It's summer time and with that comes days at the
beach, swim lessons, hiking, camping, and, oh yeah, working somewhere
in there. When the weather turns nice and the skies are blue, it's hard
to stay focused in the office, unless you happen to be a scuba
instructor. Here are a few tips on how to stay focused at work
when you'd rather be outside.
It's summer time and with that comes days at the
beach, swim lessons, hiking, camping, and, oh yeah, working somewhere
in there. When the weather turns nice and the skies are blue, it's hard
to stay focused in the office, unless you happen to be a scuba
instructor. However, most of us have to stay inside working, even if the
weather is gorgeous. Here are a few tips on how to stay focused at work
when you'd rather be outside.
Make a plan. To start your day, make a plan detailing your goals for the
day. Having a daily task list can help you finish the things that need
to be done in a timely manner. Focusing on checking things off your
to-do list in a timely manner can help you focus on the tasks at hand
rather than how beautiful it looks outside.
Prioritize your workload. What do you need to get done today? What
should you work on but don't need to finish? Choose to do the most
urgent things first. Procrastination is a huge time waster. Many times
procrastinating takes longer than actually doing. To work around this,
work on your most pressing items at the beginning of your day. Early in
the work day is when you're the freshest and most productive. And the
last thing you want to do is get stuck at the office finishing a project
when you could be off and playing in the sun.
Set a timer. Limiting yourself to a certain amount of time can help
you stay concentrated on what you're doing. This also works well for
minimizing distractions. Allow yourself fifteen minutes (or whatever is
reasonable for you) to check your email and then don't worry about it
again until the next day. Give yourself one hour to update your company
blog. Work on ongoing projects for 30 minutes. Giving yourself time
slots such as these when you make your plan will help you to maximize
the time you have to be at the office and help you avoid staying longer
than you need to.
Keep your desk clean.
This comes more naturally to some than others. And I know there are
those that will argue that they work better with a messy desk. However,
in general, a messy desk is distracting. Clearing it off will help to
streamline your thoughts and therefore your focus. If you must have
something messy around you, keep it in your drawer.
Come in early and resist the urge to call in sick. Coming into work
early can help you get a head start on your day and give you a few extra
minutes to mentally prepare yourself for spending the day indoors
rather than at the beach. And whatever you do, don't call in sick unless
it's legitimate. While it might be tempting, the last thing you need is
for your boss to see pictures of you out on a boat when you were
supposedly sick. Save your sick days for when you really need them.
These are just a few tips you can use to stay focused at work. Each
one is malleable and can be tailored to fit your exact needs. Hang in
there, Friday and the weekend will be here soon!
Jeff McRitchie is the director of marketing for MyBinding.com.
He regularly writes articles, reviews and blog posts on topics related
to book binding, laminating, paper shredding and office equipment. With
more than 2,500 articles that have been published in thousands of
locations on the web. If you are looking for a binding machine, report
cover, 3 ring binder, laminator, lanyard, badge holder, paper shredder,
whiteboard, cutting machine or paper folding machine his articles are a good place to start.
