Let me guess, you´re not a Buddhist monk right? If I am correct on that assumption then I can tell you something else you can have some issues with focus and distractions causing you to not be as focused and effective as you might want to be.
I know myself that one thing that causes me so much distraction is the Internet. We´ve got emails, skype messages, facebook messages, tweets and more. Then of course there´s distractions such as the people you work with, your family (a huge issues if you work from home) and even your own mind! You know when it goes off and wanders over there and then back here and then kinda stops right there ;). My mind can do that sometimes, you think of one thing and then I get literally lost in though
So what can we do about this? And for us modern people how can we make sure we use the internet constructively. This is important for all, but more for us that work from home, where we use the internet constantly to help make a living.
Below I list out some useful strategies to help you become more constructive:
Set yourself time limits. If you know you only have X minutes to do something you will find you focus more. Remember when you were in school? You´d leave the work till the last minute (if you were like me) and then get it done within a few hours! Setting a time limit can also put you in a competitive mode to “beat the clock”. But what type of time limit should you impose? Well research shows us that we are productive for increments of around 40 to 50 minutes (see below in this post). Get yourself a timer, or set a timer on your phone so that you work for the allotted time. If you think your task will take more than 40 or 50 minutes break it up into 40 or 50 minute sub tasks – simple ?
- When you set yourself a time limit you are also going to prioritize and get the task done. Remember if you don´t really know how long something is going to take it will take forever. If you say I have 50 minutes to complete this you will do it in that time!
- Back to the research I mentioned earlier. It has been shown that the average person will work best as set out below:
- 50 minutes of work
- 10 minute break
- 50 more minutes of work
- 30 minute break (You might not be able to get away with a 30-minute break at work, but it’s a good time to get up, walk around, and get a drink.)
- Repeat
- Of course if you are working from home this schedule is perfect.
- Allocate a specific time for your breaks. Remember on your break time you may decide to have a quick look at your email, or a quick check on Facebook. If you don´t allocate a time for this “break” 10 minutes can turn into an hour or two (believe me I have done this.
Only have open what you need. Are you one of those people that have 5 different applications open? For example Excel, Word, Powerpoint, Internet, Email etc? You don´t need all of these open to do the task at hand so close off what you don´t need. If you have something to do and don´t need Skype turned on, turn it off, plain and simple! This seems really simple but it works! Even think of turning off your mobile so you don´t receive any “alerts”.
- Your emails will still be there in an hour, that Facebook update – is it really something you have to act on? You need to eliminate anything that makes you less effective.
Press Pause when necessary. As you start to change your habits you will, at the beginning, feel the urge to check Twitter, Email or even facebook. But try this:
- Before you give into the urge, pause for 10 seconds. Inhale and take a long, deep breath then ask yourself the following: Do I really want to waste my time on something that is probably meaningless and will not get you nearer my goal, or should I continue to move forward with something more worthwhile?
I do believe that our abilities to focus has been lost as we live in an era of needing and wanting everything right now. We are in affect suffering from low attention spans and a high prepotency to get distracted. We can blame this on our easy access to technology. However, rather than blame it on technology we should be using the above strategies to take control back and be in control of technology rather than the other way around.
At first you will find this difficult, I can assure you I did. However once I started to become aware of the distractions and implement the above strategies, I found I could focus more and get more done.
Start off tomorrow by putting the above three habits into your daily routine. I guarantee you will start to see changes.
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