15 ways to stay focused at work.docx

1、15 ways to stay focused at work15 ways to stay focused at work发布时间：2012-03-03文章出自：译言原文链接：点击查看Its normal. Youre bent on finishing the work at hand, and suddenly something comes up. You dont give thought to how pressing any distraction is you just give it attention. Five minutes, ten minutes. Sometime

2、s it goes to over an hour. When you get back to work boom youve no idea where you left off or why you couldnt get your mind and heart into it. You cant stay focused at work anymore and are becoming less productive. There goes your valuable time and effort. There goes your momentum and peak of creati

3、vity. Because theres no chance of shutting out the world while youre busy, the decision to stay focused at work is in your hands. Its about finding the right techniques, knowing your priorities, and sticking to them. Stuck for ideas? Well, here are 15 ways to stay focused at work: 1. Always find wha

4、t you do inspiring and fun Any meaningful task or routine takes a large part of ones 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

5、creativity and imagination to play in the process. Dont stick within borders of “approved” output; have your options opened for new, fun ideas. When you make something you can call your own, youre more likely to stay focused at work. 2. Choose a great chair-and-table combo Many people find working p

6、hysically strenuous even if its done seated most of the time. Dont lose precious time and be distracted with discomfort. Get a really good chair with great back support; make sure your desk or worktable is well-structured as well. That way you can work for many hours and not find your body and eyes

7、getting strained. 3. Get your work station organized Too much stuff within arms reach or atop your desk can prove to be really distracting. To stay focused at work, only have the things you need neatly piled on your desk put the rest away properly, like in a desk drawer or shelves. Have an area for

8、food and drinks, your bag or purse, and other personal items. But have them within reach so you can just grab a drink without losing focus on what youre doing. 4. Make your computer distraction-free This is very important for people who use PC for work: Have shortcuts for all routinely used programs

9、. Put in just one folder all files related to each project or task. Then ensure your PC is always virus-free to saved you the hassle of checks and repairs. Instances such as these cause stress and will wane your interest to finish the tasks. 5. Have enough water nearby Drinking water isnt only healt

10、hy, it refreshes you as well. Once you feel the first sign of fatigue or hunger, a glass of water can push them away. Then you can finish what youre doing and rest at a later time. Besides, not all stomach rumblings are signs of hunger, and drinking a glass of water usually deals with it. Just make

11、sure you have water within arms reach. That way you stay focused at work instead of walking to the water station and becoming prey to distractions! 6. Bring in the snacks Like having water close by, the food that could settle a grumbling stomach must always be at hand. For the same reason of having

12、90% of your attention at work, eating within your workspace area will not expose you to unrelated activities. So make sure your snacks are within arms reach too! 7. Make a daily “to-do” list and keep it nearby Its always helpful when you have your list of tasks beside your PC (or at any conspicuous

13、place in the work area). Having it in your PC or mobile phones often opens doors to checking other trivial tabs or windows, or responding to unimportant SMS messages. So put your “to-do today” list where you can always see it, and cross out the “done” tasks. That way, you wont be digging through you

14、r bag or finding that page where you wrote them. 8. Prioritize the tasks The first hour at work is where most people are productive. This is because all energies are yet to be spent. So put all the taxing, difficult and challenging tasks on your agenda during the first hour. Follow these with the le

15、ss pressing work, and then end with those routine tasks that you find boring. Such methods makes you stay focused at work, without spending precious time on doing tasks you dont like. Do this and you wont be stressed with important projects at the end of the workday. 9. Let others know of your stric

16、t personal policies If youre bent on making your personal working system work, let others know it. Chances are, youd be left alone on the hours where youre focused on the really big, important work. When people at work know youre on your “free time”, they will pose questions and talk during such per

17、iods. Unless theres a very urgent matter at hand, theyll leave you at work. After all, they want the same. 10. Put on the headphones In most offices, there are various sources of sounds that can prove distracting like the floor polisher, the mail cart, workmates talking, phones ringing, and sounds o

18、f things dropped on the floor. Protect yourself with headphones so you can stay focused at work. The headphones will ward off surprising sounds and those that get your mind wandering. 11. Be unreachable, busy, awayor “invisible” Not all calls are about your apartment being burglarized, or a loved on

19、e being in precarious situation. So turn off your mobile phone to silent mode during hours where you really need all attention on your work. You can also opt to activate the voicemail service. As for instant messaging, set the status to indicate youre “busy” or stay “invisible” while you work. If yo

20、u still get IMs, then just turn the program off and turn it on later when your current task isnt as pressing. 12. Stay away from social networking sites These sites arent meant to be checked all the time. So discipline yourself to log in only when you have extra minutes free. Theres a strong tendenc

21、y that youll stay much longer than planned because something new, interesting and perky always comes with most social networking sites. Not only will it defeat your purpose of staying focused at work, but theres plenty of information there that could get your mind unnecessarily perturbed like a frie

22、nds status about her heartbreak, or someone from work getting a raise. 13. Organize your emails Another really stressful and distracting activity is email. Lets face it: You get a lot. Likely a heavy mix of personal and work correspondence, promos and updates from your sites, and 9undoubtedly) spam.

