posted 12-14-121 07:58 ET (US)        

The challenge of concentrating in an unstoppable world
You're not alone in this! On average, every Spaniard checks their phone up to 150 times a day without managing to go more than an hour without checking if they have received a new notification. Although there is a formal definition for this widespread addiction (nomophobia), the truth is that as a society, we have developed a problem that can generate great anxiety when we fail to disconnect and achieve our daily goals. If you want to know how to improve your productivity at work, read on!

We have become multitaskers who find it increasingly difficult to focus on just one thing, with willpower and the implementation of habits being a solution that seems easier to understand than to put into practice. Our brain doesn't play in our favor either: did you know that every time we look for a new stimulus that we find attractive, it activates dopamine in our nervous system and, therefore, a feeling of relaxation and happiness? Fighting it doesn't seem easy, especially when we consume 30 times more information per day than we did three decades ago.

If you want to learn how to improve your productivity at work and focus on your tasks, then take note of the following tips!

1# Limit your digital connection
Just because we've normalized being available 24 hours a day doesn't mean it's normal or healthy. When you go into the office or want to enjoy your free time, we advise you to stop the constant urge to check your social networks and check for new notifications. Otherwise, you'll find your time will fly by. If you want to improve your productivity at work, set your usage schedules and consider to what extent being always available is beneficial for your health and professional and social development.

Our advice: if you can't stop checking your phone, switch off your data or mute your mobile. Turn around the pressure we put on ourselves by not being instantly available to others and educate yourself and your environment.

2# Take care of your eating habits and your rest.
You're lost if you don't watch your eating and sleeping habits. We don't want to fall into the cliché of eight hours of sleep and five meals a day, but we're sure you know yourself well enough to know what suits you best.

Often, by simple inertia, we lose our healthy habits, and the tiredness resulting from lack of energy makes us live in zombie mode. And that doesn't help you to give the best of yourself. Neither at work nor in the other areas of your life. Take care of the essential aspects, and you will notice the change in how you feel in a short time. By the way, have you ever noticed how your day improves if you incorporate a quick 30-minute nap to reset yourself in the middle of the day? We encourage you to try it!

3# Prioritize and learn to give up
You'll be tired of hearing that "learn to say no," one of the most hackneyed self-help phrases. But it's true: you have to communicate how far you can go and let go of what you can't cope with at any given moment. For a matter of common sense, first and foremost.

If you can't do everything your superiors ask you to do, say so. But don't pile on because you will only get frustrated, and the moment you explode, it will be worse. Communicate your needs, be fair to yourself, use external help (like https://www.wowessays.com/ when you need study assistance), and don't put more obstacles in your way. This is one of the best ways to improve your productivity at work.

4# Work with a list of daily goals
Whether it's a diary, a notepad document, or more specialized publications such as the popular Six Minute Diary, use tools that allow you to take stock at the beginning of the day so that you get an overview of everything you want to get done during the day.

And remember the previous point: don't overdo it. Distinguish the urgent from the important and focus on what you need to get out of the way to move forward.

5# Propose non-interruption policies
More and more companies are enforcing non-interruption policies among their employees, whether it's establishing a protocol when communicating between departments, asking for permission with a message before making a call, or simply letting people know with an unavailable status that you need space to stay focused. This is another way to improve your productivity at work.

Demand it from others and apply it to your colleagues: every time we cut others' concentration, we are unwittingly extending their day. It takes time to refocus and get back into the flow of the activity we're doing.

6# Focus on one task only
We know it's difficult and that we live in a world where the market is increasingly demanding that we know how to multitask. Still, the consequence is growing anxiety and not performing one of those tasks optimally. Go after your goals one at a time! Again, prioritize.

7# Put the two-minute rule into practice.
Do you know the two-minute rule? It's simple: if a task you have to do can be done in two minutes or less, do it as soon as possible to get it out of the way. But do it at a specific time of the day. Don't just drop time-consuming activities every time you think of a task that takes just a few seconds. That's not the point! Set aside an hour a day, for example, and get those little things off your mind that you've been thinking about for days.

8# Take care of your workspace
If you work in a distracting, noisy, cluttered, and uncomfortable space, it's natural that your productivity will suffer considerably. How about taking a little care of where you work? Tidy up your space, select your surroundings, and create a friendly environment. You're going to spend many hours a week there, and you deserve to be comfortable, don't you?

9# Try the Pomodoro Technique
Created in the 1980s by Francesco Cirillo to improve your dedication to your study time, the [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique]Pomodoro Technique[/url] is a tool for managing and administering the time dedicated to each task, taking into account how our brain works. It involves structuring the time spent concentrating in short but high-intensity periods, followed by short breaks.

Although we encourage you to read in-depth how this method works, the summary is that you should set up periods of 25 minutes of maximum concentration (i.e., without any distractions) followed by 5 minutes of rest. After four circuits, the break should be 20 or 30 minutes. Would you like to give it a try?

10# Isolate yourself from noise with music
If you can't stop hearing conversations or annoying sounds that prevent you from concentrating in the place where you work, the best thing you can do is find a nice playlist and use headphones that isolate you from noise to work better. This is a proposal that we have used on more than one occasion!