“I will not be distracted by my co-worker’s conversation (fight) with the customer”, “I will not be distracted by the innumerable telephones ringing in the background”, “I will not read the latest forward sent by my friend” “ I will decline when my office buddy asks me join her for a cup of tea”, “ the latest news does not interest me” “I don’t like office gossip”, “no, I will resist getting up from work”……
Amongst these innumerable thought monitors that you have employed to keep yourself focused, that one rogue thought somehow manages to wriggle its way in and says, “what the hell?” and you give in to the temptation……
This is the everyday scenario with us who come early to the office with a plan at hand but still find that half of the tasks not done at the end of the day and struggle later the day to complete these tasks. It is not that we believe in wasting time it is just that we are not organized enough and try to do many things at once and don’t do many well….
Here are some tips that will help us to stay focused at work and keep you ahead of work
Keep a ‘to do list’
No matter what you do, you need to have a ‘to do’ list which you write first thing in the morning after you sit down at your desk. You will find that writing your tasks down cuts down the anxiety, gives you clarity and makes it easier for you to focus on the task at hand. You could write the list first thing in the morning or write it at the end of the previous day so that you do not miss to mention any task that needs to be completed the next day. Keep/Pin this list on your desk in such a position, where you can constantly look at it so that you remain focused.
Don’t check the mail first
Many of us have the habit of checking our Outlook, Gmail, Yahoo etc first thing in the morning. This is particularly bad for your work because you do not realize the amount of precious time wasted in reading the “must-read” forwards sent by your friends, along with other unnecessary junk mails which promise to make you instantly rich or lose 10 pounds in a day! What you don’t realize is that end up wasting the most productive time of your day, as you can focus best early in the day. What you can do is start your official work first and after finishing off 2 things off your to-do list, you can check your mail and respond to it which will be a good break for you.
Eat that frog
No, we are not asking you to start experimenting with your cuisine; we are just telling you how to manage your time better by doing the toughest or the most disliked work first thing after you arrive in the office. After dedicating the most focused time of the day on the job, you will ensure that the work gets done in a better manner and a quicker way. Not only will you be relieved to get the job off your chest but you will also be motivated for the rest of the day!
Be ‘Unavailable’ for some time
One of the major reasons we find ourselves falling back on the work front is because we are constantly distracted by things happening around us and also by others interrupting us, especially if you are at a senior level. Being accessible is a good trait, but these constant interruptions will leave you nowhere near completing your scheduled work for the day. You have to designate a time when you will not be disturbed, for example, the first hour in the office will be ‘Unavailable time’. Another way is by designating a period of time when others can reach you for their doubts and queries, for example: - 11am to 1pm. This way you respect your co workers and also your own time.
Keep off messengers
You are just about to finish your work and someone in your messenger list ‘buzzes’ you. You start chatting and end up losing precious time which could have been devoted to finishing your work quickly. When you are working, do not sign in to chat or keep your status message as busy.
Track your progress
Every 2 hours make a habit of tracking your progress and ticking off the tasks that you have completed, this way you know how much work you have accomplished and how much more work needs to be done. When you find that you are taking more time in one particular task then take a stock of your priorities and check whether there is something much more important that needs to be done before the one you are doing.
Make short phone calls
Be it a personal or official calls, we find ourselves glued to the phones, either calling other people or answering their calls. One way of reducing the time that you spend on a call or before you call anyone is to decide your main agenda for making that call, as well as the questions you want to ask and then proceed with calling that person up or answering their call.
