If you feel like you’re constantly getting distracted when you’re trying to concentrate on your job, you’re not alone. With social media updates, endless apps, personal concerns and family matters vying for your focus in the office, it’s a wonder any work gets done at all.
But there’s a consequence to letting too many distractions eat into your workday. One study shows that being interrupted from a project causes you to lose nearly 25 minutes of concentration. You may think you’re just quickly checking Facebook and that you’ll get right back on track a moment later, but the research shows this just isn’t so. What’s more, the study revealed that once distracted from a task, people overcompensate by working faster, which leads them to feel more stressed and frustrated. All things considered, these are not such good trade-offs for the fleeting satisfaction of shifting gears to something that feels temporarily more satisfying.
[See: How to Quit Your Job Like a Class Act.]
Knowing the penalties to your performance and peace of mind for succumbing to the siren song of distractions, what can you do to stay more razor-focused at work? Here are some tips that can help you harness your fragile attention span:
Turn off your temptations. Smartphones are notorious attention hijackers. Research led by Nottingham Trent University in England found that users check their phones about 85 times a day and spend five hours — around one-third of our waking hours — surfing the internet and using apps. With that level of phone-related interruption due to texts, emails, internet, calls and apps just waiting to derail your work project that was due yesterday, it’s important to set some self-limitations if you ever hope to accomplish anything.
Do what you have to do to give your device a rest at crucial times when you need to be productive. While you may feel that you need to keep your phone on for emergencies, at least silence your notifications for social media, games and personal email. Don’t worry, everything will still be waiting for you when you turn notifications back on after work.
[See: The 6 Best Jobs for Work-Life Balance.]
Cut down on “clutter noise.” Nothing is more distracting than the visual stimulus of a mess, whether it comes in the form of your physical space or digital world. While you may feel that you don’t have time to deal with the clutter-fest that your office or computer desktop have become, consider the fact that it can be very distracting to look at this chaos when you’re trying to do something else.
Whether it’s too much paper on or around your desk, old electronic files that you never get around to deleting or even a bulletin board covered with outdated memos, you’re losing some focus each time your eyes alight on these unnecessary objects. Schedule a slot on your calendar to clear the deck from these distractions and see if you don’t feel more centered at your desk.
Set limits for things you can’t change. Even with your smartphone tucked away in a drawer, there’s no escaping work-related email. Whether it’s your boss, colleagues or clients who ping you throughout the day, it’s hard to escape the interruptive nature of your constantly refilling email inbox.
That said, there’s no reason why you can’t create some boundaries and structure around your “checking behaviors” to limit the productivity hit that goes hand in hand with constantly shifting your attention off of your key deliverables. Let your manager and team know that you need certain hours to focus on projects and that you won’t be always available on email. Commit to a limited schedule of email review and processing — many productivity experts recommend twice a day. Most matters aren’t so urgent that an instant response is needed, and looking at messages two times daily still allows you to respond within the same day for issues of importance.
[See: Tips for Surviving a Career Transition.]
Make the most of your mornings. Studies have shown that mornings are important when it comes to productivity. If you make a plan to maximize your first hours in the office, you may be more motivated to forgo distractions in the morning, knowing you’ll be able to tune into them later in the day.
By getting the most important projects off your plate first in an uninterrupted way, you free yourself to take a break in the afternoon or evening and indulge some of your favorite “weaknesses” guilt-free, knowing you’ve gotten the bulk of your work done already. To maximize your morning time, it helps to set a routine. Plan ahead using the tips above to minimize morning distractions, and you’ll set the tone for a more focused day.
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Feeling Distracted? Here’s How to Stay Focused at Work originally appeared on usnews.com
