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5 Simple Techniques to Maintain Focus

I frequently coach my team on techniques they can use to become more effective and one of the areas that I have found the greatest challenged is in remaining focused. Here are five simple techniques that I use to maintain focus on the critical projects and issues.

• Keep your work area uncluttered. Clutter becomes a distraction to efficiency, either you cannot find the items you need or you are looking at the next items in queue. I try to keep my immediate work surface clear of all distractions with just an inbox, which I clear immediately by deciding next action, and all my hot files are stored out of sight but in immediate reach. By having an uncluttered workspace I can concentrate on just the items in my immediate view.
• Minimize the number of distractions by working simply. As an IT Director the majority of my work originates from e-mail, meetings, or phone conversations and I have found over time that eventually everything needs to be captured into my tracking systems and storage systems, which I have created in my laptop. I have minimized the number of “technology toys” that I use on a daily basis to just a Bluetooth mouse and my laptop to minimize the number of technology issues I need to troubleshoot for myself. By keeping my tools simple I can quickly take my laptop from desk to meeting and capture the minutes and notes real time or steal the moments I am waiting for my less efficient colleagues to arrive to on follow-up items.
• Schedule your work time. My colleagues joke with me about how diligent I am about scheduling meeting times rather than being informal and “fitting it in”. I have found that I work best when I create time blocks to work and there are less distractions that caused by trying to “fit meetings in” when I know everything that is critical will occur at a specific time and the other affected parties know when it will occur as well. If I place a meeting or work time on the schedule we can all parties can mutually agree that the topic will be addressed and we are free to concentrate on other matters until that time.
• Take “work vacations”. When I have a critical deadline or a project that will take more than a couple hours to complete I schedule an entire day of uninterrupted work. During that day I don’t answer the phone, check e-mail, or allow meetings and visitors. This approach is especially effective if you can work behind closed doors so if you don’t have a private office schedule a conference room for the day and gain access to a laptop.
• Simplify tasks, delegate and train others. While many think that delegation is just a managers technique it can be effectively used at all levels of the organization. I have often seen administrative assistants wrapped into unnecessary request to pull files just because other staff members didn’t understand how the filing system was indexed—train others to get the files and create a drop box for the folders that need to be refilled and you will eliminate half of the file request. I have programmers who run reports for various departments and I implore them to simplify and automate the process to either delegate the task to the computer system or the requesting department. This is the most powerful technique because it not only allows you to remain focused but also creates more time.

How do you maintain focus?

Technorati Tags: Bluetooth, Computer, Getting Things Done, GTD, Hardware, Laptop, Managment, Notebooks and Laptops, Real-time computing, self-help, Technology, Time Management

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