggests. "You focus really intently on that cross for a good 30 seconds and then you start whatever it is that requires the focus."
This technique, used in Chinese schools and backed by ophthalmologists and psychiatrists, works because "we can direct our brain with our eyes."
Sometimes the simplest approaches are the most effective. Renee swears by practical strategies: "I'm a huge believer in a to-do list. I'm a huge believer in starting with the hardest things earlier in the day, having some early wins on the board."
When everything feels overwhelming, Renee suggests taking a step back: "Just taking some space, breathing, grounding my feet on the floor, a grounding cup of tea, and then just coming back to my list and finding something really easy to do like timesheets or something that you can just get back into the flow."
As Renee puts it: "Often midway through a day everything can feel overwhelming and it almost feels like there's you just have no idea where to start, so having something, taking a breath, grounding yourself in your space a bit, and then just do one little thing to get yourself back in."
If you're finding that focus issues are becoming overwhelming or affecting your wellbeing significantly, it might be worth speaking to a professional. Sometimes concentration problems can be linked to stress, anxiety or other mental health challenges that benefit from expert support.
For immediate help and resources, visit the Where to get help section on the Never Not Creative website, which provides access to mental health support services and helplines.
Remember, struggling to focus doesn't mean you're failing or broken. Our brains weren't designed for the constant stimulation and back-to-back demands of modern work life. The fact that you're looking for solutions shows you're taking care of yourself, which is exactly what you should be doing.
Try one or two of these techniques and see what works for you. Sometimes the smallest changes create the biggest shifts in how we feel and function at work.
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Renee is responsible for client and agency leadership at Howatson+Company. She specialises in running large, integrated clients both locally (Allianz, Samsung, CBA) and globally (Marriott International, IBM, Microsoft, Google) having worked in leading agencies in Australia and New York like M&C Saatchi, CHE Proximity and Anomaly. Renee has a unique skill set having worked in various capacities including consulting, media, customer experience and communications. She has birthed, built and grown brands and is at her best with complex challenges to solve. Renee is also a mentor at the Trenches, a qualified Mental Health first aider and has been recognised by Campaign Asia as a Woman to Watch and by B&T on their Women in Media Power List. As a mother of two young girls, Renee is a passionate advocate for diversity of all forms and is constantly tired.
Martine is the founder and CEO of Select Wellness and Select Counsellors. Select Wellness provides assessments and tailored interventions to wellbeing at work, with a focus on executives and leaders. Select Counsellors is a mental health space, specialising in the provision of Employee Assistance Programme services. Martine has over 30 years of experience in the industry, working as a psychotherapist, executive coach, couples therapist and counsellor.
Andy Wright is happiest in a well‑worn baseball cap. As founder of Never Not Creative, he rallies a worldwide community determined to make the creative industry kinder and fairer. He also steers Streamtime as CEO and co‑chairs Mentally Healthy. Different titles, same purpose: brilliant work should never cost anyone their wellbeing. Never Not Creative was born when Andy decided it was time to stand up and make the industry a better place. What started as one person calling for change has grown into a movement that shares research, sparks honest conversations, and builds practical tools that help teams thrive. Andy’s rule of thumb: protect the humans and the great work will follow. Picture a studio cat giving you a gentle nudge to stretch, breathe, and log off before the midnight oil even thinks about burning. Off the clock, Andy is dad to three energetic kids, husband to one exceptionally patient partner, and a loyal Everton supporter (character building, he insists). Whether he is championing healthier workplaces or cheering the Toffees through a tense ninety minutes, Andy believes creative success should leave everyone standing a little taller, not lying flat from exhaustion.
