Work Optimization Key #1: Eliminate Distractions
KEY POINTS:
1. Distraction (both digital and other forms of distraction) is costing you lost opportunity, productivity and happiness, not to mention taking a toll on your health and wellbeing.
2. By focusing work-related tasks to work hours, you can be more engaged and focused when you are actually at work, and more relaxed, energized and happy when you’re at home.
“Multi-tasking arises out of distraction itself.”
Distractions are everywhere, especially in environments where people are spending so much of their time seated in front of computer or on their mobile screens with access to all that the internet has to offer - both good and bad.
Just think about what you often see when you walk around your own workplace. You’ll see people reading random articles online or scanning social media. You see them checking personal email accounts or visiting sites for their favourite online stores to check out the deals of the day.
You’ll see people working as well, but distractions are often too much for some to resist.
A Virgin Pulse study found that only 5% of people indicated that they are constantly focused while at work, with the other 95% reporting being distracted during the work day, almost half of which being distracted for 21 -75% of the day.
Common sources of digital distraction include:
checking text messages
checking emails
online shopping
social media
reading blogs
checking news sites
planning vacations online
paying bills online
Technology is not the only thing to blame. Other factors people waste time on are:
unnecessary meetings
unimportant phone conversations
micromanagement of others
ruminating on the past in their minds
Here are some more interesting numbers to consider:
Three minutes—How frequently the average office worker is interrupted or distracted, according to the University of California, Irvine.
Twenty-three minutes—How long it takes to return to a task after being interrupted, according to the University of California, Irvine.
Eight—Average number of windows open on a worker’s computer at the same time, according to The Overflowing Brain: Information Overload and the Limits of Working Memory by Torkel Klingberg.
Thirty—Average number of times per hour an office worker checks their email inbox, according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information.
But this is not just about your work, this is about your life.
Imagine being out to dinner with the family for a birthday celebration and getting an email from your boss about a problem you’ll need to address ASAP. Most likely, your mood, if not the whole evening, is now ruined. The truth is, managers have no right contacting an employee in the evening or on the weekend, unless it is an emergency, which—let’s be honest—it rarely is.
All this distraction causes stressed-out people who are also often unhealthier people who are missing out on realizing their true potential.
When you understand how distraction affects your performance and health, you can make changes.
This Week’s Exercise: Eliminate Distractions
The first habit I’d like you to work on in Work Mastery is to eliminate distractions.
Spend some time making a list of all the things that distract you when you’re trying to focus, such as email, social media, socializing, or surfing websites. You might get distracted by one, two, or all of these things.
Once you know what your biggest distractors are, you can come up with a plan as to how you will eliminate these distractions.
For example, when you’re at work, if email is a big distractor, turn off email notifications while you’re trying to get an important task done or during Power Work. If your biggest distractor is socializing with colleagues, close your office door or put on headphones to avoid the temptation. Make a strategy on how you can eliminate the distraction beside each distractor on your list.
Similarly - if you’re at home and want to spend time with loved ones, then turn off work-related notifications and focus on your family.
Let’s take control of your attention, concentration and focus.
Check out this video of Greg and Bruce discussing how to eliminate distractions.
The information and advice provided in this program is intended to assist you with improving your performance, as well as your general health. It is not intended and should not be used in place of advice from your own physician or for treatment or diagnosis of any specific health issue. By participating in this program you acknowledge that undertaking any new health, diet and/or exercise regime involves certain inherent risks, that you assume such risks, and that you release Wells Performance Inc. from any responsibility or claim relating to such participation.