How To Deal With Some of the Most Common Distractions at Work


As you sit down to read this, I'm betting you've already been distracted at work at least once today, if not more.

It's possible that you'll be interrupted before you've finished reading this article.

The basic reality is that we all experience distraction at work every day, and someone or something may lead you to be distracted every hour.

With so many meetings to attend, co-worker discussions or drop-ins, social updates, calls, emails, and countless other interruptions, being productive and getting the vital things done may often feel like a real effort.

Distractions reduce our productivity and energy levels. They have an impact on our capacity to focus and persist with projects or tasks long enough to complete them.

Think about your work week, and I'm sure you can recall 5 to 10 objects or people that led you to be distracted from your work duties.

But most of those distractions are caused by you, and how many are caused by your working environment?

A Guide to Dealing with Distractions in the Workplace:

1. Talkative Co-workers:

It is critical to cultivate ties with your team and co-workers. Daily discussions are essential for maintaining a pleasant, collaborative attitude and mood in the workplace, yet it is all too easy to become engrossed in endless talks and gossip.

If your door has always been open, it is quite simple for someone to come in and ask inquiries, which pulls you off from your productive job.

How to Stay Focused and Avoid Distractions:

Consider having a private conversation with a team member who is always talking or distracted about how it's hurting your day.

2. Email Usage:

We've all experienced how distracting e-mail can be. How many emails do you get and send in a normal day? You're working on a critical project when you get a notification that you've got an email.

You now have two options. You can either stop what you're doing and interrupt your attention to read the email, or you may go on with your work to look at the email later. Many people spend their entire day in this manner.

They are completely focused on something essential when an email notice appears.

Many people spend their entire day in this manner. They are completely focused on something essential when an email notice appears.

You stop what you're doing, go to your inbox, and read the email, which is frequently entirely unrelated and adds nothing to your present priority.

These emails can lead to a continual sense of being overburdened, and they frequently result in incomplete assignments at the end of the day.

This, in turn, might give us the impression that we haven't had a particularly productive day.

How to Stay Focused and Avoid Distractions:

Time blocking is the practise of reserving a set amount of uninterrupted time to work on a project or job. Commit to not checking emails (or returning phone calls) during this time.

Rather than examining and responding to emails one by one, let them to collect before allocating dedicated time to review and reply to them.

Replying to emails in bulk takes less time than responding to them one at a time, and it helps you to keep focused on the topic at hand without being side-tracked.

Rather of checking email first thing in the morning, utilise this valuable time when you are more motivated and focused to concentrate on your one or two top objectives for the day.

3. Office Noise: 

Whether you work in a large or small office, you've probably noticed that workplaces can get quite noisy, whether it's due to discussions, phone calls, music, or other noises.

Many employees are dissatisfied, unproductive, and overworked. They have little ability to think creatively and productively.

How to Stay Focused and Avoid Distractions:

If you have a special project that requires peaceful, uninterrupted time, consider working from a quiet place within your building.

Working at home (if permitted) or another venue, such as a park or restaurant, are options. There will always be noise in a workplace, but most of the times it will be tolerable, but you may need to alter your surroundings from time to time to get your most essential job done.

4. Use of Smartphones (And Other Devices)

Constantly checking your phone disrupts your workflow and concentration. That would be enough to divert anyone's attention.

We are all aware that cell phones and other devices regularly interrupt us and divert our focus away from the project or activity at hand.

It's all too simple to take a break from our essential work to check our phones, watches, and other electronic devices.

How to Stay Focused and Avoid Distractions:

Move your phone elsewhere: It's incredibly tempting to check our phones even when we're working on a critical assignment.

What is the solution? Put your phone in a drawer or move it out of reach so you won't be tempted to check it.

Disable notifications: Disable any notifications that do not demand urgent attention, particularly social media notifications. This includes email if you have it configured on your phone.

5. The ability to multitask

We all have to multitask from time to time, but the less we do it, the better. Multitasking has been shown to impair creativity and productivity. Multitasking causes us to slow down and lose attention, productivity, and energy. Our brains simply cannot manage several things at the same time.

How to Stay Focused and Avoid Distractions:

Work in time chunks. It reduces the amount of distraction in our increasingly linked life. It shields us not just from the distractions of others, but also from our own self-inflicted diversions.

Conclusion:

Distractions in the workplace will never go away. To make better use of our time and enhance productivity and creativity, we must first identify what is distracting us and devise ways to counteract it.

Written By - Tanya C

 

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