Last week I posted on instagram stories about working from home and how I wasn’t being as productive as I knew I could be. I told yall I needed to get back on my game to get and stay focused like I usually can. When I asked yall for your secrets on how you stay focused at work, you did not disappoint.
I compiled all the responses I got from yall and when I got back in my groove I thought about what helped me too. So here’s a list of six ways to stay focused at work.
If there are too many things I’m trying to do at once it all goes up in smoke. We could all be great multitaskers but when you’re trying to focus at work you need to zoom in on one thing at a time. Make your to-do list or brain dump before you start your day so you’ll know what to prioritize.
So many of you told me you love to schedule out your day so you know what/when you have to be doing things. I’m with you! Usually my schedule gets screwed quickly but it’s nice to refer back to get on track.
Turn off notifications, set limits on your screen time (brilliant Jordan!), and if it’s possible for your work turn off your phone altogether. That piece of electronic equiptment is hands down the thing the number one thing that causes you to lose focus. So put it down, shut off as much as you can, and reclaim your *ding* less time!
Take this time to reset yourself; so the break can be a walk, a 10 minute meditation (Laura’s fav), or maybe even a quick stretch. If you use a workout app on your phone (I know I just told you to shut it off but) you can use it to take a quick meditation or stretch class. When you keep your brain running it’s going to get tired, so give it a quick 10 minutes break.
If you’ve got an office with a door, awesome! If you don’t then do whatever you can to signal to your colleagues that you’re in do not disturb mode. Maybe that’s putting yourself on away on the work chat or putting on obvious headphones. Maybe it’s going to a space in your office that you can reserve. It’s easier to focus at work when you don’t have people pinging you online or in person for stupid stuff.
Know when to hold em and know when to fold em, etc etc. At some point you’re going to hit a wall. You need to know before you reach that point that you need to stop. Don’t let yourself get run down so much on one day that you’re shot for the next one. Get up, leave your work, shut your computer, and quit for the day or weekend.
