How to Deal with Distractions While at Work

Distractions can be relaxing. Distractions can be harmful. How you deal with distractions determines if you can manage your time or watch it slip away from you. Especially at this time of year, it’s easy to lose motivation at work. We’re still partly in holiday mode and readjusting to our work schedule. If you are distracted while at work, try these tips on how to deal with distractions to keep yourself focused.

1 Shift Your Mind into Work Mode

Imagine your mind as a bunch of rooms. If you can, divide your life into compartments to avoid distractions. If you work from home, there is plenty to distract you from doing your work. Your family members may want your attention. Or your delicious lunch is tempting you to go to the kitchen. That TV series you’re hooked on is beckoning you to finish one more episode.

A mental switch into work mode can include changing into work clothes (your work sweater, your work hoodie) and starting your routine, such as getting your cup of coffee, opening up your computer, and checking your work emails. 

If your job involves a lot of brainstorming and creative thinking, it’s easy to take a moment to check messages on your phone, wander off to get a quick snack, or peek out the window to see what the neighbors are doing. “I’m doing some research,” you say. The break might inspire you with a breakthrough.

The ding! of a work email can be super exciting if your mind is completely blank and you’re stuck on your creative work task. What should you write next? How do you tackle this problem? Checking a work message can be a nice distraction. After all, you’re still in work mode. You’re just off task. Having a timer helps keep you on task.

2 Prioritize and Time Your Tasks

Sometimes, despite your best intentions, it is difficult to stay in work mode. You might still be in holiday mode and feeling sleepy now that you’re getting up early again. However, office hours have begun and you need to get some work done. Devoting a whole eight hours to work instead of doing whatever you like can be daunting.

Start by mapping out what work tasks you absolutely must complete and what tasks would be nice to complete. Prioritize tasks that must get done by a specific time or end of the day. 

Use a timer and block off your day in 15 or 30-minute chunks – decide what increment works best for you. It’s easier for your mind to wander if you think you have all day to finish your work. Set a goal to complete a specific task within your time block. With short-term goals, it’s easier to stay focused.

3 Set Aside Time for Self Care

Sometimes, telling yourself to switch to work mode or prioritize tasks isn’t enough, especially if you’re dealing with something that affects your mental or physical health. 

For example, you just found out you have a major health issue to deal with in the coming months or you’re dealing with a conflict at home that’s giving you sleepless nights.

Provide yourself with something to look forward to, such as a favorite snack or lunch to reward yourself when you finish part of the work day. If you can, take a nap or listen to some music. Go for a walk during lunch. Talk with a friend during your break. What you do after work is important as well, such as spending time with friends or family, or going to the gym. Check if you’re getting enough sleep. Plan an activity so you have something to look forward to at the end of the work week.

Distractions can be fun, but sometimes too much distraction can lower your productivity.

What do you do when distractions pull you in multiple directions?

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Should You Make New Year’s Resolutions?

Do you believe that a new year brings a new you? Some people make New Year’s resolutions and set new goals for the new year. January 1st is a reminder to turn over a new leaf and to make a list of self-improvement goals. And for some ambitious people who like New Year’s resolutions, the first of January is a time to reflect on the past year and see how many of their resolutions from the past year were achieved.

Now, if you’re one of those who cringes when you think of the resolutions that you abandoned in the first months or (gasp) the first month of the outgoing year, you’re pretty normal. According to the Pew Research Center, at the start of 2024, “Of the 70% of Americans who did not make any New Year’s resolutions this year, a majority (56%) say their main reason for not doing so is they simply do not like to make resolutions.”

In the same survey, the Pew Research Center found that “Three-in-ten Americans report making at least one resolution this year, with half of this group making more than one.” The numbers aren’t high. 

I used to make a list of ten New Year’s resolutions in January, and in December of that year, I was usually dismayed to find that perhaps only three of the ten items were completed and maybe an additional two were started and not finished. Perhaps I set the bar too high for myself. Or maybe I needed to review that list more often than twice a year. After a few years of making resolutions, I quit. They weren’t lists of resolutions. They were lists of dreams!

If you can make New Year’s resolutions and accomplish them in twelve months, that’s amazing! I’ve found it more practical to make a weekly to-do list. Maybe it’s the same thing, but the terminology (“to-do”) certainly seems less intimidating. Stuff that you just have to do is more bite-sized than Resolutions that have a vow-taking status.

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Do Think More About the Future or the Past?

You can tell someone’s age by how much they think about the future or the past.

When we’re kids, time is slow, like moving through water. It’s a huge milestone to be six years old, then six and a half, and then seven. A two-month summer vacation lasts a lifetime. When you’re nine, a twenty-year-old adult is just old, and a grandparent has been around since the beginning of time. It’s going to take forever before we can grow up and be free to do whatever we want without the approval of our parents.

I’ve noticed that teenagers and people in their twenties talk about the future as if there is a lot of time ahead of them. They have post-secondary education goals, first career-related job discussions, and first romantic relationships. They ask questions such as: How do I start my career? How do I know if he likes me? What should I put on my resume? Where should I travel? The world is new, and people want to try things out and explore them. Some act like they are invincible because they are young. Others dwell on their first heartaches: a breakup with their high school crush. Pain from not getting into the college of their dreams. Anger at not being trusted to drive their first car or host a party with their friends and no parents. They have memories of childhood, school, and first-time life experiences.

People who are in their forties and fifties seem to speak equally about the future and the past. They realize they shouldn’t waste what time they have left. Either they are at the peak of their career and financial stability or they plan to get there soon. Their children are grown or will be grown up. When they’re middle aged, they think about retirement plans. At this time, they’re fighting the aging process while taking care of aging parents. Behind them, they have more memories and years than they did in their twenties. They remember friendships and romances that didn’t work out. They’ve survived divorces. They painfully remember missed chances: it’s harder to learn new languages, play a sport, or learn a new musical instrument. They’ve been to weddings and funerals. They fondly remember what it was like to be young and invincible back when they didn’t hear of so many tragedies. Most importantly, they feel empowered by their life experience.

Seniors talk about the past a lot. They reminisce about how life used to be, how much things used to cost, and all the wonderful memories of the people they had known and the places they had been over the years. Their memories are like a finished book that they can open and read. They value the preciousness of time because the chances they had to accomplish what they could are mostly behind them. Seniors in their 90s and older value each additional morning because they don’t know how many more of them they have remaining. Time is more important than money, because when you’re a senior, you realize that a decade can pass in one eye blink.

So, to return to the question, “Do you spend more time thinking about the future or the past?” I think it depends on the individual, but certainly, your age affects how long the path stretches ahead of you and how far it goes behind you.

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Do You Think About the Future or the Past?

Santa’s Top Skills Revealed

This interesting and timely article dropped into my mailbox: a blog about the soft skills needed to run Santa’s worldwide business. Soft skills are skills such as leadership, active listening, critical thinking, and multitasking.

Here are just some of the highlights from the longer article about what skills Santa uses to run his global gift operation.

Leadership skills: he directs talented elves and a herd of magical reindeer and coordinates with families during one night of operations.

Multitasking skills: Santa can’t miss that one deadline per year, so he has a lot to coordinate, from tuning up the sleigh to reading all the gift lists and managing the toy shop.

Active listening skills: Santa listens carefully to all the children so he gets the details for their wish lists right, and he asks questions when needed for the best interaction possible. He pays attention to body language and the way the child is feeling.

Santa possesses many soft skills that are needed to run such an important gift operation.

For more about these skills, check out the original article.