Finding Your Focus At Work

Especially now, with so much going on in the world, finding your focus at work can be difficult. If you’ve been newly working remotely, you might also find yourself faced with new sets of sounds, sights, and even smells that can throw off your workplace performance. Being distracted is understandable–but at the end of the day, while you’re on the clock, you do need to complete the tasks that have been assigned to you. Which is why today we’re considering ways to focus and remain in the present in any workplace. Check out what the pros below have to say in order to wrangle your brain, and let your professional strengths shine bright.

Speaking of shining brightly, we love this suggestion from Arina Nikitina at Lifehack that is sure to boost your mood while helping you stay in the present: “Always Find the Fun in What You Do. Any meaningful task or routine takes a large part of one’s focus. Before starting anything, ask yourself why you should do it. With your answer, there will be that output you so desire — and so you value the task. Then, find ways for the task to become fun, like allowing your creativity and imagination to play in the process…When you make something you can call your own, you’re more likely to stay focused at work.” Find the fun in your work by discovering your own unique approaches to every task that you’re assigned. Thinking about your own particular brand of fun will also allow you to better assess your own workplace strengths, as what you find fun and easy will likely differ from that of others in your workplace community. Figuring out the value of your work (both in terms of how it fits into the goals of your organization as well as your personal growth) will make each day feel like less of a drag, which will better allow you to not get lost in memories or daydreams and to instead remain grounded in the present.

We also love this more structured method for staying present from Neil Patel at Forbes: “Write Out Your Critical Tasks Each Hour. One of the best ways to keep your brain focused is to write out the tasks that you want to accomplish within the next hour and then time how long it takes until completion. By writing out your key tasks each hour, you will refocus your brain on most important projects, and by timing yourself, you will add a sense of urgency that will help you stay focused.” This method will help you appropriately prioritize each task at work, enabling you to allot an ideal amount of energy to every project that comes your way, further allowing your professional strengths to shine. Learning how long each task takes you will also help dispel any anticipatory dread you might be feeling about tackling that task again with future projects. Staying organized will enable you to stay in the present, and focused on workplace matters that you can control rather than being distracted by worrying.

To reiterate, we know that there is plenty to worry about these days, and we don’t wish to minimize that. These truly are unprecedented times. Our goal this week is to help you navigate through the present circumstances by adding tricks to better concentrate to your workplace toolkit, a skill that will serve you both now and beyond. Utilizing these methods will enable you to best control the circumstances that you can control, which will highlight your workplace strengths and impress any employer. So, stay focused, and stay in the present in your professional environment. And visit us again tomorrow for a midweek mood boost with our Wednesday Wellness: Present edition!

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