23、 One good way to avoid this is to have a separate email address for work and one for your personal email. Have them both powered to filter all emails. Once you have free time on hand, check emails again and unsubscribe from senders who you could live without. Then, organize the emails youd attend to

24、 later. Delete the rest. Finally, check your emails only when youre done with the most important task of the day. Make sure you limit your email time as well. 14. Redesign your phone use Phones are meant for important concerns, chats about the previous nights date are meant for long lunch breaks. Ob

25、serving such rule would help you stay focused at work. You could also request your workmates to inform your callers youd get back to them at a later time instead of always tapping your back or shouting out that youve got a call at any time. Once youre done with work, call back the earlier callers an

26、d explain your situation briefly. In the next two minutes, ask about their concern, note it down and tell them youd call them back for their needed action. Prepare and write all their needed details, bearing in mind their possible follow-up thoughts on the matter. Then call them back and always limi

27、t the phone conversation to less than three minutes. 15. Choose suitable music The point of having music in the background while youre working is to provide ease and inspiration. For some, listening to music pumps up their adrenaline so they can work with greater energy. But not all kinds of music a

28、re pleasant for everyone and some are not suited for ones mood. So organize your music library accordingly. Apart from helping you stay focused at work, no distractions should take place. Theres nothing more jarring than suddenly hearing loud, heavy metal screaming after some relaxing jazz music. Fi

29、nal Thoughts Just remember you are surrounded by events and people at work that could cut off your momentum. You can help keep these at bay and stay focused at work with any of the 15 great ways mentioned above. Do you have any other ways you stay focused at work? Share them in the comments below. (

30、Photo credit: Low-key portrait via Shutterstock) Arina is a goal setting expert and an author of Real Goal Getting book. She blogs at . 专心工作的15个方法发布时间：2012-03-03文章出自：译言原文链接：点击查看这很正常。 你正决定完成手头的工作。突然，某件事情需要解决。你没有想这让人分神的事情是否紧迫你就开始了。 五分钟，十分钟。有时，超过一个小时。 等到你回到先前的工作轰你不知道刚才做到哪儿了，或者不知道自己为什么不能全神贯注地做这件事。你的注意力再

31、也不能集中在工作上了，效率也低了。你宝贵的时间和努力白费了。你的动力和创造力不见了。 你忙碌的时候，不可能与世隔离。专心工作的决心掌握在你的手里。这不过需要找到合适的技巧，知道你的优势，并且持之以恒。 没什么想法？好吧，下面有十五个专心工作的方法： 1. 总是发现你所做的鼓舞人心的有趣的事情 任何有意义的任务或常规都需要一个人很多的注意力。在开始做任何事之前，问问自己为什么应该做这件事。有了答案，就会有你如此渴望的产出那么，你就会重视这项任务。然后，想办法让这项任务变得有趣，比如，让你的创造力和想象力在此过程中玩耍。不要拘泥于“认可”的产出；让自己可以随意选择一些新奇有趣的想法。 当你做一些可

32、以称为是自己的东西的时候，就更有可能专心工作。 2. 选择舒适的桌椅组合 很多人发现，即使多数时间坐着办公，可还是会觉得腰酸背痛。 不要因为桌椅不舒适而浪费宝贵的时间，分散精力。买一张靠背很舒服的好椅子。确保你的办公桌或者工作台结构合理。那样的话，你能工作好几个小时，而身体和眼睛却不觉得疲劳。 3. 让你的工作环境变得井井有条 胳膊够得到的东西太多，或者办公桌上方东西太多，都会让你分神。为了专心工作，只把你需要的东西整齐地堆放在你的桌子上把其余的收好，比如放在抽屉或者架子上。找一个地方放吃的和喝的，你的包，还有其他的个人物品。 但是，把它们都放在你够得到的地方，这样你就可以喝点东西，又可以专注做手头的工作。 4. 让你的电脑里没有让你分神的东西 这一点对于使用电脑工作的人很重要：为所有经常用到的程序设定快捷方式。