Having Trouble Staying Focused

With the recent occurrence of the Covid-19 Pandemic, a number of people suddenly found themselves either out of work or being asked to work from home.

While the latter is certainly a better situation, many of those that had not previously found the need  to do so were faced with the fact that working from home requires a whole different form of discipline than they had previously imagined. Add to that the distraction of children, or other household members, that one rarely has to deal with when cocooned in their office or cubicle and this “new situation” can become a nightmare.

The purpose of today’s blog is to suggest some hints that you may find helpful to you to avoid some of the pitfalls and better focus on the task at hand.

First and foremost, you need to define what it is that distracts you the most. In most cases, some of the biggest distractions are other people, other priorities, e-mails, social media, surfing the internet or just plain laziness.

If it is people that cause your biggest issue, one way to resolve it is to get them to understand that even though you are there, they must pretend you are really not. You must develop a schedule that the group understands is the same as if you were away from home and treats this time as your working hours.

Identify a place as your dedicated workspace. This could be anywhere where you can minimize distractions. It may be as simple as a bedroom or a corner of the kitchen or basement. If you are lucky, you may already have an in-home office readily available. In some cases, you may have to install a work center that could be nothing more than a couple of saw horses and boards. You just need a place that identifies as “your space” and is off limits unauthorized personnel.

Make sure you have all of the tools you need to perform at your best. Do you have your work computer or at least one that is compatible to the one at the office? Do you need a printer and is there one located close enough so that you need not leave your “space” to grab printed materials. If your workspace is in the back bedroom and the printer is in the kitchen, imagine the number of distractions you may incur going back and forth.

Is your workspace noisy, unorganized or cluttered? Unless this is the kind of space you are used to, you will more than likely find that this environment is less than productive. The issue here is the body’s inability to focus due to the release of the steroid Cortisol which can increase anxiety and stress. Both of which can reduce your focus.  In addition, coffee can increase a body’s production of Cortisol. So, be careful and limit your caffeine intake as well. If it helps, listen to your favorite music. That too should help you remain focused on the task at hand.

Prioritizing your actions is another way of accomplishing your tasks. When you start your day, make a list of the “things” you need to complete in the order of their importance. This can be used as a sort of road map to help keep you on track. You may even want to devise a bonus system whereby you reward yourself for completing various tasks with a snack or something. Remember, you are now the boss so devise rules that help maintain your productivity.

Try including some exercise into your daily routine. Since you are no longer getting exercise by running to the train or walking in from the parking lot, try starting your day with some basic exercises to help to get your blood circulating. It can be something as simple as taking the dog for their morning walk or even more involved as taking an on-line Yoga class. Anything will help especially if you find yourself sitting most of the day.

Make sure to maintain a good diet that supplies the vitamins and minerals needed to help your stamina and focus. Letting yourself go hungry can cause a dip in your sugar which can make you feel sluggish and less motivated. Worse yet, when you do have the opportunity to eat, you may eat too much or the wrong things that only satisfy the craving leaving out the essential ingredients.

Make sure you get a good night’s sleep. We all know that getting the proper rest is important to maintaining our overall health so, why should now be any different? Loss of sleep is one of the most common problems that can impact a person’s daily function. The average amount of recommended sleep for an adult is seven hours a night. You may have to train yourself to turn off the television at a certain time or maybe consider taking the set out of the bedroom if the other fails to work.

When you wake up, start your day as if you were going to the office. You need to create a routine inside your home the same as you had at your place of work. If you are accustomed to eating breakfast, then do it. The important thing here is to imagine that nothing has changed. Get up and ready yourself for the day by making yourself as presentable as if you were going into the office.  Though every day may now be considered “casual Friday” try to dress in a way that makes you feel (somewhat) professional and ready to face the challenges of the workplace.

Finally, and something that may be one of the most important tasks of all, make sure you stay in touch, especially with those that you used to associate with on a daily basis. The last thing you want to do is make your Company feel as though they can get along without you. There is no better time to “blow your own horn” than now. Make sure the bosses understand that regardless of what is going on in the business world, you are still giving it 100% and happy to be an important part of the team.

Well, that’s it for now. I know that today’s blog was a bit different from most but, we want to help make sure that we all make it through this together and emerge even stronger than ever before.

Thanks for reading and we’ll see you soon…CBD Doc