We’ve all had those days where suddenly it’s 4:00 pm and you feel like you haven’t accomplished anything. Small tasks and meetings pulled you a million different directions during the day and you weren’t productive. Here are some top tips on staying focused at work, even when it feels impossible.
Chunk your time
This might seem obvious but doing similar tasks all at once will save you so much time during the day! If you have 20 calls to make, you’ll be much more productive if you make all 20 calls back to back, rather than making them sporadically during the day. This will save you the time of having to start and stop a task. Every time you go to make a call, you must pull all the information you need together, and that can eat up a lot of time. When you make calls back to back, you are more efficient because you only have to get that information together once.
Schedule tasks on your calendar
Scheduling tasks is an excellent way to commit yourself to get something done. If your goal is to spend one hour every day doing client outreach, put it on your calendar to remind yourself to get it done. This is also an excellent way to let your coworkers know you are busy, so they don’t schedule a meeting in the middle of your work time. The most important part of this trick is committing to your scheduled tasks and completing them at the time they are scheduled.
54321… Go!
This is a trick from Mel Robbins on getting yourself ready to do a task you really don’t like. Procrastination only wastes your time and makes you less productive! When you must complete a mundane or tedious task you don’t enjoy, simply count down from 5 and then start! Five seconds is the amount of time it takes your brain to talk yourself out of doing something, so don’t let it! Even the boring stuff needs to get done!
Create a to-done list!
This is my favorite productivity tip because it reminds me that I accomplished something during the day, even when it feels like I didn’t. At the end of each workday, make a to-do list for what you want to accomplish tomorrow, and create a to-done list of what you completed today. Be sure to include all the small tasks that popped up throughout the day and pulled you away from your goals. Creating a to-done list allows you to reflect on what you accomplished, and how you can be more productive tomorrow!
Today’s world is full of distractions and we are all trying to finish countless things at once. Hopefully, these tips will help you stay focused at work and be more productive.
If you find that you are habitually unmotivated at work, you may not be using your talents and strengths to their full potential. It could be time to check out new challenges and opportunities that better suit your interests and abilities. Contact us at 952-920-9119 or take a look at some of our available positions here!