The Top Distractions at Work & How to Deal with Them

Workplace distractions are a big issue for teams. Overtime, these distractions can build up and kill valuable time that could be spent doing meaningful work. So, what are the top distractions at work? According to a poll conducted by Udemy & Toluna, chatty co-workers are the biggest distraction at the work place.

Impact of Distractions

Are distractions really bad? Yes, they are. When you are constantly distracted, blabbering away and not focused, it is hard to do quality work. You take more time in accomplishing simple tasks and end result of the work is often mediocre. It can lead to stress, low self esteem and even inhibit your progress.

Here is the list of the top distractions at work as per the 2018 workplace distraction report.

1. Chatty Coworkers

80% of the respondents reported chatty co-workers as their biggest distraction. When tasks need focus and attention, silence is golden. Some of these colleagues can be loud, noisy and constantly distracting.

The distractions are more harmful than you think. When someone interrupts you with an unneeded conversation or loud voice, your brain takes time to switch back to the original task. It is not just a minute. Your brain takes more time to get into the flow again, its rhythm gets disturbed.

Resolution:

Find a place where you can work with minimal disturbance. When you are in a quiet place, focused and attentive to what you are doing, you can really excel at your work.

2. Office Noise

Surprisingly, 70% of the workers reported office noise as the second biggest distraction. The office settings with open offices can contribute a lot to the overall noise. Whether it is the constant movement of things, people, music, loud discussions, everything contributes to noise.

A place which is always buzzing with unnecessary noise will be counterproductive in the long run.

Resolution:

Don’t ignore constant noises and loud voices. Take affirmative action, either move to some other place or ensure that you report the matter to authorities who can take corrective measures.

3. Feeling Overwhelmed by Changes at Work

61% of the workers feel overwhelmed with work. It is not a surprise, given the changing priorities of business, customer demands and pressure to achieve challenging targets. It is important for professionals to embrace change, adapt proactively and always take things in the right spirit.

You can only grow at your workplace by doing quality work and meeting the demands of your supervisors and the organisation.

Resolution:

Proper communication is a must. If you have too much on your plate, communicate with your manager regarding your work, prioritise things and work with mutual understanding. Your job is to understand what is expected of you and what your team or organisation is trying to achieve.

When you go higher up in the hierarchy, you will need to communicate better, resolve conflicts and get things moving.

4. Meetings

60% of the workers reported meetings as a constant distraction at work. The respondents cited meetings as a distraction that doesn’t let them complete their work. Meetings are gatherings where most people are only half present and switched off. They are time consuming and long hours are spent without concrete outcomes.

Resolution:

Track how much time you’re spending on meetings. Only attend meetings where your presence in a must. Organise your meeting time to discuss important issues; make sure you stick to the agenda and have concrete action items from the meetings.

5. Social Media

You knew this was coming. 56% of the professionals feel social media is the biggest distraction at workplace. Most people felt that they don’t social media to do their jobs, but they are often distracted by it. Many of them cannot spend a day without social media. 51% of the people said, that their employers should restrict the use of social media.

The constant notifications, smart phones and other digital distractions can take a toll on employees. Not only it lowers their performance at work, many studies have shown that social media usage can have detrimental health and emotional stress too.

Resolution:

Say no to social media, digital distractions and smart phones when you don’t need them. You don’t need them most of the time. But constantly checking these things can kill your time, productivity and ultimately lower your self esteem too. Use social media to advance your skills, learning and growth, not to kill time.

Conclusion:

Distractions can be detrimental to growth; it can prevent people from reaching their full potential and doing quality work. The Udemy study also found that when employees are not performing well, they feel bad about themselves, their careers and jobs.

On the contrary, when people are engaged, focused and productive, they deliver high quality work. They learn by doing things, take challenges as stepping stones to growth and contribute whole heartedly.

When people do great work, they feel happy about themselves and also grow in their profession lives.

