How often are you distracted at work?
No matter who you are or where you work, it is likely that you will be distracted at work innumerable times, every day.
Regaining concentration after a distraction takes time, so distractions reduce productivity and effectiveness, and increase stress. Distractions can erode your ability to focus and may lead to factual mistakes and poor judgement, all leading to poor performance.
The result of distractions is often a persistent feeling of being rushed, an inability to sustain attention, and a tendency to hop from task to task, idea to idea.
Frequent distractions can negatively affect your mood as an inability to get good quality work done on time consequently makes you feel more frustrated and unhappy with your work.
What are the common distractions we face at work?
- emails
- disorganisation
- instant messaging
- phone calls
- internet
- other people
- work environment
- other projects and tasks
- tiredness
The key to managing distractions is being aware of what your major distractions are; take the time to learn or notice what distracts you. Then find strategies to reduce those distractions. There is a wealth of possible strategies and you may need to try several strategies to find ones that work for you.
Distractions can rarely be eliminated but they can be reduced with successful management.
The occasional workplace distraction can sometimes be a good thing, offering a moment to ‘step back’ from work and avoid burn out, work overload or fatigue. There is a problem however, when distractions take up too much of our time and prevent us from getting our work done.
For those interested in further reading, I recommend “Driven to Distraction at Work: How to focus and be more productive” by Edward Hallowell (Harvard Business Review Press).
October 2015