It can sometimes feel as if going to work is actually the worst way to get work done. You aren’t the only one to feel like this and in today’s ‘Age of Distraction’, it doesn’t look like this is going to become any easier.

Working in an office environment generally requires concentrating at a computer for up to 8 hours each day, whether it be writing, numbers or communicating with customers. The traditional distractions of the office environment are as prevalent today as they have always been, whether this be a chatty team member, poor sleep patterns, poor office design, mental health distractions or low job satisfaction.

However, in today’s age of distraction we have additional (and possibly worse) distractions to overcome. We’ll summarise this into “the internet”, but what this encompasses is so much more. In 2017, your friends & family are free to interrupt you with a message, snapchat, social media tags, emails and phone calls at all hours of the day.

Outside of our phones, a lot of the work we do on a daily basis requires some level of internet browsing and savvy marketing companies are acutely aware of this. Distraction marketing is now a thing – online marketing campaigns designed specifically to distract you even if only momentarily.

Even without the catchy adverts, I am sure we have all experienced a time when we lost track of what we were doing online and found ourselves looking through pictures of exotic beaches off the coast of Thailand which we are sure we can afford for our next escape.

So with all this distraction just waiting for us at our desk every morning – how can we find ways to manage it so that we don’t lose too much of our productivity?

It isn’t really that feasible to expect any person to concentrate for 8 hours without moments of distraction or poor productivity. Rather than fight this, let’s embrace it. If you already know what times of day you get distracted, plan in break times to give your mind a rest. If you don’t seem to have a pattern, knock 5 minutes off your morning break to give yourself freedom to get up and walk around when you feel you have lost concentration. This can act as a bit of a reset button, and avoids feeling frustrated at your attempts to concentrate regardless.

Writing a to-do list each morning is a good way to get your day started on the right foot and can create motivation when the day is coming to an end and you still have a few tasks to do. As a general rule, no more than 12 activities on your list should keep you motivated without creating too much work, but naturally this is dependent on the nature of your job.

For some people, listening to music can be a fantastic way to remain focused on a task without being interrupted by sounds around them. Whether or not you choose music with lyrics is your choice, as many people find lyrics actually more distracting than their chatty colleagues. In fact, some people simply wear head phones without any music at all, just to give the impression that they are busy and not to be interrupted.

Wearing headphones should be something that is done sparingly in the office, to avoid creating an environment where communication is difficult and team members do not interact. However, it can be a great tool for short-term task focus!

We are big believers in giving team members autonomy, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t communicate and motivate your team! Sometimes it is easy to get distracted when you have been working on one project for a long time and you have no upcoming deadlines.

Try having regular catch ups to discuss what each team member has been working on, share ideas and discuss any upcoming work. This should help to keep the team spirit alive and keep people pushing on to do their bit.

Sometimes you just need a bit of peace and quiet to focus on a task, other times you want to feel relaxed and surrounded by chat, and sometimes you want to sit and chat things through in detail with another team member. You should try to choose a working space which best suits your mood and the environment you need for the task in hand. Attempting to focus on your own whilst surrounded by chatty colleagues can make your task of avoiding distraction a tricky one!

Be honest with yourself about what is achievable today and what should wait for tomorrow. Are you feeling a little uninspired today? Do you need a good nights sleep to get your creative juices flowing? Try to keep your to-do lists flexible enough so that you can focus on the right task for your mood.

In an office environment with lots of meetings, it can be very difficult to focus on work if you only have a short time between meetings. Try to structure your day so you have long enough between meetings to focus on a task (allowing some time to prepare for your meeting if necessary).

We know how hard it is to ignore a phone when you can see notifications popping up on the screen all day. We know it is also not feasible to simply leave your phone at home. Try giving yourself dedicated times of day when your phone goes in a drawer or into airline mode, allowing yourself space to focus on something else without distracting notifications to interrupt your flow. Finish the session with a short break, so you have dedicated time to respond to any messages or calls.

Distracting emails have been a problem for a very long time in an office-based job. Similar to a phone notification, it is hard to ignore an email which has just come in from a prospect, a client or perhaps management. Choose set times to work on your emails – the first hour of your day, before lunch, before you go home etc. Try to close your emails for the remainder of the day so you cannot be easily distracted when they come in.

If you find that your team is distracted more often than they should be, try working through this list and see if any of these activities help. If you still find that distraction is a problem, it may be that something else is going on within the organisation which needs to be identified. Brightstone can help to identify what might be going on within your teams and put actions in place to move forward with positive change. Simply get in touch with Richard at Brightstone to find out more.