12 common distractions at work and how to stay focused either way | entrepreneur (2023)

Whether you work from home, at your favorite coffee shop, or in a busy office, distractions have become a familiar part of the modern workplace. In some cases, especially for creative tasks,Distractions can be good. This may seem counterintuitive, but distractions can help us break out of a rut known as cognitive fixation. we have one toointernal urge to be distracted.

However, considering that weinterrupted every 11 minutesYIt takes our brains 25 minutes to refocus on the original task-- Workplace distractions should be avoided as much as possible.

According to a Udemy survey, distractions at work have a negative impact on performance, productivity and potential. Also, to compensate for these interruptions, people work faster. TOStudy from the University of California at Irvineshows that this increases stress and frustration. And even a brief interruption doublesthe error rate of an employee.

In short, constant distractions don't just affect the bottom line. They can also harm a person's health.

How can you address these workplace distractions before they become a problem?

You need to start by figuring out what exactly is distracting your team. Knowing what the distraction is and how it happens can help you create a plan to stifle those interruptions. Here are 12 of the most common interruptions in your workplace that you need to address, ASAP.

1. Smartphones

There is no surprise here. Finally,The average person in the US checks their phone 52 times a day. And it's easy to see why. We are bombarded with emails, text messages, social media notifications, and phone calls all day long. In addition, we use our phones to jot down reminders, view our calendars, listen to a podcast, or go shopping. No wonder we are addicted.

Breaking the addiction to your smartphone is not an easy task, but it is not impossible either. Best practices are to put your phone in airplane mode or use the phone's Do Not Disturb feature. This action can be performed on both Android and AndroidIphone. You can also move your phone to another room or leave it in a desk drawer, pocket, or bag.

Scheduling specific times throughout the day also helps reduce "during business hours" usage. For example, I silence my phone when I need to focus solely on my work. Usually this takes about two hours. After I finish my work, I check my phone to make sure I haven't missed anything important. To make sure I don't overeat myself, I only give myself 10 minutes on the phone before I go back to work.

Related:10 Powerful Ways to Master Self-Discipline

2. Emails

We send a lot of emails. How many? Well, in 2017, an incredible one.Every day 269 billion emails are sent around the world.. This number of emails is expected to grow to around 333 billion in 2019.

Just like your smartphone, there's a temptation to stop what you're doing and check your inbox every time a new message arrives. Unfortunately, if you do this all day, how can you ever get the job done?

The simplest solution is to disable email notifications on your phone. You should also close any applications or web browsers that contain your email. I also use an app like SaneBox to manage my inbox because it filters out messages that aren't important.

The most important thing to remember is that in the event of an emergency, you won't just be notified by email. People will call you or knock on your door. Everything else can wait until it has its scheduled time to go through your inbox.

3. Background noise

Take a moment and really listen to all the noise that goes on in an office. People talk, machines work, phones ring, and doors open and close. It's not even about annoyances like coughing, loud snacking, or playing music.

Background noise is unavoidable. If it's too distracting, consider investing in noise-canceling headphones, or move to a quieter area if you need to devote 100 percent of your attention to a task. I also found that apps likeNoisliI can drown out background noise while improving my focus.

4. Personal interruptions

Just like background noise, interruptions from employees, customers, vendors, and family members are inevitable. engineersOtherHe identified "patting on the back" as one of his most common distractions.

One way to avoid this is to keep your office door closed when you don't want to be disturbed. For security, put a Do Not Disturb sign on the door. When you work in an open office, you send signals like wearing headphones and being honest. If someone has a direct, work-related question, give them the answer and move on.

Another tactic is to plan these performances. For example, you can block a period of time on your calendar when it's available for popups. I also incorporate some in-between time between tasks and meetings. So if someone comes to me with a question, it doesn't mess up my entire schedule.

5. Clutter

While in small dosesA little bit of clutter can foster a creative spirit., The fact is that a messy workplaceaffects your ability to focus and process information. Confusion and clutter is essentially a to-do list that reminds you of everything that needs to be done. As such, it takes you away from being present. Over time, this will make you feel more anxious and stressed.

The repair? Keep your work space clean and organized. Discard items you no longer need. Put the documents in the appropriate folders. Ideally, you should move as much paperwork to the cloud as possible to reduce the number of filing cabinets. Make sure all your office supplies have a home and are returned at the end of the day.

Even if you don't do this every day, you should clean your workspace at least every week. For example, a Friday afternoon is perfect. You've probably already mentally marked your way out for the week, so this is an easy task that can be completed quickly.

Related:Your office is not big enough for clutter and productivity

6. Multitasking

I'm sure we're all guilty of juggling too many tasks at once. You are a successful entrepreneur, why can't you juggle several responsibilities at once? The truth is that our brain cannot focus on more than one thing at a time.

