Did you know that smartphone users today check their phones 150 times a day? This equates to 2.5 hours per day spent simply opening and closing the phone. A single text message, which takes around 2.2 seconds to read, can quadruple error rates on fundamental activities. Workers report that getting back into the flow of the previous activity takes an average of 11 minutes.
Employers want workers to be reachable and responsive at all times in our always-on culture. Constant connectedness, on the other hand, maybe counterproductive in terms of engagement and productivity, according to studies. Whether working at the office or home, many are looking for strategies to stay productive without jeopardizing their work-life balance.
Finding time for deep focus, eliminating digital distractions, and combating the never-ending barrage of app switching and notification checking are all top goals for workers.
Good thing, there are a few simple measures everyone can take to recover control of their work schedules and return to productivity. Simply set aside time for focused work and apply these pointers so that you can achieve efficiency and productivity while working.
How the Digital World Affects Our Personal and Professional Lives
The defining difficulty of today's workplace may be digital overload. We are bombarded with so many notifications and alerts all day and night on our PCs, laptops, tablets, and cellphones that it is practically impossible to focus. When we are inclined to delay, we have a variety of distractions at our fingertips.
This culture of continual connectivity has an emotional and professional cost. We waste time, focus, and energy on unimportant information and encounters, keeping ourselves occupied but producing nothing of value.
The Effects that Distractions Have on Your Productivity
Distractions of any size might force employees to take longer to accomplish a task. It not only prolongs the time it takes to perform duties but also lowers the quality of their work.
When you are distracted, you must return your focus to the task at hand. Employees may become discouraged as a result of lower productivity, which can have a detrimental impact on production.
Employees and supervisors may not be discussing the various distractions that arise during the workday, but they should. Tension and resentment can arise in the office if distractions are not addressed, and what can be done to eliminate those disruptions. This can spill over, severely damaging coworker relationships and the company's general culture.
How To Forget or At Least Minimize Digital Distractions
Explore these techniques to help you refocus on your work, finish that big to-do list, and successfully quit those annoying internet distractions to avoid any effects to take a toll on your productivity.
- Step away from your computer. If you are staying too long in front of your desk, you are staring directly at your computer monitor. This causes fatigue. This in turn will make you want to find other things to do or seek distractions. Small pauses during the day can help some people be more productive. Others prefer to work during off-peak hours. You must make your schedule work for you rather than against you.
- You should take breaks throughout the day, but make sure that you stick to a schedule or dedicated time. This not only provides them something to anticipate, but it also informs you when it is time to return to work.
- Get up and move. Workers should have time to walk and take a stroll. Go on and take a 10- or 20-minute walk outside if you are having problems concentrating. Light exercise has been demonstrated to revitalize the brain in previous studies.
- Work in an environment with productive people. Productivity may spread like a virus. Observing how your coworkers remain productive might serve as an example to others. Surround yourself with the right people that will affect your mindset and attitude towards work. If you see them working, you are further motivated to do better and not think of your phone.
- Practice time-management techniques like the Pomodoro Technique. This strategy entails focusing your mental attention on a single task. You are significantly less likely to be distracted by the noise of the digital world if you give your mind a clear and direct path to concentrate on. Begin with your daily to-do list for this strategy. Set your timer for 25 minutes and thoroughly immerse yourself in your job until the timer chimes. Keep track of your progress and reward yourself with a little break for keeping focused. Rep this approach for increasingly difficult activities, taking longer breaks as needed.
- Let us be honest about it. There are days when no matter how hard you try, you just cannot seem to concentrate. Spotify and YouTube will become your new best friends if you are unfamiliar with focus music. Think of ocean waves, thunderstorms, rain, and other natural phenomena. These epic sounds will undoubtedly raise your motivation! The lack of lyrics or voices in the music is a common theme in all of them. This will make it easier to focus without any other distracting features.
- Put your phone away. The majority of us have become physically hooked to our phones, whether we admit it or not. We are frightened of being disconnected from our technological umbilical cord, even if it is only for a short time, in case someone needs us. Even while working, we keep our cell phones close by and turned on. Although we would like to believe that our willpower is stronger than our smartphone notifications, new research suggests that simply having a phone in the room might reduce productivity and concentration on cognitively demanding tasks.
Conclusion
If these suggestions struck a chord with you, the most important thing is to put them into practice. Set limits, separate your work and break periods, and establish a work atmosphere that supports your success. Figuring out how to successfully avoid those temptations is more important today than ever.
