Ask people where they get their best work done and a surprising number will say: on a plane. Not because of anything special about 35,000 feet, but because a flight quietly takes away most of the things that break our focus on the ground. Once you see what they are, you can take them away at your desk too.
It has an end you can see
A flight lasts a known amount of time, and the map on the seat-back screen counts it down. That changes the question you're answering. You're not deciding to work until you get tired or until something more interesting comes along; you're deciding to work until you land. A fixed end makes it easier to start, and easier to keep going when the work gets hard, because you know exactly how much is left.
The world goes quiet
Phones go into airplane mode. Messages stop arriving, nobody books a meeting with you, and even when there's Wi-Fi it's slow or costs money, which is just enough friction to stop the reflex of checking. Most of what interrupts a working day simply can't reach you, and the urge to look for it fades after the first few minutes.
You can't wander off
There's nowhere to go and not much to do: work, read, sleep or watch a film. With so few options, picking the work is easy. At a desk, the same choice competes with the kitchen, the couch, a quick errand and the whole of the internet.
A steady hum
The engines and air system make a constant, even sound that covers up voices and sudden noises, much like white noise. Many people find it easier to concentrate with a steady background sound than in silence, where every small noise stands out.
Progress you can watch
The little plane inching across the map is proof that time is passing, and that you're getting somewhere. Watching progress, even slow progress, is motivating in a way that a blank clock isn't.
The same focus, at your desk
- Pick the length before you start, and when you'll finish. An hour, ninety minutes, a whole afternoon: whatever the work needs.
- Go into airplane mode. Silence notifications, or put the phone in another room.
- Decide what you'll work on before you start, so there's nothing to decide once you have.
- Put on a steady sound, like rain, a café or a cabin hum.
- Make the progress visible, so you can see how far you've come and how much is left.
That's the idea behind Flight: pick a destination, and you focus for exactly as long as the flight takes, while your plane crosses the globe to the sound of the cabin. An hour of focus is London to Amsterdam (57m); a long afternoon is New York to Los Angeles (5h 17m). Not sure how far to go? See where you can fly in an hour or three.