Focus and productivity go hand in hand. One cannot become a productive worker if you allow your focus to be disturbed. To be productive you must maintain your focus at all times. This can be very difficult with the amount of disruptions most of us experience on a daily basis. We are constantly being disturbed by our email, our mobile phones, by our colleages and our boss and by the one we can’t seem to shut out; our inner dialog !
What can we do to become more focused?
Here are some useful ways to prevent disruptions, allow more focus and quieten the inner chatter of the mind.
1. Plan and Schedule
If you plan and set out your work at the beginning of a day you are less likely to fall victim to distractions. Yes “Stuff happens” as it does on a football pitch but the players wouldn’t dream of going out on the pitch without a game plan. Priorities will change as the day progresses but if we don’t have a game plan we will never achieve what we need to achieve.
2. Set goals and know your motivations
Setting goals is a habit all highly successful and effective people share. By setting goals and having a personal or professional vision or mission you are much more likely to keep on track and stay inspired. Know what your motivations are and as Stephen Covey’s advises with his second habit “Always begin with the end in mind!
3. Break tasks down and focus on the “Next Step”
In order to achieve what you want to achieve you must as previously mentioned “start with the end in mind” but sometimes the end can seem too far away and we can become demotivated or distracted as the task seems too overwhelming. The best way to stay on track is to work in bite size pieces, look at the next step you have to take and schedule it. Plan your next action or next step and don’t worry about everything that has to happen in between to get to the final outcome.
4. Take regular breaks
Regular breaks prevent you from becoming too tired and keep you sharp and focused.
5. Clear out distractions and Clutter
Clear out the clutter in your environment and desk, this will help you maintain your focus on the job at hand. Documents lying around have the power to distract. Don’t have email notifications or have an instant messenger on your PC these are real productivity and focus killers!
6. Check email at set intervals
Don’t allow yourself to be distracted every time a new email arrives. Set periods during the day for email processing. Two or three times a day should be sufficient. If you work in an industry where emails are crucial you can put a notification in your email signature advising people of the times that you process your email, if they need to contact you urgently to pick up the phone.
7. If you are out of the office or on holidays leave a message on your voicemail asking people to send you an email if there is something that requires your attention and not to leave you a voicemail (this will minimise the amount of catch-up you need to do when you return)
8. Delegation: never do work that someone else can do for you, sometimes we make our workload bigger by doing tasks that someone else could do for us. This distracts us from the work that requires our attention. “Be strong and pass it on!”
9. Closed door policy. Contrary to many workplaces and leadership thinking, the closed door policy can be very beneficial for your productivity, and invaluable for focus. Advise people not to disturb you at certain times of the day, block out times in your calendar and ask not to be disturbed. Watch how your productivity will soar.
10. Meditate. Meditation is used by many successful people because meditation helps to calm the mind and allows you to focus more readily and effectively, don’t knock it till you have tried it.
Good Luck
Celtic Guru
Focus and Productivity - To learn more about this author, visit Celtic Guru's Website.
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