Staying focused at times can be a challenge. It is, however, essential. Without focus, we don’t get things done or goals achieved. In this blog, I’ll give you some fabulous, effective and practical ways to stay on task and focussed at work. We frequently come across distractions, which can be external or internal, realise our priorities are wrong, or our mind starts to wander.
Here are Some Tips to Help You in Remaining Focussed at Work, on Task and Achieving Your Objectives and Goals
Communicate
When I’m about to go and work on an important task, I would alert my team of this and ask if they had anything urgent now; otherwise, I’ll be unavailable for 2 hours. If there is something urgent, they speak up, otherwise, they leave me in peace to focus. Possibly even if you have a door, having a sign “Unless urgent, unavailable until 11am” … to stop people knocking, because once you get the knock, you’re already distracted. Another alternative is to move to a quiet place, but even a library, or for some, working from home, is not effective. I’ve gone to the Board Room on occasion, and even then, people come in, knock etc to see if the room is being used … better to have a process and system up front and communicate that to your team.
Tidiness
Having a tidy workspace will mean there are less distractions in front of you. You’re working on a report and you look up, spot the Smith file on your desk, remember you need to ring them today … and then you’re either thinking “I must not forget to ring them today” or you simply do so in order to not forget. A neat workspace means less hunting for things and less distractions; both of which will save you time. Particularly for service-based and time-based businesses, time equates to money.
Planning & Priorities
Know your priorities and what’s top of the list and then plan your day (usually better late in the day, of the prior day). Don’t overfill your day with too many priorities or intentions, but rather have just 2 or 3 things you need to hit and then hit them. Knowing the important things in your week or day means you can tackle those things first and focus on what is important. Planning also means you work out what might take longer to do, or requires input from others, so that you can arrange those other aspects also and not fail a deadline because someone else let you down. I always include deadlines with anyone I’m asking someone of which is important AND I always set a buffer. If I need it by 5pm Thursday, I might say noon Wednesday … just in case they are late or happen to be sick on the Thursday.
Small Chunks
Big tasks are better broken up into small components. You might have a report to write, which encompasses some research, getting some figures from the finance department, running some analysis and then writing the report. Where something is required by others, pass on that request ASAP and set a deadline – ie the financial reports. Then work on your research. Then you should have the financials back and can run the analysis. Finally, pull it all together with the report. Doing the report could be overwhelming, but each singular task, not so much and very achievable.
Sit Down Prepared
Internal distractions can be as bad as the external ones. I’m hungry, I need to go to the bathroom, I need a coffee, I’m cold/hot etc. Before you start, get prepared. Have a snack if you’re likely getting hungry already, get your water or coffee, go to the bathroom, close the window or turn on the aircon and basically, sit down ready to start. The internal distractions should stay quiet for a couple of hours and allow you to focus on the task at hand.
Calming Music
To me, really any music works, just no ads, so radio may not be effective, especially if it’s talkback radio. Often if something has a quick beat, I actually work faster. But of course, every person is an individual. It might be you work best with ‘white noise’ or meditative music, or something with a little more beat. The purpose often of music is to distract our minds from wandering and thinking about other things, so that we can focus on one, and only one task. For this reason, multitasking is an absolute no-no for effective time management and staying on task.
Use Apps
Use apps like Forest. I like Forest because it has a sound function (thunder, rain, beach etc) plus blocks some notifications, plus has a message on screen to leave your phone alone. You can adjust the time blocks and you get rewarded with trees, so it somewhat has a gaming aspect to it. Accrue enough time and you can then ‘buy’ trees with your ‘credits’ so there is a reward aspect too.
Use Effective Techniques
The Pomodoro Technique is well-known and effective. The concept is work for 25 minutes, take a mini break for 5 minutes and then continue in that pattern. The mini breaks allow for a quick recharge, stretch your legs, get some water etc, and then continue. Just ensure the mini break is only 5 minutes and doesn’t drag into a half hour.
Negate Distractions
You might turn off your phone, or even better, if you’ve got team, give it to someone to look after so you can focus and they can take messages. Turn off the dings on your email (this should occur all the time, not just for a special time, as emails ideally should be done in blocks, not every time your computer dings at you).
Use Notes
If you think of something or get an idea, don’t jump to that item; just write it down (to get it out of your brain) and then continue on the task. If you jump to that other thing, you’ve seriously lost your focus. Ideas and thoughts (and things you’ll remember you need to do) will jump into your brain – that’s normal. You want to get these things out of your brain, but not actually do them then – hence make a note so you can return to that task later.
Practice
Practice does make pretty close to perfect and although we may not be perfect at avoiding distractions, keep trying, and keep practicing. Never tell yourself you’re hopeless (we are what we believe) and even if you have a ‘fail’ once in a while, keep working on your focus. Remember, a single fail doesn’t mean you quit, never try again or give up.
If you identify something that consistently lets you down, then change that thing. For example, if you work from home and get lots of deliveries (or worse, drop-ins), pop a note on the door “In a Zoom call, please leave parcel at the door”. Whilst it’s about parcels, it’s also sending a message to your friendly neighbour that you’re working and not to drop in.
Time Mastery and focus isn’t something we just master and then forget about it; I find that it’s something you need to consistently and constantly work on, otherwise we can slip back into less than time-effective habits. Whilst I’m a business coach and life coach, I work a lot with clients (and individuals) around Time Management. In fact, I’ve been invited to speak on the subject many times. Time for many business owners is one of their greatest resources, so they need to nurture and protect that resource.
If you are needing any assistance with business coaching (or life mentoring) or improving your time management skills, reach out to me here.
