One of the most challenging things about work is
staying on-task. It's easy to get distracted by co-workers and gossip,
or maybe you find yourself visiting the breakroom every five minutes to
sample the goodies someone brought in that day. Here are
five ways you can stay focused:
One of the most challenging things about work
is staying on-task. It's easy to get distracted by co-workers and
gossip, or maybe you find yourself visiting the breakroom every five
minutes to sample the goodies someone brought in that day. Maybe you get
distracted by Facebook or text messages from your friends. Whatever the
distraction might be, it's important to stay focused at work so you can
meet deadlines, make your boss happy, and be seen as a productive,
reliable employee - especially in today's difficult job market. Here are
five ways you can stay focused:
Keep your desk clean. It can be hard to
focus when your surroundings are awash in chaos. You should keep on top
of filing so that your desk doesn't become stacked with paper. (Also,
shredding the paper you don't need is a great idea.) Be sure to take
your pop can or coffee mug back to the breakroom at the end of the day
to keep your desk's surface clean. And perhaps once a week, maybe on
Friday afternoon, do a clean sweep and put everything away. That way,
your desk will be clean and ready for you on Monday morning.
Keep water and a few snacks at your desk.
If you're someone who likes to nibble through the day, keep a stash of
snacks at your desk so you don't get tempted to hit the vending machine
or take a Starbucks break. (This will help you save both money and
time.) Make sure to choose healthy snacks. Some options include energy
bars, bits of cheese, and carrot sticks. Also, keep bottle of water
handy so you can stay hydrated and avoid trips to the water cooler.
Set time aside for e-mail.
E-mail is great for communicating but it can really add up fast. You
should set aside a designated amount of time for e-mail. During that
time, answer the really important messages but leave the other ones for
later. If you're not careful, you could end up spending all day
answering e-mails and get nothing else done.
Listen to music.
If listening to music helps you concentrate, you may want to take your
MP3 player to work with you. Experiment with the different types of
music on your player to see which one helps you concentrate the most.
(Some genres like hard rock may actually help you concentrate. If you
gravitate to heavier music, make sure to keep the volume relatively low
so you don't disturb your co-workers.) Also, depending on your mood, you
could just stick the earphones in and not turn music on just to muffle
the sounds around you. This is helpful if you work in a noisy
environment.
Save Facebook, blogs, and so on for your breaks.
The Internet is vast and fascinating, but it can also eat up a lot of
time that could be spent doing something more productive. Save the
surfing for your breaks or after work so you don't get sidetrack by
celebrity gossip or FarmVille when you have a report due at the end of
the day.
There are lots of ways to stay focused at work. These are five of
the easiest so you can get start with them right away. Give them a try
so you can enjoy more productive workdays. Good luck!
Jeff McRitchie is the Vice-President of Marketing for MyBinding.com.
He regularly writes articles, reviews, and blog posts on topics related
to bookbinding, laminating, paper shredding, and office equipment. More
than 2,500 of his articles have been published in thousands of
locations on the Internet. If you're looking for information about paper shredders his articles are a great place to start.
