It‘s almost a year since the pandemic forced us to work offsite or split our time between home and office environment. Although most people have already adapted to this routine, some still find it challenging to keep their concentration on high levels during the whole workday. 

 Here are some helpful tips for overcoming focus destroyers and stay productive throughout the day: 

 CREATE A ROUTINE  

Wake up at the same time each day. Try to schedule work hours and breaks. No matter if you prefer to have every minute planned or to follow your to-do list, it is recommended to have an idea of what you want to accomplish during the day. Regularly check on your progress and celebrate wins.  

SET BOUNDARIES 

Perhaps your spouse also works remotely, or maybe you have kids home from school or daycare. That makes it more challenging to dedicate your full attention to your tasks. Make sure you let others know your work schedule, and when you are available to chat. With that information, they can be more respectful of when you need quiet time to concentrate on your to-do list. 

TRY TO AVOID DISTRACTIONS 

Create a list of your worst distractions and try to avoid them. Don‘t allow the technology to interrupt you. Closeout your email and work in an offline mode for some time, silence your phone or try Windows 10 Focus Assist to control which notifications get through to you and which get silenced. 

FIND A SMALL AREA FOR WORK–RELATED ACTIVITIES 

Most of us do not have a designated space with a door where to work from home, but you can try to set up aside a small area only for your work–related activities. Consider this area as your office and let your family members know that when there, you are not available.  

ALIGN YOUR WORK SCHEDULE WITH YOUR INTERNAL PRODUCTIVITY RHYTHM 

Discover when you experience peak productivity and then use those times to solve difficult problems or dig for creative solutions. If you feel more efficient in the morning, try to complete the tasks that need deep thinking or complex problem-solving during that time. Leave more routine tasks and those that require less-concentration and mental energy for the afternoon.  

And… don’t forget to take regular breaks. Taking breaks is a way to improve your concentration, but we often fail to rest our mind when working from home. Go for a walk and breath in fresh air or grab a cup of tea or coffee and relax.  

USE TECHNOLOGY TO STAY ON TOP OF YOUR WORKFLOWS 

Have you ever struggled to find the final version of a document or been in a situation where dozens of emails were exchanged to get the job done? In today’s complex workplace, it’s a real challenge to manage all workloads and stay on top of everything. 

When you spend time looking for files or wait for others to get back to you with the latest document, this distracts you from your main tasks and can end up in omitted deadlines. And when working from home, it‘s even more critical to have an effective collaboration with all teammates. Working together in real-time, having all assets easily accessible and synced is beneficial to the team‘s chemistry and boosts overall performance. 

You can empower your team members to stay focused and achieve more with our  Productive Teamwork solution that combines Microsoft Teams with free implementation and training services.