Every time I don’t have time for something at work, I tell myself that I won’t be distracted tomorrow and I will do my best, and there will be time left. It’s hard, especially when you’re working on a computer: there’s always something to distract you with. Read a popular site? Very interesting. Would you like to be enlightened about some new chips and events in the world? Thousand times yes! It seems to me that when I worked in another field and did not have a computer, but only a bunch of papers, I managed to do a thousand times more in a day.
As a result of all the stuff that distracts us from the case, we pay less attention to the work, put less effort into it and perform it as if by inertia. The fact is that we focus our attention on a bunch of different things that distract us from the most important thing. You’ve probably felt something like this more than once.
Oh, a letter alert. Oops! – I’ll go check on Facebook. And now I can’t help but answer a text message. Oh, the phone rings. And someone came up to your desk to chat.
Sometimes it’s even okay to be distracted. For example, when you are waiting for an answer to an important email that will determine what you will do next. But if you face the truth, all these distractions are more likely to interfere with us than help us. You can fix everything and do it right.
Coordinate a quite hour
Not like kindergarten, just so no one makes a fuss. For example, my quiet time is from the time I get to work to the time of twelve. At this time, no one should distract you from your work. Everyone allows each other to focus on their thoughts. You can think ahead, or you can focus on the tasks at hand.
In any job, you need a time when no one will be pulling you. Everybody needs to think carefully, read, analyze and connect various thoughts. Quiet hour is our answer, but it should be quiet for everyone.
If it’s two hours, it’s even better, but not everyone can sit their asses off for that amount of time. At least an hour and a half will save the situation. But in no case less than an hour.
This should become a full part of the working schedule. Not necessarily in the morning: it is possible at lunch and before the end of the day. The main thing is for you to know that you will have your time when no one will disturb you.
Limit the amount of work that doesn’t inspire
If you’re so distracted, then the activities you’re doing at the moment do not inspire you. This is usually the case with reports. Who likes to write reports at all? When I have to do something like that, I’m happy with any skype poop, any text message, and I run it as a rescue. Social networks are also usually used as a break.
It is clear: it will not be possible to completely get rid of such work, but it is possible to reduce its quantity. The mantra in this case: “Not everything deserves to work on it.” Think about what kind of work you don’t like. Can you ignore it? Can I give it to someone else? Is there any other way to organize your workflow so that it does not bother you? Your goal is to devote more time to the work you like and less time to the work you would prefer to forget.
Enough rest
You’re gonna ask, “What? How does that help me?”
Usually, when you’re distracted from work, it doesn’t do you any good: you don’t rest, you don’t spend much time on it, you just distract yourself. Checking your inbox is easy. Checking Twitter is easy. Checking Instagram is easy. But it’s hard to work.
When you are tired, distraction gives you some sort of rest. You tell yourself that it doesn’t matter, but you can still remove spam from the box for half an hour because you don’t have the strength for anything else. You’d better get a good night’s sleep, and then things will go much better.
Start with the big one.
It’s easy to get distracted by trifles, it’s very easy to get lost in trifles and forget about big things. The best solution is to start with something big, finish it, and then do some small stuff. Quickly.
It is difficult. For example, in front of you stretches the unspoken edge of the work – an utterly enormous task that frightens you, the thought of it exhausts all your strength. What to do? Open Instagram and look at other people’s photos. Read the news.
We avoid scary and hard work, trying to delay it just for a minute. That’s the problem: the longer we don’t get down to business, the scarier its ubiquitous tentacles are. At least in our view. So the task becomes practically impossible.
It is better not to make a fool of yourself and immediately start with a big case. Can you divide it into stages? How to determine the success of the task? Write everything down, and then start with the easiest part. The sooner and easier you deal with it, the more motivated you will be to continue.
End of useful breaks?
We’ll always be as distracted as we are today. Our goal is to be distracted effectively so as not to be scattered. Imagine that you are always rested and working on a large and inspiring project, dividing it into parts. It’s much better this way.
