How to Stay Focused on a Job Despite Interruptions

Being unable to stay focused can feel like an invasion of your boundaries or loss of control. When it happens in your job it can sap your energy and cause your production to drop. You can always make changes to your environment or practice diplomacy. But the true way to regain control is by mastering the art of focus and time management.

Things You'll Need

• Course in meditation or Tai Chi
• Spreadsheet such as MS Office Excel

Instructions

Reduce Internal Distractions

1. Consider that you might be tired. You might have been robbing your sleep of small amounts of time here and there and be severely sleep deprived without realizing it. The remedy to this, of course, is to get a sound night's sleep or take an afternoon power nap.

2. Increase your breathing. Stress can shorten the duration of your breath. Smoking can disrupt its natural cycle. Research shows that a better ventilated brain thinks more clearly.

3. Practice meditation before work or learn tai chi. Although not for everyone, these techniques, when mastered, are great stress management tools. They are known to strengthen the power of concentration and help you stay focused in environments with moderate noise levels.

Reduce External Distractions

1. Schedule your time in manageable chunks. Make a habit of doing work, say, for 45 minutes nonstop, then take a 5 minute break. Use a spreadsheet with a "things to do" and a "things done" column. Look at it frequently to make you more conscious of time management.

2. Make your work more interesting. If you find your tasks repetitive or boring, find alternative ways of doing them. Try making a game out of your job. Also, you might decide trading tasks with a cooperative colleague who can then appreciate your responsibilities more.

3. Ignore the distraction if it is not persistent. Consider your work as sacred. Do interrupt your work to look at that cute new employee, to read the soap opera emails from your friends or to check out those fire trucks passing by. Strengthen your attention muscle. Stay focused and filter out any unwanted distractions.

4. Keep reminding yourself that this is your job and you are getting paid for all of this.

Tips & Warnings

• If you're finding it impossible to improve your attention span then it's possible you have Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Consult your family physician.