How to stay focused while using Windows 11

Picture the scene. You sit down at your computer, ready to spend a few hours completing important tasks. 

But as soon as you turn on the device, in comes a stream of notifications. There are emails to look at and a few messages to respond to. Once that’s done, you might as well check social media and your favourite news sites. 

Before you know it, an hour has passed and you’ve not made any progress. Sound familiar? It’s something almost all of us have experienced at some point, but that doesn’t mean we should be at the mercy of these distracting tools.  

As much as some Windows 11 features can get us off task, others are specifically designed to help you focus. By utilising these, you can get done what you need to without going down another YouTube rabbit hole. 

Here are six key ways to reduce distractions in Windows 11. 

Use Focus sessions

It makes sense to start with the Windows 11 feature that has ‘focus’ in its name. Focus sessions was only introduced in 2022, but it provides a useful set of tools for staying on task.  

To get started, search for and open the ‘Clock’ app. Focus sessions should open automatically, but click the tab on the left side if it doesn’t.

Anyron Copeman / Foundry

From here, simply choose how long you’d like to focus for and click ‘Start focus session’. By default, any session of 30 minutes or longer will include at least one short break. Do not disturb will also be enabled during each focus session (unless you turn it off), limiting notifications to only those you consider a priority (more on that below). 

Alongside an overview of your progress, Focus sessions offers integration with Microsoft To Do for a list of tasks and Spotify for music and podcasts that will help you stay on task. 

For a simpler user experience, you can also start a focus session via Settings > System > Focus. 

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Turn on Do not disturb

Focus sessions enables Do not disturb, but there are times when you might want to turn it on manually or in certain situations. 

Head to Settings > System > Notifications and click the toggle next to ‘Do not disturb’ to turn it on or off at any time. Below that, click ‘Turn on do not disturb automatically’ to expand that section. Choose a regular schedule for it to be enabled or disabled, or tick the box next to any of the four scenarios below it. 

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However, the crucial part here is the option below – ‘Set priority notifications’. Click it, then decide if you’d like calls and reminders to be allowed. 

To remove any app from the priority list, click the three dots next to it and choose ‘Remove’. To add anything, click the ‘Add apps’ button and select something from the list. 

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Manage notifications

But even when Do not disturb is turned off, you don’t want every app to be sending you notifications.  

Head back to Settings > System > Notifications and scroll down to the ‘Notifications from apps and other senders’ section. All apps that can send notifications will be shown here, sorted by most recent – this can be changed to alphabetical order if you’d prefer. 

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To turn off notifications for any app, simply click the toggle to change it to the ‘Off’ position. But for more granular control, click anywhere outside the toggle and choose how its notifications are delivered. 

Learn more in our separate article on how to manage notifications in Windows 11.

Block distracting sites

But if you’re using a web browser while getting work done, it’s those distracting sites which might cause you to waste the most time. While the likes of Edge, Chrome and Firefox don’t have a built-in tool for blocking websites, there are plenty of third-party extensions which do the job. Here are three of the most popular: 

• Freedom (Chrome, Firefox) 
• Forest (Chrome, Firefox 
• RescueTime (Chrome, Firefox)

Anyron Copeman / Foundry

On Microsoft Edge, your best option is Focus Squirel. All are free and work in broadly the same way, so it’s worth trying them all and seeing what works for you. 

Reduce taskbar clutter

The Windows 11 taskbar has a lot of apps and tools on it by default, and you might have pinned more of your own. To avoid the temptation of clicking on something distracting, it’s worth removing anything you don’t need there. 

Head to Settings > Personalisation > Taskbar. Use the drop-down box to choose how you’d like the search bar to be displayed (if at all), then turn off Task view, Widgets and Chat if you don’t use them. Below that, choose which system tray icons are displayed. 

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Now, look at the apps you have pinned to the taskbar. To remove any, simply right-click and choose ‘Unpin from taskbar’.

Anyron Copeman / Foundry

Learn more in our separate article on how to customise the Windows 11 taskbar.

Reduce Start menu clutter

The Start menu is another area that can get cluttered and become distracting as a result. Fortunately, Microsoft offers plenty of ways to help you streamline this.  

Head to Settings > Personalisation > Start and decide whether you’d like more pins, more recommendations or an even mix of both. The former is usually best for reducing distractions. 

Below that, turn off the toggles for ‘Show recently added’ apps, ‘Show the most used apps’ (if available), ‘Show recently opened items in Start, Jump Lists, and File Explorer’ and ‘Show recommendations for tips, shortcuts, new apps, and more’.

Anyron Copeman / Foundry

Then, click ‘Folders’ and turn off any that you think might be distracting.

Learn more in our separate article on how to customise the Windows 11 Start menu.

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