March 14, 2019 0

How to be Super Productive at Work

First of all what is meant by being productive? Productive means a person’s capability to work efficiently and give his desired output which is beneficial for the organisation he is working for. It is also a surefire way to ensure growth for an individual.

Spending time at work without proper output leads to stagnation. People who excel at their work make best use of their time in doing something valuable.

Productive Workplace

Being productive at workplace is not as tough as people think, rather it just requires how effectively and efficiently you can manage your time. No matter what you do, there are only 24 hours a day that you need to manage on your own.

Below listed are some easy yet fruitful techniques which will help you in being more productive at your work. Please have a look & charge yourself:

1. Time Management

You should divide your time for tasks and try to accomplish them within the limits. However, there are some reports that show only a few percent of people are able to complete their specified task on time.

So, this is the first step in being productive. There are various tools like Pomodoro Timers which help in managing your time in different work sections.

Create a strategy where you devote your best times for cracking the hardest and the most important things first.

2. Rest Intervals

Rest Intervals

Scheduling breaks time to time has proven to be really effective as it helps in improving the concentration levels. A person’s performance can decline if he works without taking any gap.

For producing quality work, fatigue is a salient feature as small breaks during long chores can help in maintaining a stable performance level. One can walk a bit or listen to calm music for concentrating better.

3. Say No to Multi-tasking :

Nowadays we think that doing multiple tasks at a time can help bringing the effectiveness and completion of job on time; but this is not always true. In order to seek various tasks at a particular hour, one can lose his productivity as well as time.

Therefore, complete a single work and then move onto the next. In this way there won’t be any reduction in the effectiveness of tasks performed.

4. Set Deadlines

Set Deadlines

Imposing deadlines for ownself is really important if you want to manage your work. Self-stress in a reasonable level is a unique way for focusing on tasks and meeting targets on time.

So, just work under a time limit and you will be amazed to see how coherent you were while doing your job.

You create value when you finish tasks with high quality and within reasonable deadlines.

5. Practice the “two-minute” rule :

The “two-minute” rule from the famous entrepreneur Steve Olenski emphasizes on doing small chores that can be accomplished in two minutes or less. The reason behind this concept is to save time time by doing short tasks immediately, rather than coming back to it later.

By practicing this “two-minute” rule, Steve Olenski has become one of the most successful online content strategist.

6. Prioritize your Work :

Prioritize your Work

Every chore is not equally important. For this, you have to first look behind the consequences of not completing the task. Divide your time among each task and complete the ones with immediate deadline rather than with extended ones.

This way each work can be finished on time and targets can be achieved within the set frame.

7. Have an Optimistic Approach :

It’s the negativity that keeps you distracted and less motivated from your work. So, it’s really important to start your day with positive energy.

The fact is, if you are happy and have an optimistic approach, then you will be doing your job more productively as you’ll be focused and not diverted from your goal.

If you believe that you can handle the pressure and complete the work on time, then you can definitely do so. Happiness and optimism go hand in hand; so you should be both in order to achieve what you want.

8. Eat Healthy and Exercise Daily

Eat Healthy and Exercise Daily

It is prominent to keep an eye on what you eat as it has an impact on boosting brain power and the productivity of your work. Eating healthy not only helps in maintaining but also in improving the productivity.

On the other hand, exercising assists in building a good physique as well as mental wellbeing. If you want to be productive during your task, you have to be both mentally and physically fit. If you are healthy you’ll provide more quality work and there will be a tremendous change in your productivity level.

These are some of the basic tips to be productive while doing your work. You don’t need to be master of all, but yes implementing these in your day-to-day life will definitely make you super productive and very effective. At the end, always work smarter & take pride in what you do.

March 8, 2019 0

5 Powerful Ways to Organise Your time & Achieve More Everyday!

Organise Your time

Time is the most scarce resource we have and also the most valuable one.

Anyone and everyone you meet will tell you, how they don’t have time to do things they want. It seems everyone is in short supply of time these days.

