Organize + Energize: 10 Ways to Stay Focused at Work

Tuesday, July 05, 2016

Kristin MacRae, GoLocalPDX Organizing Expert

Everybody has interruptions and distractions in their day. On a regular basis, there may be a constant flow of people entering your office. Your phone dings every time you get a text or email. You may get pulled away from your desk while you are in the middle of completing an important task. These distractions and interruptions will not only allow you to lose focus but will decrease your productivity.

Here are 10 ways to stay focused at work:

Declutter and get organized. Visual clutter leads to mental clutter which will in turn cause you to lose focus. Declutter and organize your desk. You should only have on top of your desk what you need on a daily basis.

Have a system and a process for everything you do in your office. If you are disorganized and go to search for a file or important paper, you’ll waste time searching for it and this process will allow you to lose focus. Have a process to handle every piece of paper that arrives at your desk. Create working filing systems so that when you need to search for an item, it will be at your fingertips and you will be able to find it at a moment’s notice.

Work on your time management skills. Organization and time management go hand in hand. You can’t work on your time management skills until you have decluttered and organized. Create blocks of time that you dedicate to projects. Prioritize your tasks. Take some time to think about how you are functioning in your day. What changes can you make to become more efficient and productive?

Utilize to-do lists. Working with a to-do list will keep you on track and focused during the day. You’ll have a feeling of accomplishment when you cross items off the list.

Limit your interruptions. Aside from urgent issues that need to be handled immediately, set aside time for your co-workers to ask you questions. They won’t be disrupting you throughout the day. Before you interrupt someone, think about if you can figure out the answer first before you disrupt them.

Create a working organized system for emails. Can you develop a system where you check emails only certain times of the day? The minute you pull yourself away from what you are doing to check an email, you will get distracted and lose focus on the task at hand. If you’re working on an important project, stay away from the email for that time period. When sending an email think about if you really need to hit the “reply all” key or if you need to copy everybody on the email.

Work on difficult tasks when you are at your best. You will be easily distracted and lose focus when you are not working at your best. If you have a difficult project to tackle, choose a time when you are functioning at your best, whether it’s in the morning when you first walk in the door or right after lunch.

Be mindful. Pay attention to when you start to get distracted. What is distracting you and how can you avoid that distraction from happening? Concentrate on the task at hand and don’t allow yourself to get distracted and switch to a different project. If an idea pops into your head, write it down and then continue with the task at hand.

Reduce your lingering time around the office. The minute you get up from your desk, you’ll immediately get distracted. Somebody may see you are up and that is a cue for them to speak to you. It’s going to distract you and take you away from what you were doing at that moment.

Drink water and eat healthy while at work. This will keep you alert, productive, and will keep you from feeling sluggish.

Make your co-workers aware that you are working on trying to reduce your distractions and you are trying to stay focused. They may think first before they ask you a question that they could’ve found the answer to or they may not come over and make conversation as easily at your desk if they know you are trying to stay focused.