Have you ever been working on a project when a support issue came up? You spend time working on fixing their problem. Five minutes, one hour or even a couple hours you have it solved and fixed. Your customer is happy. You return to your programming project. Now, you can’t even remember where you left off.
Photo by Matthew Henry from Burst
Interruptions like support issues, coworkers asking questions or meetings can prevent you from staying focused on your work. What can you do to help concentrate on your work?
You can manage the things you can control like environment, distractions and time management.
Environment
Whether you work from home or in an office, you can control certain things about your workspace.
Chair, desk and computer
You will spend a lot of time sitting at a desk. Your chair and desk should be comfortable for you to work at. If it isn’t, ask for a different one. Consider buying cushions or pillows to help support your back. You can ask for keyboard trays and monitor risers to adjust the height of your computer monitor and keyboard. Or switch to using a standing desk.
Are you warm or cool enough?
Most offices are not comfortable for everyone. Some people are either too cold or too hot. You may want to bring in blankets, sweaters, space heaters or even a fan to make yourself comfortable.
Do you like to listen to music while you work?
Music can help you work. Choose the type of music that inspires and motivates you while you work.
Keep water handy
Water helps you stay alert and hydrated. Dehydration can affect your ability to focus. You want to drink water while you are working.
Distractions
Your phone and emails can affect your productivity. You can manage how you use your phone and how often you check your email.
Your phone
You can make your phone less distracting. Consider putting your phone in silent mode and choose to look at it durning specific times per day. Or install an app that allows you to control how you use your phone.
Emails
Emails can demand your attention. How often to you check your email? If you don’t know the answer, you make be checking it too often. Try these tips for managing your emails.
Time Management
Find a time management strategy that works for you. You can try the Pomodoro technique, Time Blocking or 80/20 rule. Each one of these strategies helps you to manage your time, stay focused on your task and limit distractions.
Staying focus throughout the day can be challenging. By managing your environment, time and distractions like your phone, you can stay focused on your tasks much easier.