Staying focused at work is key to being effective at your job. Still, sometimes it can be hard to remain sharp, especially when completing monotonous tasks or on days where you are just tired. At the same time, we can see that there is nothing wrong with that, every person in the world has a couple of bad days at work per year. Most of the time, this is something that usually we don’t have a kind of influence over.
Therefore, you shouldn’t be scared of facing these days every now and then. However, it should be said that there are some things that you can use in order to improve your effectiveness at your workplace. These are no magic tricks that you need to learn, instead, we are talking about things you can do yourself without investing too much effort into it. Here, Kevin Dalby, Austin professor, shares his proven tips for not getting distracted from the task at hand.
1. Set Daily Goals
Having an idea of what you need to complete each day can help you stay on task and get things done efficiently and on time. Make a “to-do” list of items that must be done and make it your goal to ensure that the most critical tasks are prioritized. While it’s common for people to assume that urgent tasks are the most important, it is not always the case.
Very often, the most critical tasks become urgent if we do not complete them on time. Making a list of goals and prioritizing them will increase your productivity and make it easier to get through the day while remaining sharp and attentive. Not only that you need to enlist all of our tasks, but you can also prioritize them and then cross them one by one. So, you can both complete all of them in a proper way and without wasting too much of your free time.
2. Be Realistic with Task Management
One of the most important tips provided by Dr. Kevin Dalby is that we shouldn’t have too much on our shoulders. Sometimes, a big task can be overwhelming. Breaking down a big job into smaller tasks can help make it much more manageable and make working on it much more comfortable.
This is a standard tool for those who often work in a high-stress environment with a lot of accountability. If you have a lot of work to do, it can make a difference in your stress level and focus on creating a checklist of smaller tasks and work your way through the job slowly and methodically. Plus, you should be careful about not having too many of different tasks in a short amount of time. This usually ends in not completing all of them at an appropriate time.
3. Put Away Your Phone
One of the easiest ways to get distracted at work is to have your phone out. One minute, you’re breezing through your workday, and then suddenly, you notice you have a notification or an incoming email that takes your attention away from the assignment. Keeping your phone put away can prevent this type of distraction and help keep you on task while at work, improving your overall focus.
It should be said that smartphones are one of the items that can be credited with the most distracting effects on people. Many people resolve this issue by putting their phones in drawers, or not having it in the room where they are working. Therefore, you can be sure that not having one of these in a room where you work will enhance your effectiveness, without any doubt.
4. Practice Meditation or Mindfulness
Sometimes, we lose focus because we are simply preoccupied with thoughts, stressed, or anxious. Having a mindfulness or meditation practice can make a difference since it takes you out of the stress for a moment and regrounds you. We can see that there are a plethora of different types of medications and techniques you can choose from. From basic ones to more complex methods who are much more than just an exercise.
This is especially beneficial for those working in higher stress-level environments where otherwise, the pressure could become increasingly overwhelming. Sometimes you just need to get out of your head for a moment and start over fresh. Have a rest or some kind of holiday, and you can be sure that you will fill up your batteries and you can be ready for all the daily activities and have a plethora of energy for performing these activities.
5. Take Small Breaks
While you need to be productive and get your job done, working for more than 8 hours can lower your ability to focus significantly. So, it makes sense that people, who’ve fought against 12-shift have chosen 8 hours as a proper amount of time for working. So, taking small breaks here and there can prevent burnout and ensure you can get your job done effectively.
Taking a moment to stretch out, going for a walk, or switching to a different activity can help keep you on track and prevent your mind from feeling overloaded. We can see that many large companies have implemented this method and provide their employees with a couple of small lunch, and other types of breaks in order to make them more comfortable during long hours of work. It proved to be a pretty good method for boosting their work ethics and effectiveness.
6. Befriend Your Colleagues
It goes without saying that every job in the work is much easier when you have a good company during the process. Having friends at your job is something that can provide you with the energy to complete all of the tasks in the best possible way.
This is the reason many companies have decided to introduce team buildings. This is a concept where companies organize multiple events in order to make their staff much more compact and increase their productivity. But first, the aim is to provide some of them with a chance to become friends.