“Focus comes from eliminating distractions.” – Author Unknown***
They call it the Information Age… The Digital Age, however, we live in the Age of Distractions. The waters of clarity get muddied when we say, “We must master the art of multitasking.” Are you struggling with managing your time and eliminating distractions? If so, you probably agree that multitasking is overrated. It is necessary in some support roles and in certain job tasks at every professional level, so I do believe the skill is important. The more important the work, however, the less multitasking a person should be doing as it can diminish the quality of the work being done. The more important the work and the more excellence and accuracy required, the more concentration and focus are necessary. We should keep that in mind when we are eliminating and merging jobs and job descriptions.
I want to share what I call, My Battle for Better; better focus, better work quality and better quantity of work completed in a specific timeframe. Though I previously believed it was a new battle, I realize it is not and that I began this battle approximately 19 years ago. Of course I knew I had a Battle for Better going on, (LOL) but not for 19 years. That sounds real crazy! As crazy as it sounds, however, it might actually be the beginning of the end of the battle! Revelation brings insight and acceptance is the first step to recovery. Why don’t you walk with me through my journey to create the distraction free work life in hopes that it will help you with your own…
The Journey: What happened 19 years ago? A prelude…
There was a subtle shift that took place over time that I hardly thought about. It started with several jobs that included constant interruptions…phones, drop ins, customers and trying to get work done in between. I then took a position in Human Resources with more frequent and intense interruptions which were a necessary part of the job. What was added in was timing. Timing was everything. Everything had to be done right away or there would be a price to pay. I eventually managed to gain control of the runaway freight train of a schedule, managing my calendar, emails, mail, phone calls, return phone calls, meetings, interviews, interview follow ups, employee & manager coaching sessions, meetings, projects and more. I was then promoted to a full time diversity role which lessened the distractions tremendously. There were still some but not many interruptions in the course of a day.
The Revelation: What happened 19 years ago?
With the last change, my position was physically moved out of the busy Human Resources Division and into another Division in the organization. In the new location, I was located on a quiet floor with others from my division. We were in a low traffic area. It was quiet and peaceful. I could even enter the building without seeing anyone until I got upstairs on the floor, passing no one on the way. I could sit in my office for hours, uninterrupted, just doing work! Wait! What?! Who does that?! It was a new and different experience for me but that’s what happened 19 years ago. I met uninterrupted work time, full of peace and quiet with only sounds that I created (my music, my typing, my voice on the phone) and free of distractions. There was only an occasional unexpected knock on the door, otherwise only scheduled appointments and a few phone calls! It was wonderful. This was a drastic difference from what I was accustomed to. When I returned to a busy environment, busy location, frequent interruptions, I found it difficult to concentrate, and hard to focus. Though I had always functioned adequately in environments of distraction, I now found I could no longer tolerate it. Once I had gotten used to full concentration and focus I could no longer turn back!
In preparing this post, I read multiple articles and resources. Every article and every list was different. There may have been one or two common items listed but there were so many things that can be distracting, I started getting distracted and almost forgot what I was researching. I could make a traditional list that focuses on phones, people, meaningless work etc. but here’s what I have. Hope it helps…
1. “Starve your distractions, feed your focus.”– Motivational Quotes, Pinterest.com
Make a list of the distractions you struggle with. For many it is right in front of us… the computer that it. The email, social media and cell phone notifications continually flashing, beeping and singing to us while we work tend to spoil our concentration. Consider turning off your notifications or closing the applications so notifications don’t occur. For me notifications only occur on my computer when the applications are open that includes my email application where some social media notifications come through as well. In this case, obviously the email application should be closed as well. It goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway, the phone should be silenced and placed where we can’t see every screen notification that appears. Some of this is common sense and some is will power! Identify your distractions.
2. “Work is hard. Distractions are plentiful. And time is short.” – Adam Hochschild
We can give more value to our time. If we know we need three hours to complete a task, we should make sure we allot three hours in our schedules to get that task done and do whatever we can to support what needs to be done. For example, if I am going to write a piece that I estimate will take me three hours to complete, I should set a time, notify others that I am unavailable for that timeframe (maybe with a break added in for those who need to access me), make sure I have my lunch or breakfast scheduled before or after that time, have my favorite beverage prepared and ready, have all resources prepared in advance and work station clean. With all things prepared and ready, it might help me get the work completed successfully with less distraction and greater satisfaction. Value your time and manage your work.
3. “When a person can’t find a deep sense of meaning, they distract themselves with pleasure.” – Viktor Frankl
Sometimes we just need to get away and do something else. One of my favorite things to do was to go for a walk. Depending on where you work or where you live, if you work remotely, going for a walk may or may not be a great option. If it’s not the safest option or it’s too cold, maybe a drive could be a viable alternative. I even found a great deal of release and satisfaction from spending 30 minutes on the treadmill in the workout room at work.
Do something pleasurable. Get those endorphins flowing. Endorphins release a feeling of wellbeing and positivity in the brain and throughout the body. This can certainly motivate us to think more creatively and concentrate better when we go back to work. Schedule something pleasant into your day to promote concentration.
4. “You can’t do big things if you’re distracted by small things.” – Picturequotes.com
I talked about email, social media and other notifications, but let’s talk a little more about emails. Emails are the little time killers that can take a big chunk of our time and before we know it, we are an hour or two into them and they just keep coming.
- Set specific 30 minute timeframes in the course of your work day to read emails, consider the beginning of the day, the end of the day and 1-2 times midday.
- Try adding better organization to emails. Work emails might be easier to organize but some of it is nothing more than a learning curve.
- Create labeled folders for emails by sender, group or subject
- Try color coding your emails for key individuals so they stand out and you know to read those first when scanning high volumes of incoming emails. Some email systems enable you to color code people’s name and subject line. Then while most appear in black ink, this one person or set of persons all appear in red. You then know those are to be read right away. I once did that with all executives, so I never missed their messages!
- Treat unsolicited sales emails that are easily identified as unsolicited sales emails so put them in a common folder to read when you have time or delete them
Manage the little things so they won’t begin to overpower your goals.
5. “A distraction doesn’t pull you away from your primary goal, but it reveals your true desires.” – quotationof.com
Maybe the distraction or distractions you keep experiencing are trying to tell you something else about yourself. Maybe you are not interested in the work you are doing. I’m not referring to the task at hand but the job that delivers the task. Maybe you would rather be doing something else. If so, find that something else.
Maybe it’s not so dramatic. As I was writing this post and I thought about how I often start to organize my desk and clean up mail surrounding my workspace. What this desire to clean is most likely telling me, is that I need to organize and clean my study. I have a perfectionist issue, in which I tend to put a project off until all surrounding circumstances and necessary steps are perfectly ready for implementation or use before moving forward with the entire project. The reality is, I could certainly get some aspects done earlier on and complete the process as all other pieces are gathered. It’s a time waster but a genuine thought pattern that has to be consciously overcome.
My point is, maybe some of our distractions are actually saying something that we haven’t recognized. Give that some thought. It might be an eye opener.
Closing Thoughts
So my nontraditional path of propositions for working smarter, not harder in a distraction free work zone amounts to this:
- Identify your distractions; not mine, not your sister’s or your friends, but yours.
- Value your time and manage your work. Carve out the time you need and what it will take for you to focus on your work.
- Schedule something pleasant into your day to promote concentration.
- Manage the little things so they won’t begin to overpower your goals.
I’ve said enough to get us started on yet another journey of improvement!