Follow These 8 Steps to Stay Focused and Reach Your GoalsDecrease the amount of noise in your head.

Accomplishing a goal can be hard work. But even if a project is something you are passionate about and want to complete, distractions such as social media, doubts and other tasks can make it nearly impossible to concentrate on it. Don't fret. We're here to help.

Check out these eight steps to help you prioritize and clear your mind.

1. Stop multitasking

Instead of trying to do a million things at once, take a step back and tackle one task at a time. And while your inclination might be to start your day with busy work -- like checking emails -- and then move onto to the harder things, you should try to get your brain moving by challenging yourself with with a bigger, more creative endeavor first thing.

Read more:How to Stay Focused: Train Your Brain

2. Block out your days

A good way to hold yourself accountable when it comes to quieting the noise all around you is to specifically block out time in your day -- maybe it's 30 minutes or an hour -- to spend on a given project. Color code your calendar or set a timer to make sure you are accomplishing the goal at hand.

Read more:Are You Singletasking Yet?

3. Get your blood pumping

You can't focus if your are stuck inside and staring at a screen all day long. Turn off your computer and phone, and go for a walk for 20 minutes. The fresh air and the movement will clear your head. Also make sure that you are drinking enough water and getting enough rest.

Read more:'Reboot' Your Brain and Refresh Your Focus in 15 Minutes or Less

4. Help your technology help you

A platform likeRescueTime, a software that runs while you work and shows you how you are spending your day, could help you understand why something is taking longer to complete than it should. Options likeCold Turkey,FreedomandSelf Controlblock out the internet entirely to keep you off your Twitter feed when you should be meeting deadlines.

Read more: Policing Your Productivity: 7 Tools to Help You Focus

5. Meditate

Get a recommendation for a yoga or meditation class, or even make it an office outing so everyone get some time to quiet their minds. Or look online for a plethora of apps and platforms whose stock and trade is mindfulness, like冥想使简单的,CalmandHeadspace. For slightly more of a monetary investment, you could look into wearable tech likeThync, a device that produces electrical pulses to help your brain decrease stress.

Read more:10 Apps and Gadgets to Help You Find Zen

6. Change up what's in your headphones

虽然背景噪音可能帮助阻挡一声office or construction outside your window, you need to be careful that what you are listening to isn't distracting you more. Music with lyrics can sap your focus from the task in front of you, so consider trying classical or electronic music instead. Or use a playlist that is familiar to you, so you aren't tempted to turn all your attention to the new sound.

Read more:How Music Affects Your Productivity

7. Streamline your communication

If you find that all of your focus gets trained on getting your inbox down to zero, think about how you can get yourself out from under a relentless deluge of email. Ask yourself and your colleagues to think about whether this conversation would be most effective through email, on the phone or in person. Taking five minutes to walk over to someone else's workspace will save you the time and energy invested into a redundant email chain and clarify how you want to attack a problem more quickly.

Read more:10 Simple Productivity Tips for Organizing Your Work Life

8. Find an environment with the right kind of noise.

To be the most effective, you need to strike a delicate balance between too much noise and total silence. According to David Burkus, an associate professor of leadership and innovation at Oral Roberts University, "some level of office banter in the background might actually benefit our ability to do creative tasks, provided we don't get drawn into the conversation," Burkus wrote in theHarvard Business Review. "Instead of total silence, the ideal work environment for creative work has a little bit of background noise. That's why you might focus really well in a noisy coffee shop, but barely be able to concentrate in a noisy office."