5 Ways to Increase Focus at Work

Life is full of distractions and, unfortunately, those distractions don’t leave us once we enter out place of employment. From the internet, to our mobile phones, and co-worker’s gossip, we have plenty of opportunities to find ourselves struggling to stay attentive to the task at hand.

Consider implementing the following five ways to remain focused while on the job.

Keep a healthy snack close at hand. Hunger can be a big distraction and when we try to deal with our hunger by eating salty or sugary snacks, we’ll find ourselves with decreased energy and we’ll be craving those unhealthy treats for much of the day. Bring in healthy treats to keep nearby, such as nuts, dried fruit, bananas, carrots and celery, or a protein-filled smoothie. You’ll avoid getting away from your desk to grab the chips in the vending machine while finding yourself with increased energy and focus.

Work for specific amounts of time on one project. Have a plan to your day and spend a dedicated amount of time, ideally about 45 minutes, working on one project. Avoid the temptation to multitask and bring brief, focused attention to one job. You’ll find that you’ve accomplish more in shorter bursts of time than spending several distracted hours on a project. Following your 45 minutes of dedicated work give yourself a quick break as a reward.

Take a walk. A great reward after your successful 45 minutes of dedicated work is a brisk walk around the office building. Getting outdoors will help you regain focus, increase your energy levels, and can help stimulate new ideas that can resolve a problem or issue you’re having with your project.

Seek out a private work space. In some instances, we might need more privacy, especially if you work in a cubicle with a lot of co-workers nearby. Find an empty conference room that you can utilize for some dedicated work and take advantage of it or locate a quiet corner with a desk. Sometimes a change in scenery can allow us to be more focused.

Identify your specific distractions and make a plan. Think through the situations you find most distracting, from gossiping with co-workers around the coffee machine to browsing Amazon when you should be getting some work done and develop a specific plan to deal with them. It might be as simple as rewarding yourself after focused work time with a visit to the coffee machine or a brief time of online browsing.

A few small tweaks to our work practices can enable us to be more focused, more productive, and more joyful on the job.