Being in a well-equipped office isn’t always an assurance that you’ll remain productive every single day. Certain things and people around you can distract you from working, making it hard for you to remain productive long-term.
Although common in most workplaces, there are many ways on how you can limit distractions while you’re working. As long as you incorporate these steps to your daily routine, you’ll be able to improve your productivity and maximize your time at work.
Here are five tips to help you limit distractions while you’re working:
- Plan Your Day
Contrary to popular belief, going with the flow will not lead to a stress-free day at work; following this principle will only cause a lot of stress as you won’t have any idea what tasks must come first. Also, not having any direction on what will happen on your workday will make it very easy for you to get distracted.
One way to help you limit distractions while you’re working is to always plan your day. If you want to be productive, you should know what to prioritize. This will help you limit distractions as you’ll know the series of tasks you ought to deal with for the day.
- Keep Tasks Simple
When one is given a complex task that they fear they can’t complete, they would usually procrastinate, making it harder for them to avoid distractions at work. People given with challenging tasks will often wait until the last minute to work on them.
No employer would want an employee who procrastinates or is easily distracted, which is why it’s best if you break down bigger tasks into smaller ones. For instance, if you don’t know how a 3D printer works and you’re assigned to teach its mechanism to new hires, start by learning its parts, such as 3D printer filaments, extruder, and print display, first. It’ll be easier for you to accomplish this task if you know how each of these parts work.
- Focus On One Task At A Time
Regardless of how hectic your schedule is during the day, you should never multitask as this can actually prevent you from focusing. Jumping from one task to another can interrupt your mental information flow, and can make you easily distracted. Multitasking often keeps you busy, but doesn’t allow you to accomplish anything during the day.
After breaking down your tasks, focus on one and dedicate your time and effort in accomplishing that first. After the first one, you can continue moving on the next task, and then the other. Focusing on one task at a time can boost your productivity, without compromising the quality of your outputs.
- Block Out All Distractions
Technology is a double-edged sword—this can help you stay productive, but can also distract you from doing what you’re supposed to do at work. When you’re regularly checking your social media profile on your computer or waiting for a notification on your phone to pop up, don’t expect that you can get anything done when you’re at work.
One of the easiest and most effective ways to limit distractions is to block them. You can do this by turning off notifications on your phone or setting it on a ‘Do Not Disturb’ mode, or blocking non-work-related sites on your computer. Background noises, such as people chatting and noise from the TV, can also affect your concentration, so consider investing in a noise cancelling headphones to address this problem.
- Let Others Know That You Need To Focus
Working in a team is necessary for you to achieve more at work, but there are instances when you have to complete tasks on your own. With these situations, it’s always best to inform your colleagues that you’ll be working on certain tasks and shouldn’t be disturbed, unless necessary.
Letting others know that you have to focus will prevent them from stopping at your table and chatting with you about non-work-related topics.
It’ll Be Worth It
Limiting distractions isn’t always easy, especially if you’re working in a large company with several colleagues who are always ready to chat. Being surrounded with these kinds of people every day can prevent you from working as you’ll likely see yourself conversing with them.
But, if you truly want to reach the extra milestone at work, you should have the discipline to steer clear from any kind of distractions and focus on your tasks. Doing this might seem impossible at first, but investing your time and effort in this method will be worth it in the long run.