Multitasking doesn't save you time or make you more productive.It actually slows you down. “As he goes from one task to another, he believes that he is paying attention to everything around him at the same time. But you're not really," said neuroscientist Earl Miller.NPR. "You don't pay attention to one or two things at a time, you switch from one to the other very quickly."

Plus, when you multitask, you make more mistakes, reduce creative thinking, and potentially damage your brain. Multitasking was one of the hardest bad habits to break. There are still times when I do more than one thing at a time. I was able to change this habit by creating task-specific time blocks on mine.calendar app.

For example, it took me a few hours to write this article. During this time, my phone was turned off and the office door was closed. Whenever my sanity began to question, I would get up and walk around the office for a few minutes to clear my head. It sounds easy, but this habit is not easy to break. Leaving my desk for a few minutes encouraged me to focus on composing this piece instead of doing five other things at once. Only then did I jump to my next priority.

7. Employees

The exchange with your employees, colleagues and business partners is essential to build a friendly and cooperative corporate culture. However, talking or gossiping too much about Game of Thrones isn't just a huge distraction. Rumors themselves can also create a toxic workplace.

As a manager, you simply cannot allow gossip in the workplace. It must be addressed and dealt with immediately, even if it is as bad as firing an employee. When it comes to friendly conversations, you need to set boundaries.

If someone engages you in conversation and you're busy, politely tell them you don't have time to talk right now, but you can meet for lunch. And as mentioned above, if you don't want to be disturbed, you can also signal without a word with headphones.

8. Micromanagement

While you need to stay on top of what's going on at your company, the role of helicopter manager isn't just a distraction for your team. They also find it frustrating, bewildering, and anxiety-provoking.

Ratherpromote personal responsibilityand let your team do what you hired them to do when you keep interrupting them taking care of every detail. Imagine you're on a blueprint for a project and your boss barges in and points out everything you've done wrong. How productive do you think you will be? Disruption stifles creativity, personal growth, and destroys trust between you and your employees.

Giving up some control is never easy for entrepreneurs. But you have to let your team do their thing. Not being a micromanager doesn't mean you're doing extensive research. It means keeping an eye on everyone and guiding them without interfering with their work throughout the day.

9. Hunger

It's almost impossible to concentrate when your stomach is growling. Unfortunately, we satisfy that craving with junk food because it's readily available.

It takes a lot of willpower to dodge the vending machine or call a pizza delivery man. But you need healthier options that eliminate your hunger pangs while keeping you focused and energized.

Equip your office with healthier snack options. For example, I always have almonds nearby. When I'm hungry, I just eat a handful of almonds. I also started looking for options e.g.Snack-Nationwho delivers healthy snacks to the office.

10. Unnecessarily strict guidelines.

"When it comes to culture, many employers are happy to enforce a set of policies to encourage employees to be on time," Andre Lovie wrote in a previous report.entrepreneurArticle. "Punctuality is, of course, important to running a successful organization."

“However, policies that are too strict can be more stressful. During their busy commute, when employees are worried and in a hurry, they start the day on the wrong foot,” Lovie continued. “This can affect overall staff morale, particularly for those who travel long distances five days a week. You may already come to work exhausted and frustrated.”

If you're in a leadership role, Lovie suggests that you "focus more on building a culture that values ​​employees who are productive and 'A' players. The strong message employers can send is that punctuality matters, but what is even more important is performance."

You can also offer your employees a flexible schedule that allows them to arrive at work later in the morning to avoid the hectic commute to work. Another option would be to allow them to occasionally work remotely. If you're an employee, you might want to ask your boss if any of these possible solutions to your hectic commute to work are.

11. Sessions

Meetings are notorious for being unproductiveand distract time wasters. Time is wasted because people are pulled from work and then forced to sit in a meeting for an hour, even though they don't have to be present.

Before planning a meeting, think carefully about whether it is necessary. In most cases, you can skip the meeting and communicate with your team via email, Slack, or a project management tool like Trello. If a meeting is required, invite only critical stakeholders, create an agenda, and keep it as short as possible.

Another option is to schedule one day a week when there are no meetings, like B the famous"There is no meeting on Wednesday.“Having a meeting-free day each week allows everyone to work on their most important tasks without being disturbed.

Related:Start with an agenda to run effective meetings in a crazy, busy world

12. Decision fatigue

As explained in aNew York TimesArticle: "No matter how rational and haughty you try to be, you can't make a decision without paying a biological price." What's the price? Usually this is an inability to focus or take action. Just think how well you can focus on a task when you're mentally exhausted.

The possible solution is to reduce the number of decisions you make on a daily basis. Barack Obama, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg did it by wearing the same clothes every day. Others find success by preparing their meals for the week, delegating tedious responsibilities, and automating certain tasks like canned email responses and scheduling.