Time management is the skill that everyone ought to master. You cannot do without it. When you look at the top professionals in various fields and disciplines, one of their key attributes is time management.

No matter who you are and what you do, organising time and using it well will never hurt you in life.

People who rise to great level of success in their fields spend their time with absolute attention. It is very often the quality of time they spend doing what they do. They spend quality time with full focus, which results in disproportionate results and great success.

It’s not about how much time you have, but the quality, attention and effectiveness with which you use it. Here we look at some powerful ways to organise your time:

1. Do it Today, don’t Wait for Tomorrow

Do it Today

It’s an attitude, either you do it today or postpone to tomorrow.

Schedule what you want to do in the day & give all your energy to complete it. People who postpone things for tomorrow end up wasting time, procrastinating and ultimately doing very little effective work in their day.

Successful people have a habit of getting things done. They make a short list of important and high priority work for the day. They stick to it and get it done.

People who rise to the top of their fields make their day count. They don’t wait for tomorrow to do what is scheduled today. It’s a small habit that does wonders in the long run.

You will surprise yourself with what you can achieve when you follow this simple mantra of doing it today.

2. Schedule Tasks Wisely

Schedule Tasks

This is the golden rule of thumb for time management. Everyday, identify the most important tasks that need your attention & start with them.

Have a very simple and organised routine to set yourself up for work. Don’t waste your energy first thing in the morning. Give all your energy to the hardest problems to want to solve.

With full energy and attention, you can often get the hardest things out of the way quickly. You can then schedule lightweight tasks that require less brain power during the course of the day.

There is a famous Eisenhower’s principles for managing your tasks:

a). Urgent & important: Do them now. Important deadlines and critical tasks that need your attention.

b). Important but not urgent: These are important tasks that need to be accomplished for you to move forward. Successful people have a way to get things moving even if they are not urgent.

c). Urgent but not important: Delegate these tasks if you can. These are small tasks that take away your focus and attention from important work.

d). Not Urgent and not important: Avoid these time stealers.

Successful people build routines that maximises their efficiency. They know how to make peak use of their time and end up doing lot more than their peers in the same time.

3. Follow 80/20 Rule & Eliminate Distractions

Follow 80/20 Rule

The 80/20 Rule says that 20% of your activities are responsible for 80% of your success. Or in other words, stick to your core and do it well.

The only way you can focus on a few tasks is by eliminating distractions. People are becoming a slave to their smartphones. It helps them do some of their work, but every notification, chat message, social media post is not important.

You need to eliminate your time stealers that prevent you from fully focusing on important things. Learn to say no to the distractions that hold you back. Schedule a time after lunch when you may be drowsy for the unimportant tasks, emails, chat messages etc.

Don’t let low priority tasks or unimportant work get in the way. Successful people understand the difference between doing the right thing than just doing the thing right.

4. Attention Management

Attention Management

Time management is more about attention management and staying focused. Being busy without being productive is a nightmare for professionals all over the world.

When you put in time, you need to make the best of it. It requires a deeper understanding of yourself. Think of it, what helps you produce your best? What time you are most focused? Which is the work you enjoy doing?

Find a strategy that works well for you and stick to it. Attention and focus are rare in a world of digital distractions. But for deep work, you need full attention and focus.

The attention management also requires you to handle ever changing priorities. You need to be able to have spontaneity and presence of mind to adapt to situations and do your best.

The business world is extremely demanding and the top professionals are those who can adapt very quickly as per the changing priorities.

5. Make Your Time Count

Make Your Time Count

Parkinson’s law states that “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.”

It is common for most professionals to work for an average of 60 hours per week. However, not everyone achieves greatness, far from it. Most people end up being mediocre because they do mediocre work.

Successful people spend time doing something that creates great value. They build things that attract attention and opportunities. They do things with complete involvement and end up with monumental achievements in their time.

November 23, 2018 0