Let’s keep all that distracts us away!
Did it ever happen to you that after drafting an email, you find out later that you never clicked on the “send” button? Or you wanted to call someone to discuss something that might be important, but this call never happened? We all get distracted easily, which is affecting our work and making everything overwhelming.
Research by Gloria Mark at the University of California, Irvine, found that it takes an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to return to an original task after an interruption. Observers going into workplaces who monitored and timed people’s activities found employees were switching between tasks on average every three minutes and five seconds, and roughly half of these were self-interruptions.
So, How can we get into the monotasking mindset?
- Deep concentration
This means deep work. Deep work is the ability to focus on a demanding task – one that requires higher levels of cognitive ability and awareness – without distractions for an extended period of time.
When you work in a distracted frame of mind, you will lose the ability to reach deeper levels of focusing and concentration.
Make sure to give yourself 2 to 4 hours to work on one single project without any distractions (social media – emails –conversations – phone calls). This practice will help you in getting your tasks done easily and smoothly.
- Peak time
We all have that time of the day when we feel that we are doing better and focusing more. It’s the time when you are sharpest and less likely to get distracted.
For some, it occurs in the morning and others late at night. In either case, it is important to study yourself and locate what your peak performance time is.
- Eliminate the distractions
Monotasking is not only about focusing on one project, but it’s also about putting a limit to the distractions that stop you from achieving your goals.
Make sure to understand the purpose of what are you doing. Understand your needs and what are the tasks that must get done to have the impact that you are looking for.