Stay focussed

"Stay focused, go after your dreams and keep moving toward your goals." LL Cool J

How  to stay focused at work

The focus is something of a novelty these days, but it's not easy. The focus is not something that automatically switches on when you want to. You have to make sure your surroundings are perfect for working if you want to be focused. Today's workplace is full of stress that often results in attention deficit - people feel impatient, distracted and rushed.

Staying focus at work 

As per research by Gloria Mark, a professor in the department of Informatics at the University of California the length of time office workers focuses on a computer screen before shifting their attention dropped to 1 minute, 15 seconds in 2012—down from 2 minutes, 18 seconds in 2008.

Experts believe this is a worldwide epidemic. This challenge can be addressed  by proper planning and forming good habits. 

24 tips to form good habits to remain more productive at work and successful at managing crisis, which are not rare at the workplace.

1. Declutter your work area and have a comfortable chair in your work place.  
2. Do the things which you like to do
3. Be passionate in your work
4. Have a clear agenda
5. Do necessary communication and may be over communication better.
6. Avoid negative mindsets like 'nothing is working'. 
7. I normally have a separate userid and password to access computer for work so that I can't access Gmail, Yahoo, Facebook, Twitter  from that account. Also. I would recommend to work offline to avoid instant message system like Lync. Here are 10 top tech time saving tips. 
8. I don't suggest to follow a "to do" as it creates stress. You should know your critical activity and have a plan to finish them. You can have a long term 'To Do ' list say for 3 months.
9. Keep water and coffee near to your room. Avoid any gossip near the coffee machine. If you are a smoker (bad for you) never go  with a group. 
10. Never plan parallel work because we human beings can do best output if we work in a sequential way. Always do a small chunk of work. Here is an interesting video by Paolo Cardini: Forget multitasking, try monotasking
11. Never procrastinate  to avoid living in an always urgent syndrome. 
12. Try to avoid unplanned meeting or a long conversation with somebody
13. Take calculated risks for success. Avoid fear of losing
14. Know your customers. This is big as you actually work for them. 
15. Avoid taking rash decisions and behaviors.
16. If you are distracted by noise, use headphones and music. You can use a device like Joe, a small gadget that blocks all surrounding noises.
17. Give yourself enough rest and relaxation outside of work, so that you can come to work and put in your best. Talk to people who are not part of business life.
18. Keep your personal life, or any personal problems at home. Distractions can lead to mistakes, and mistakes, large or small, can affect how your supervisors view and respond to you.
19. Avoid saying 'Yes' for all work
20. Don't set up unrealistic expectations 
21. Will power and discipline might not keep you focused for a long time. So, you also need to structure your environment also.
22. Award yourself  and stop comparing yourself with others.
23. Practice mediation, daily exercise and self introspection 
24. Align yourself with your company's purpose. This will give you a sense of fulfillment and happiness at work.  

Anna Vital's super cool infographics on how to stay focused at work and increase productivity.

How to stay focused

You need to do a deep soul search and introspection to identify which are the actual culprits for your attention deficit trait and make a plan to overcome it. I recommend to read  Driven to Distraction at Work: How to Focus and Be More Productive by HBR press. 

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