MAP Strategic Wealth Advisors

Seven takeaways:

• Focus is valuable, and difficult to regain. Researchers at the University of California, Irvine found that workers who are interrupted by phone calls and emails need an average of about 23 minutes to get back on task and end up feeling more stress and frustration than their peers.
• The article then lists seven common habits that push workers into distraction:
  1. Constantly checking your phone during lulls: Time management coach Anna Dearmon Kornick suggests scheduling specific “scroll time” in your day to indulge in social media without impeding your productivity. By allocating dedicated time for phone usage, you are less likely to impulsively reach for your phone and fall into the trap of mindlessly scrolling through apps.
  2. Doing unrelated tasks that will “only take a second”: Stepping away from the day’s most important tasks can disrupt your workflow and derail your focus. To combat this, create a “shiny thing list” of off-work tasks that might pop into your head and set aside specific intervals to address them. Career coach Anyelis Cordero recommends working in distraction-free intervals to enhance productivity. Focused work sprints of 90 minutes often yield better results than hours of scattered multitasking.
  3. You open too many tabs on your web browser: Hoarding browser tabs can cause stress and distraction, but using tab organizers or background managers can help declutter and focus your browsing experience. Research tools like OneTab which converts all your open tabs into a convenient list.
  4. You impulsively check Slack and other work chat platforms: Chat windows can interrupt focus and create more work for yourself, so setting boundaries with teammates and utilizing status updates and calendar blocking can help manage interruptions. Immediately responding to notifications can create an expectation that you will always be available, which further inhibits your ability to retain necessary focus.
  5. You start solving problems right away, before determining if they’re actually your problems to solve: It is natural, when you encounter a new problem at work, to want to jump directly into problem-solving mode. But it can be a safeguard of your time and attention to take a moment to assess the situation; be sure that the problem is your responsibility to fix and that it is fully understood by you and your team.
  6. You assume you are right: One of the most dangerously wasteful mindsets is to believe you have mastered your job. This mindset can lead you to resist change that may make your processes more efficient. Listen to others, research new technologies and techniques; embrace the need to adapt and change in the workplace– viewing it as an ever-shifting quest to find the most pragmatic, direct solutions available to you when presented with problems new or familiar.
  7. You schedule unnecessary meetings: Forty-seven percent of workers surveyed by Salary.com in 2012 said “too many meetings” was their top workplace distraction. Streamline meetings and eliminate them when you can. This will safeguard your own time and give others a chance to extend their periods of deep focus as well.

From Monica Torres for The Huffington Post
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