Gone are those days when it used to take time to know about things taking place on the other end of the world to reach you. The world we are a part of is inevitably becoming smaller and smaller. It can all be attributed to mobile phones, computers, and social media. You must be thinking that it is good that the world is literally becoming more accessible. Who would not want to know your industry’s volatility as soonest possible or be available to their loved ones right when they want it. The truth is that technology, along with various other things, causes serious distractions.
It sometimes feels that the world around us is designed to distract us and break our focus. If we are busy with a lot of work, we can’t help but check our phones for email notifications or see if there any comments on the post we recently shared. In a study conducted by the University of California, a person who is distracted on average takes 23 mins to regain focus fully. Therefore, getting distracted is can be pretty stressful, as well as costly.
In today’s day and time, we are bombarded with so much information that it makes everything else really overwhelming. The Overload Research Group, a group of academic and corporate researchers, is dedicated to reducing the people’s information load based in the US. They found that many employees lost significant time and resources due to the incessant flow of unnecessary information.
10 Efficient ways to take back control of your day
We often find ourselves getting exhausted, doing absolutely nothing. All the unwanted noises and distractions manage to suck out our productivity. Now the question arises, what can we do to minimize our “social distraction.” And also increase our power to gain focus. The following are some essential tips that you may find useful to keep up with your learning.
1. Realise the importance of time
Our mobile phones and smartwatches have become a world in and of itself. We get all sorts of things right from calls, emails, Twitter/Instagram notifications to spam messages on these devices. The truth is using technology all the time has a huge setback. It prevents you from working towards your set goals, be more productive, and learn what you thought you would. One thing that you are aware of is the fact that time is a limited resource, and we all struggle to manage it. Therefore, you should not let time get exhausted.
2. Find your “best time” of the day
Remember the time when you decided you would learn something new after work hours. Then, you must recall that you had no willpower to start with, later the same day you decided. All the little things deplete your willpower right from the time you enter your office.
To get out of this cycle, you need to find out the time when your willpower is at the peak. For most of the people I know, it is the morning with the most reserve of will power. Regardless of whether you are a morning person or not, your brain will be at its best right when you get up in the morning. You will be more creative, focus better, and have the highest reserve of willpower.
3. Turn off your social media notification
This one is a no-brainer and you can not deny that you do not see this coming. The catch is, after knowing all of how many of us follow this. Like in the office environment we often get irritated by nagging colleagues dropping by at our desk every 10 minutes. The same is with these notifications. The only difference is that you can turn the notification from your laptop or phone off. Every time the phone screen is is kept on your desk wakes up, and you have that urge to pick it and check the phone despite knowing that it is absolutely irrelevant. Just a simple act of turning off your notification can make you less likely to look at your phone screen every few seconds.
4. Manage your E-mails
Emails are important and a formal platform of communication at the workplace. However, there are just plenty of emails that are there and are of no practical importance. Most of the emails that you receive in a day are useless/ spam. Despite that, you feel the urge to look at your phone every time there is an email. The following are 5 ways to help you manage those emails, so you do not miss any important emails while keeping in mind that you do not get distracted from your work.
4.1 Schedule separate time
You can turn off the option of notification for an email from your home screen so that it does not distract you from your work now and then. Set aside a separate time of the day when you check all the emails at once. Do not dedicate more than 30 mins to each session. It is also essential to set your colleague’s, manager’s and client’s customer accordingly, depending upon when and how you will respond to them.
4.2 Do it in the “low productivity” hours
Everyone hits a peak of their productivity at a specific time of the day. The time when you are most efficient could be early morning or late at night. Save your primary job or the most rewarding job for those high productivity hours. Things like checking emails and other notifications should be checked in the other hours.
4.3 Make them a task
If there are days when you think you have plenty of emails to respond to or if you will take more than an hour to respond to anyone’s email. Set aside a separate time to respond to email as an action program on your to-do list.
