Aight, I'm a new dm, I'm running my first campaign with a few friends as players, and I need some help trying to figure out techniques, setups, things to keep track of, etc. I'm a month or 2 into the campaign and I would like to know what suggestions or things people do that would improve the experience for everyone. 

First off, what are some ways people set up their spaces? Is there any website you recommend for keeping track of things, is there a best way to keep track of things? Also what do I keep track of? As of right now, I use Google sheets and keep track of ac, initiative, people's total health, and how many monster kills they have.

Second, is there any specific techniques that really helped you improve as a dm, or anything that you really found useful as a tip?

Final thing, how do I deal with people goofing off or not paying attention? I find the game becomes much less enjoyable when people goof around about some random thing not related to dnd/roleplay/rpg. 

Any help is appreciated, sorry if you've had to answer a ton of questions like this. 

Q1 - I usually set up a horseshoe around me so that I can reach books, minis, dice tray, DM binder... whatever I need is within arms reach, without being piled up to the point of being cluttered. I've ditched my DM screen because it gets in my way, and puts a physical wall between me and the players, and prevents me from reaching the battlemap easily. I've transitioned most of my initiative tracking to DDB Encounter Builder as it tracks all of the items you've mentioned, plus gives the listing for xp/player (if players are set up correctly), allows for the monster statblock to be displayed, and allows for notes about the encounter itself, loot, special features like trapped chests, seceret doors and the like. [Edit:] Rolling 16d8 is alot easier and faster on the DDB combat tracker than IRL.

Q2 - Run more games. Be an active listener. Be a fan of the PCs, cheerlead for them. Be excited when players have great ideas. Be invested in the plans that they come up with that don't fit the "typical solution" mold. Read SlyFlourish. Watch MCDM.

Q3 - Take a break. If the attention span of the table doesn't allow for extended periods of focus, take a 15 minute bio break and come back to the game. Sometimes tangential conversations happen during a game. It's ok. Just politely and firmly guide the group back to the task-at-hand, and push on. It's ok to mention to the group that there is a large amount of material to get through when starting a particularly complex session. That helps get more of the group on board with staying on task in order to achieve a goal. 

Unsolicited - Be the leader of the group, not the authoritarian of the group (there is a significant difference). Make sure that everyone gets their chance in the spotlight. Learn who doesn't want the spotlight. Ask what everyone is talking about around the campsite, what they chat about when trudging down the roads and paths, or what game they are playing at the tavern/inn/bar while they are relaxing. Try to keep the players engaged in the world and playing. If a PC dies, plan to get the player's new PC, or a pregen that you have stashed, into the game within about 15-20 minutes. PC death happens, make it meaningful. Consider allowing a final act or last words after their last failed death save, or just prior to a monster's coup de grace. Playing background music can help to set the tone of an encounter, or travel or city. I'm not suggesting that you put on a full-blown CR production, but something to pull the players further into the game. 

The broadest advice I can give is to give the players meaningful choices to make that effect the world around them, and allow them to direct the adventure (rather than you dictating what they do like a commander giving them missions). Players become more invested in worlds they feel a part of, and nothing makes players feel like part of a world more than seeing their actions having an effect on it. 

1) pay attention to what your players like. What excites them? What kind of loot do they like?

2) for running NPCS, I've found a name and short visual description goes a long way to helping me roleplay them. A quirk (giggles a lot) and one word about their personality (grumpy) helps a lot.

3) have one of your players handle initiative for you. It makes combat 1000 times easier to run

4) avoid scenes where players won't be involved for long periods of time. If you must split the party, make sure to cut back and forth between scenes. Sitting around for 30 minutes doing nothing is horrible for your players.

 5) Personally, I avoid status conditions like stunned, incapacitated, etc. Losing you turn as a player is way worse than you think as a DM. If your monster loses their turn, who cares- you've got a bunch and you have other stuff to keep track of. For a player, combat is something they look forward to and they get 2-3 rounds of actions, between which they spend 5-10 minutes waiting for their turn. Taking away their turns is an awful experience. It's boring, boring, boring. Take away stuns and add different. More damage, reduced movement, take away their bonus action, set them on fire, give them -2 to any d20 they roll, etc. 

If you havent done a session zero, I suggest it. It's never too late, even if you've already started. Get the player's feedback in terms of the type of game they want. (Run and gun/murder hobo? That's fine. Citywide intrigue and mystery? Sweet. Classical heroic adventure? Gothic horror? Maybe even just a 'monster of the week' type game? Just to name some examples).

After a session ended, don't be embarrased to ask what they thought about it. Ask the parts they liked most, and what they wanted to do more of. Gauging your players and reacting to that is probably the best way to improve as a DM.

I ask after every session how people thought it went, and whether there is anything we're not going into that they would like to try (EG more roleplay, or if they have an ability they have never been able to use). Listen to what they say, and also you can do it subtly - when there is a player who searches every room, ask them enquiringly "what sort of thing is >character< searching for?". If they say "any cool magical weapons that might be hidden in here" then you have the answer of what they want from the game - cool magic stuff! If they are overly specific - "I'm searching for a dagged of venom" then either they are trying to manipulate you to a single, specific outcome, or they have read ahead and know there is one there. That's when you mix things up (to avoid metagaming) and you offer them alternative cool weapons that you think are suited to the game better. Not everyone gets what they ask for, but that doesn't mean they get nothing!

Don’t try and do something exotic for you first game. When me and my friends started playing we thought it would be better if it was super big , tons of homebrew, and epic giant battles. A battle with 4 orcs is just as fun and easier to run. Make sure your npc’s are special but not heavy on detail. This can be accomplished by giving them some thing unique ( like a missing limb, a cool sword or a fun voice) and a general personality or motive ( like if you want to make your orc chieftain a cool villain but don’t want to have them be super relatable/ empathizeable you can give them the motive of “keep the blood gem safe” or “ massacre the town of trismofar”) . Also, don’t add the npc who’s a traitor. If you do that in the beginning, they will always suspect it. Don’t have a single way things need to go to succeed (like a certain path that needs to be discovered for the story to continue, or a direction the players must go). And always have a way for players to figure something out ( like if you have a secret mothia hidden under the city, make sure that the bakers house has an entrance. Or if it looks like they won’t be visiting the bakers house any time soon , move it to some place they will. If they didn’t know it was at the bakers, they won’t know it was moved). Finally, this is controversial so feel free to ignore me on this one but I think that it’s best to keep rp at a minimum when starting out.