Laundry. Kids. Dishes. Appointments. Your work and personal life are constantly vying for your attention, and it can be tough to get ahead! If you find your days extremely busy yet somehow still unproductive, you might need to improve your focus. Below are three steps to help!
Analyze your day.
Take ten minutes to think about your typical workday. What takes up the majority of your time? Do you jump from task to task, or do you handle one item at a time? How many interruptions do you usually experience in any given morning or afternoon? What do your “unfocused” or unproductive days have in common?
Identify your triggers.
Most people have a particular task or interruption that acts as a “trigger.” This trigger kicks off a day that looks like a Rube Goldberg machine -- those crazy machines used to accomplish a simple task in a really complicated, roundabout way! Your trigger trips another subsequent and unnecessary interruption during your day, and then another and then another, making it difficult to focus on and accomplish a simple task. Do you have a specific trigger? Do similar distractions derail you each day? Identify the things that kick off a pattern of staying unfocused.
Eliminate your triggers.
Once you have your triggers targeted, it’s time to eliminate them! This will likely require some creativity on your part. Domonique, the CEO of We Optimize Work, identified her trigger as unfinished laundry. She would start on doing laundry, then her attention would move to other chores, and then she found herself in a cycle of unproductivity with her workday. As her elimination solution, she began to outsource her laundry! Without the triggering distraction of piles of clothes, she finds that her days stay more on track. Your trigger might be completely different, but the solution is the same: be creative as you work to eliminate triggers from your life!
If you need help identifying your triggers and maximizing your productivity, Domonique Townsend can help! Schedule an appointment with her by emailing info@weoptimizework.com, or register for her upcoming free webinar by visiting www.weoptimizework.com/webinar.