“Starve your distractions and feed your focus”
>> It’s normal, and something that happens with every one of us!!!!
Doing something really important with all your heart and mind into it, but bummer . . . something comes up and you cannot remain focused. You thought it would take 5 minutes, but it took 10, and even an hour passed by and then when you return to what you were doing the flow is gone. You don’t know where you started, where you were, by the time the idea is gone. Now you have to start all over again, all your time and efforts got wasted. So, it is important to not let yourself get distracted.
So how to stay motivated? We present you a set of few simple tips to help you stay away from distractions:
Why Do You Want To Focus?
It should not be a matter of consideration, as it is expected for you to be focused if you want to achieve something in life. But, if you are not focused, you have to find out why it is important for you?
Once you have the answer, your vision will become clear and you’ll feel inspired. Let’s say if you want to write a blog or have to do complex coding; you first need to think about the outcome and why you want to do it. This will automatically motivate you to remain focused and work towards achieving it.
Prepare To-Do List
Making a to-do list is the toughest thing to do, but it makes the life easier. It will clarify what you need to do on any particular day and will direct you towards completion. It keeps you on track and motivates you to complete your work.
Prioritize Your Tasks
Categorize your to-do list into important and urgent tasks. Some of the tasks might have high significance and value, but they might not require immediate attention; these tasks should be categorized as important. On the other hand, some tasks might need your immediate attention, categorize them as urgent and focus on finishing them first. Once you mark urgent things as completed in your to-do list, you’ll have better motivation and enough time to focus on items marked as important.
Organize Your Desk And Thoughts
A clean and organized workstation helps in having a better thought process. So, keep your workstation well organized, your to-do list pinned in front of you, the water bottle completely full, and everything else that would require you leaving your desk should be in place to save your time and energy.
The next thing to do is to keep your thought in place. No need to think about what happened in the morning at home; if you missed your friend’s anniversary, you have lunch hours to call and convey your best wishes.
Make Yourself Comfortable At Your Workstation
Providing a comfortable and healthy work environment for employees is among the top priorities of employers. However, it might be possible that the chair you are sitting on might not be supporting your body type. Make sure you get proper back support and your keyboard is at a comfortable height for you to work upon. Get a cushion if required for proper support; adjust the height of your chair according to your ease. If you are not comfortable, you won’t be able to stay focused.
Organize Your Computer
A majority of people ignore this but it is important and can save a lot of time directly or indirectly. Keeping your files and folder organized not only saves your time in finding them when in need, but also helps speed up your computer. If you are more of a Desktop person, who prefers keeping everything on Desktop, you might be putting your computer in danger. So, better keep your files and folders organized.
Make Sure To Have A Satisfied Belly
Hunger is the biggest distraction for some people. If you are also one of them, you need to keep this covered to stay focused. Keep some light snacks, a tiffin of salad or fruits, and a water bottle on your desk. Having enough water during the day is not only helpful for health, but it also keeps you refreshed in case you feel dizzy at work due to some or other reason.
Instant Communication Ethics
Social media and emails are among the biggest distractions at work. Discipline yourself on how much and when to use the phone and social media. Nothing is more important than work and professional priorities once you are at work. Not all call on your cell phone is about to inform you that your house is on fire or your loved one is having an emergency. So, its ok to miss a few calls and call back them during your designated breaks. Similarly going through your Facebook or Twitter feed, again and again, to see if something new happened is not going to make things interesting in your life.
Organize Your Email
Emails are another distraction at work. It is important to categorize your email and fix a schedule to check and respond to them based upon their priority. Yes, you have a search option that makes it easy to find emails in the mailbox. But having an organized mailbox and prioritized approach towards email will make you a more effective professional.
Make Your Own Work Ethics
When you work, you work, don’t let anyone or anything distract you. Make a clear statement to your colleagues to not disturb you while you are working or doing anything important and they will understand because they want the same. Use headphones to stay focused and save you from external distractions. If you chose the right music to save you from external noise, it’ll enhance your productivity.
Several things might be happening around you but to achieve your optimum work efficiency, you need to put all that at bay and focus on your own priorities.
I am an Entrepreneur, Angel Investor & CEO @ Optizm Global, the Right Fit Recruitment & Placement Agency. I am also Executive Director of TiE SoCal, a non-profit, global community welcoming entrepreneurs from all over the world. We believe in the power of ideas to change the face of entrepreneurship and growing business through our five pillars: Mentoring, networking, Education, Incubating and Funding.
