Creative Ways to Stay Focused & Productive
Career Enrichment, Productivity, Work Life Integration
Do you feel like your brain is buffering every five minutes or getting distracted by Instagram, Facebook or Twitter-like a kid in a candy store? We all struggle with focus, but when we have strict deadlines to keep up with, being productive should be at the top of your list. Here are some creative ways to stay focused and productive.
Have an office
If you work from home you’re really lucky. You can work in your pajamas and get a snack whenever you want. However, all that freedom can be really horrible for your productivity. So, unless you have a few fool-proof ways to be more productive while working remotely, it’s best to leave your bedroom for sleeping and find a different space for your work. You can easily hit your local coffee shop or library—this will help make you feel more professional and allow you to keep your private and business life separate.
Remove distractions
Today, distractions can be found everywhere you turn, and no matter how good you are at multitasking, your quality of work will suffer when you’re distracted. So, make sure to close all social media tabs, put your phone on vibrate and dedicate your full attention to your work. You will not only work faster but also improve the quality of your work. If you just can’t stay away from distractions, you can turn to apps like Freedom that block certain distracting websites or Forest, that’ll keep you focused and away from your smartphone.. Other resources like Forest can also keep you focused when you have a lot of work to do.
Get a whiteboard
Even with organizational apps, reminders, tasks and tech mapping, good old whiteboards are still the best way to keep your work in check. Create smaller work sections, add the items you need to complete and once they are done, you can just erase them—that part is so satisfying!
Have a change of scenery
Oftentimes, the best ideas get born when you’re away from your keyboard. So, give your brain a nice change of scenery every once in a while and you’ll notice how much more productive and inspired you’ll be when you return to work. You can chill out in the park, work from a coffee shop instead from home or go for a short run. Another great thing you can do for both your brain and body is to take a relaxing bath. If you want to get the ultimate bath, you need to relax, treat yourself to some bath bombs and get really nice and cozy. Once your brain and body relax, you’ll get the best ideas and even solve that work issue that’s been bothering you for so long!
Take regular breaks
While you think you can do more by staying at your desk, taking regular breaks is actually crucial to productivity and focus. Here’s one thing you can do: start a playlist with ten or fifteen of your fave tunes and once the playlist is over, it’s time for a break. Take a walk, grab a glass of water, have a protein snack or just exchange a few words with your colleagues. Once you come back from your short break, you’ll feel fresh and ready to conquer the world.
Make your goals public
Unless you’re fine with being humiliated, you will do your best to make all your public promises and plans a reality. Nothing will keep you focused and productive as a deadline for a new product you promised to your customers!
Don’t push yourself too hard
Tackling too many things at once will take a huge toll on your creativity and productivity and lead to unsatisfactory results at work. Today, the only way to stand out from your competition is to be remarkable, so something that’s just mediocre wouldn’t do. Setting goals that are too high will definitely drain you and only result in guilt. So, make sure to take a few days off, make your schedule realistic and you can expect nothing but excellence.
Being productive and focused is not a mission impossible, even when the internet is always here to provide endless distractions. So, keep these creative tips in mind and watch as your professional focus improves.
