How long can you ignore all distractions and give 100 percent of your attention to one task? Ten minutes at a time? Thirty minutes? Two hours? Four hours?

            We each have a different concentration threshold. Find out what yours is. How long can you give one task your undivided attention before you begin to feel saturated, distracted, or antsy to take care of something else? Study yourself—you may be surprised what you learn.

            At the height of your threshold, there’s an enveloping feeling that anything would be better than what you’re currently doing. It’s like your skin no longer fits your body; you’re jumpy. Or you feel the pull of checking in with the “outside world.” You need to move around, check e-mail, check voicemail.

            For some, focusing even for ten minutes on just one task can be pure torture. Others delude themselves, believing they can concentrate for two hours, but upon closer inspection they realize that they actually interrupt themselves every thirty minutes by checking voice mail and e-mail and filing their nails. In many cases, the environment around you may be buzzing so furiously that a twenty-minute break in the action is the most time you’ll ever get.