People often complain about how frequently they get distracted at work. Even when working from home, we’re connected to the outside world 24/7 with non-stop distractions all around us. It’s a wonder we can achieve anything with all the social media and messaging apps vying for our attention.
Of course, that lack of focus at work could be caused by a physical condition. Lack of concentration, sleep apnea, narcolepsy, sleep disorder, and having a short attention span are all causes for concern. Experts often recommend evidence-based medical solutions such as Provigil to treat many of these health conditions. In addition, there are a number of simple tips you can employ to improve your productivity and get you back on track at work.
1. Good Work-Rest Balance
One of the most commons causes of losing focus and getting behind on your schedule at work is the lack of work and rest balance. Working long hours can lead to burnout. This is a serious condition that affects your ability to finish your tasks on time if at all. You won’t even be able to get anything done no matter how hard you try. A small task that you used to finish in half an hour could take you a whole day to get done.
To avoid suffering burnout and having to take a long vacation away from work, experts recommend you take a break from work a few times a day. The break doesn’t have to be a long one otherwise you won’t be able to get back into the work mood easily! A 10-minute break every 90 minutes is the recommended work-rest balance.
2. Switch Off Your Phone
Distractions are the enemy of productivity. The more distracted you are, the more hours you have to spend at work to get anything done. According to many studies on productivity at the workplace, the number one distraction workers have is right there in their hands. The phone keeps sending you notifications and distracting you from your work around the clock.
These same studies recommend that workers switch off all notifications and keep their phones tucked away in their handbags or desk drawers. That way you’ll resist the temptation to check your phone every 5 minutes which can wreak havoc with your focus and productivity.
3. Make a Short List
They say to succeed you have to visualize success. That didn’t work for me as I had expected. But what really worked was to make a list of all the tasks I needed to do that day. Every time I finish a task, I ticked it off the list and went down to the next task. By the end of the day, I found that I have achieved a lot in less time.
Now the secret to making this work is not to get overambitious about what you can achieve in one day. It’s easy to cram the list with all kinds of tasks important or not. But that can be quite counterproductive. So if you find that your list is longer than 6 to 7 tasks, weed out all the unimportant tasks and only keep the crucial ones.
4. One Thing at a Time
Managers and CEOs often praise multitasking in their employees. But recent research has found that people who multitask tend to have poor concentration and even poorer productivity. Multitasking used to be the buzzword making the rounds in offices everywhere. But now, not so much.
To make the most out of your time and finish many tasks in one day, you should focus on working on one thing at a time. If you have to finish a spreadsheet, then that should be the only thing open on your screen. Switch off all chat boxes, close your email tabs, and minimize all other apps open on your computer.
5. Get Back on Track
More often than not, you’ll notice that you got distracted. Maybe a coworker walked in and engaged you in a frivolous chat. Or an email would pop up and distract you from what you were doing. The distractions are numerous and our overactive mind seems to be itching to get involved in something different all the time.
When that happens, simply steer your mind back to what you’re working on or cut the conversation short with your colleague telling them politely that you have to get back to work. Don’t get frustrated at how easily you get distracted. It takes practice to achieve the kind of focus that Zen monks are famous for!
6. Music for Better Focus
Music plays a great role in our lives. Not only does music entertain us, but it can also calm our active minds, or stimulate us when we’re too bored or tired to get work done. When you feel restless and your mind is all over the place, simply put on some easy listening music that will help you achieve better concentration. Recent studies have found a correlation between music and high concentration, stimulating memory, and making predictions. Music also will insulate you from the chatter at the office and the other distractions that will keep you from being productive.
If you want to achieve more every day, maintain high focus, and get ahead at work, then you need to remove all the distractions around you such as your phone, chats, and many apps open on your desktop. Play some easy listening music to insulate yourself from the distractions around you and prepare a list of the important tasks you need to do that day in advance.