Eliminate all distractions
It’s hard to decide what a distraction is to you and how to eliminate it. When attempting to identify your distractions, try coming work with a lengthy personal agenda, and don’t show it to anyone else. See how far you get by lunch, and then reevaluate the agenda to keep pace with your productivity levels. Take notes on how long each activity takes you to complete. Also, take note of it when something stops you from doing that task. For example, if you’re working on writing 10 emails, make a note every time something stops you from finishing that task. Once you’ve gotten through all of the emails, you’ll be able to see exactly where your distractions are coming from and what you’ll need to try to reduce or eliminate them completely.
Meditation
I know it sounds weird and unorthodox, but one thing that really helps with increased focused and productivity is implementing multiple meditation times into your schedule. This gives you moments to take a step back and clear your head. It also gives you a chance to relax for 10-15 minutes and catch your breath. Some people wake up and don’t stop going until they put their head on the pillow that night, just to get back up and do the same thing all over again. Taking breaks to meditate can fix that for you. Don’t worry if you try this once or twice and are absolutely horrible at it–it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. In fact, it takes some people multiple times before they get the basic gist of how to meditate effectively. But even if you fail at meditating, at least you’ve given yourself a chance to take your focus (or lack thereof) and refresh it.
A balanced diet
How many times can you say that you’ve gone to work in a hurry without eating breakfast, only to make a beeline to the vending machines with a couple of bucks to find something to hold you over until lunch, which is when you order pizza from a nearby pizzeria and then find yourself needing to take a nap by 1 p.m.? We’ve all experienced that feeling before. But what if I told you that it all could be avoided if you simply ate a healthy breakfast and packed yourself an equally healthy lunch each day? That’s right–your diet can make all the difference when it comes to your focusing abilities. Do yourself a favor and invest in some healthy foods for lunch each day. By incorporating a balanced diet, your productivity levels will skyrocket, leaving you able to focus at any point in time.
Block social media (or other related sites)
We’ve all done it: we get to work and write a few emails and then find ourselves watching a funny cat video that our friend posted online. Sooner or later, it’s lunchtime and we’re on Twitter retweeting something that our favorite talk-show host is saying. By the end of the day, we didn’t really get all that much done–at least, not as much as we should have. This can cause us to leave work stressed. One thing that you can do to solve this issue is find a way to block these popular social media networking sites while you’re at work. Not only will you be able to work without distractions, you’ll have an increased amount of focus and self-discipline. Your work will reflect the amount of time that you’ve put into it.