Find your focus at work

8 Tips to Find Focus and Increase Your Productivity at Work

We all seem to go through days when it feels beyond our control to accomplish our assigned projects. With the lure of social networking sites, mobile games, and the media at large- not to mention the daily chaos of people in the workplace – it’s easy to get distracted and lose your focus at work.

If you’re constantly distracted by noisy workplace chatter and find it almost impossible to concentrate on your work, there is no way to find your focus at work. The solution to your problem lies somewhere between sustained effort and clever tricks that help us get through the day.

We try our best, but it’s not possible to prevent the subconscious from wandering away. So many of us begin to get excited daydreams, while others think about all the tasks they have to do. We tend to find pleasure in all manner of captivating feelings, but we cannot do what we’re supposed to do, i.e., pay attention.

Although staying focused is maybe the smartest way for someone to do work and move on with the rest of their task and flourish in their career. Here are some of the tips that will help you focus at work,

1)  Set clear targets

If you don’t feel the motivation and pressure to complete an assignment, you’re probably procrastinating. You need to set clear targets on all tasks and assignments on the to-do list. By doing so, you will feel motivated and will be able to concentrate on all the essential tasks genuinely. It’s necessary to describe and set your goals with a purpose to maintain your productivity and ensure that whatever you’re focusing on is helping bring you closer to achieving your goal.

2) Organize your workspace

To organize your thinking and start concentrating on a particular target, you should have a working environment that promotes the same kind of clarity. Clean and organize your workspace, organize your desktop, and remove all the things that distract you from your work. Also, have a place for all your food and drink, purse, and other personal belongings. But it would help if you kept them within your reach so that you can find yourself a drink without having to lose your concentration on the task you are doing.

3) Incorporate small breaks

Nobody can work for 3 hours straight without taking small breaks, relaxing even if it is for just a couple of minutes. It’s best to take small scheduled breaks than just being exhausted and overwhelmed with all the thoughts and deadlines. Consider taking 15-minute intervals to a computer-free environment with a quick 2-minute breathing exercise. Take this time to pamper yourself with a hot cup of coffee, listen to energizing music or podcast, converse with a colleague, or read a paper or book.

4)  Meditate regularly

Practice meditation for high concentration and focussed attention. It’s a perfect way to develop concentration, de-stress, and give you more control of your emotions. Focused meditation exercise includes focusing on all five senses and directing the wandering mind to a focus point. Focused concentration allows the practitioner to get his mind to a state of stillness.

5) Exercise is key

Both your brain and body need to be in their optimum state to concentrate. Regular exercise by walking or running for 30 minutes or hitting the gym is necessary to help you focus better. In addition to various health advantages, exercising makes you smarter, productive, enhances sleep, happier, and makes you feel better about yourself.

6)  Keep yourself away from notifications & alerts

You won’t be able to completely concentrate until you detach yourself from distractions, including notifications. Open your phone settings and turn off all alerts and notifications that can hinder your focus, such as email alerts, Facebook posts, and other unnecessary applications that constantly send you notifications. Develop a habit of checking your mobile every once in a while to see if someone’s been trying to contact you. But don’t spend a lot of time checking your phone.

7) Hydrate regularly

All of us prefer taking a cup of tea or coffee because the caffeine helps us keep going. Just like you need breaks to reboot your body, drinking water is necessary to sustain efficiency and productivity at work. It’s easy, and it’s effective. Not staying hydrated will result in dehydration as well as fatigue, exhaustion, and weight gain.

8) Journal your professional accomplishments

Write a blog about your Professional Growth and Accomplishment. The journal helps you be honest and strives for self-improvement and personal development. When you jot down all the little successes that you’ve had, you’re all the more inspired to move forward and get more work done.

How do you practice focused meditation?

Practicing focused meditation requires a few basic steps, to begin with, and these steps can be improvised with time and practice. Begin with quick five-minute sessions and work your way to more extended periods as you get more comfortable with the exercise. To practice focused meditation, you will need a quiet and calm place that will allow you to relax and become mindful.

The main steps for practicing focused meditation are listed below

1) Choose a target to concentrate your efforts. Focusing on your breath is a good choice since it is usually the initiating exercise for most forms of meditation practice.

2) Sit down in a relaxed spot. Sitting quietly serves to reduce the chances of distraction.

3) Help relax by loosening all the muscles and breathing deeply.

4) Try to bring all the focus to the target object or stimulus. Don’t think about it as a chore, but after a while, you’ll feel drained and losing your attention. Think of it as a self-exploring exercise to discover your strengths and focus on your weak points.

5) Try to re-focus on your target in case your emotions overtake, and you lose your focus. It might feel a little overwhelming if you can’t control your emotions, but with practice, you’re going to get used to it.

Don’t let the failure stop you. It will take some time to learn how to regulate your thoughts and bring all your focus in one direction.

“That’s been one of my mantras – focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.”

Steve Jobs

Conclusion

The perfect way to handle a stressful, chaotic day is to make informed decisions about utilizing the limited time. If you organize and schedule what you’re planning to do every day with regular guided meditation exercises, you are more likely to accomplish most of your tasks and become capable of controlling your workload.

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