4.4 Delete the unnecessary mails
Do not keep the emails in your inbox forever. Doing so can cost you losing sight or missing an important email. It becomes tough to manage with time when you have all important and not so important messages together. Make it a point to go through all of your emails, delete the ones you do not need, and archive the ones important.
5. Leave all your devices well before bedtime
Almost all the devices we are exposed to or own comes with a savvy screen. Most of us have these screens in all the parts of our house, from the living room to the bedroom. The blue light emitted from these illuminated screens hampers melatonin production (a hormone known as the darkness hormone, which gives our brain signals when it’s time to sleep). Tonight, when you go to sleep, try switching off all your devices and leaving them out of your bedroom at least an hour before you sleep. Instead, you can write a gratitude journal or read your favorite book while in bed. Another great thing you do before you go to sleep is practicing meditation and mindfulness. Lately, many of us have forgotten to live in the moment and fail to acknowledge it in its entirety.
6. Let others know that you won’t be available
We are sometimes apprehensive of telling this to people, thinking that we might come across as rude. The truth is, and I personally have experience in doing so, people respect when you tell them that you are busy. I have personally tried this with my clients, bosses, friends, and family members. All of them, without exception, have been understood and respected by the problem. I am sure, and if you did it, you would get the same result. In case there is someone who tells you to be available to all the messages, call and email all time, you should rather take some time out and think if that person deserves to be in your life.
7. Browsing
Reading the latest news article, checking scores of the sport you follow, and even online shopping can be tempting when working in an office. You should know all of these activities are frowned upon in any workplace. These things steal significant time out of your day and can be called a breach of workplace rules.
Shutting down WiFi or just the internet is not really much of an option. Since most of us work on cloud-based software and need the internet to function fully, some site blocking software you can install not to access those particular websites when working.
You can also use approaches like the Pomodoro technique that can help you stay focused on your work. You may reward yourself with some browsing in between your highly focused work sessions.
8. Curb distractions from Environment
Distractions can also come from places other than social media and personal technology. These are the distractions that arise from your physical environment. Even minor distractions such as extreme room temperature or background noise can make you fidgety and make you more prone to lose your concentration. Even a messy environment can cause anxiety or divert your attention. Do not make the mistake of ignoring these distractions, instead set yourself in an empty room or wear noise-canceling headphones to blank out all possible distractions.
9. Account for obstacles
Figuring out the obstacles that can potentially fall on the path is also an important part of the process. Make sure that you clearly document every obstacle associated with each task.
Preempting the obstacles directly influences your overall focus and concentration. This way, if you can just acknowledge the potential distractors, you can be well prepared to steer clear through them when it is the right time.
10. Eliminate the confusion
Try and have a to-do list for the task that is ahead of you. If you do not know what to do next after completing one task, it will waste your team, rendering you unproductive at the end of the day. Make sure you are dedicated to accomplishing the two most important tasks for the day. This way, you will be less likely to get distracted as you would know what you have next in your schedule/ to-do list.
Yet if you find yourself getting engrossed in urgent or unplanned inquiries, try to dig deeper and introspect and look at the underlying root cause of the same. Addressing these issues will save you a lot of time. You can do something more productive in that time frame. This way, you minimize the potential distractions and even eliminate them.
11. Take breaks at regular intervals
Breaks are usually something that is not looked up to and considered a waste of time. But taking a break from work at the right time is the best thing you can do to have a sustained career, and there is nothing wrong with doing so. If you cannot concentrate on things, it is advisable to take some time off to address what is wrong before returning to work. The break could be a five-minute break between Pomodoro interval or a weekend break in the mountains.
12. Practice meditation
Meditation and its benefits are proven time and again as a means to release mental tension and improve general well being. The mere practice of meditation can help you increase your energy, help you with emotional well being, and help you with memory and focus.
The practice helps you to distance yourself from the feelings and thoughts that come up. By detaching yourself from your thoughts, you prevent them from growing into a potential problem. Try and make meditation a habit. Find a suitable quiet place, turn on some nerve-calming music and relax.
