Are you highly distracted? What needs to happen for you to refocus on the task at hand? Check out these three tips to increase your focus and get more done in less time:
- Clear distractions – we all tend to have them: too much clutter on your desk, your phone at your elbow so that you can browse through social media, Amazon, or whatever will get you out of completing the task at hand. We all look up from the rabbit hole of social media distraction after some ridiculous amount of time, and wonder how we got to the YouTube video of a kangaroo boxing 3 rounds with some guy…Eliminate the distractions. Create a clutter-free work environment. Plan your social media and shopping breaks. Put your phone away and become disciplined enough to leave it there. Decide if you need to read and answer every email as soon as you get it. Plan your breaks just like you plan your work.
- Short spurts or long hauls – how do you do it? Do you find that you are more productive when you work for short spurts, such as the Pomodoro Technique of 20 minute increments, or are you a “long hauler” – someone that can sit and truly focus for an hour or more at a time? Understanding how you focus optimally is important. You may have been taught to “sit and work until it’s done”, but are you producing quality work? Would you be less frustrated and less distracted if you took your time and broke it up into shorter increments? If you are a true long hauler and feel that your work is of exceptional quality when using this method, then that’s great. If you find yourself more tired, really frustrated, and are just dreading these periods of time, then it may be time to reconsider how you approach the time in which you work.
- Stop when you need to, to regroup and refocus on the task at hand. Working far past the feeling of needing to stop decreases the quality of the work. We get caught up in the concept of the “hustle” or “grind” and are just running on the hamster wheel without getting anywhere. Are you creating something of quality and value or are you just checking a box that notes that you did something? Be aware of what quality looks like in your work, and be VERY aware of what your work looks like when you are just calling it in. You want quality. Consistently. So if you get to a point where things aren’t looking as good as they did when you started, then it’s time to stop. It’s okay. You can pick it up again at a later time.
Give these three tips a try to increase your focus and maximize your productivity. Let me know how using these three keys work for you.
Take care,
Alecia