Calls, emails, chats: undisturbed work is becoming a pipe dream for more and more people. Constant availability and the constant consumption of knowledge have a strong influence on many people’s attention. Multitasking and eating at the workplace are often part of everyday office life. As a result, productivity and results suffer from the constant need to do everything. There are a few simple tricks to counteract the flood of information. Your work and your environment will thank you for it.
First of all, find your time wasters. Do you check your email folder every five minutes for fear of missing an important message? Do you surf the internet and distract yourself with social media? Or do you risk glancing at your smartphone every minute to keep up to date with all the What’s App groups? By knowing your biggest distractions, you can do everything you can to make your working day more productive and less stressful. That’s right: this is not a contradiction.
Clean Desktop – Clean Mind
Switching off digitally doesn’t have to mean pulling the plug. Instead, deactivate the email preview function on your desktop and smartphone so that you are not torn out of your workflow every time a new message arrives. Also, keep your desktop as “naked” as possible – in other words, minimize digital waste. Nobody needs “ancient documents” and programs that have never been opened on their start screen.
The phone is on silent, but you are still constantly checking for new messages and missed calls? Then it’s high time you activated the “Do not disturb” function. It works like this: Calls, messages and reminders are switched to silent. You can set a time period and allow calls from specific people. Ideal when the boss calls!
Simplify Your Life
All digital and electronic disruptive factors are out of the way? Unfortunately, you can’t mute your colleagues and supervisor with a button. And you don’t have to! Signal politely but firmly that you don’t want to be disturbed. Colorful flags or a nice sign on the door serve their purpose and create a more relaxed working atmosphere. Be sure to discuss possible times for undisturbed work with your boss and colleagues.
Also make sure your desk is minimalist and tidy. Sure, Post It’s are great. But if they are everywhere, they only remind you of everything that still needs to be done. Mental restlessness is inevitable. A better solution: while you are completing a task, make notes on a separate sheet of paper about everything that is buzzing around in your head. This relieves your memory, also known as your internal working memory, and increases your concentration for the actual work.
To give their work flow an extra kick, many employees turn to music during stressful phases. As an effective means of counteracting the background noise, it effectively switches off the environment and sets the mood. While everyone has different preferences, the music should not be too fast, aggressive or too quiet. Monotonous background noises such as the sound of the sea or leaves, wind or thunderstorms are calming and help you concentrate better. For those who like it quiet, special noise-canceling headphones or classic earplugs are recommended.
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