In today’s world, it has become all too easy to fall into the trap of being distracted. One moment you’re working on your task, then you decide to take a little break for yourself and the next thing you know three hours have already passed!
This now leads you to panic over the task you’ve accidentally left behind. What’s more is that it doesn’t even necessarily have to be a fun task that gets you derailed from your tasks, but even work itself can distract you.
This happens when another task lands on your table without you having completed your previous tasks yet. This forces you to multitask and get less done overall.
So if you feel like this has been happening to you lately, and you want to break this cycle, then this one is for you. Here are some tips to stay focused on your tasks:
Make a to-do list #todolist
We’ve all probably heard of this before to the point that some think it’s clichéd, but how many of us actually do it?
Give it a try. List down all the things you have to accomplish within the day on a piece of paper or on a sticky note and put it where you can easily see it. Don’t count on yourself to “remember” all of the things you have to do because we all know how easy it is to forget when we’re actually dealing with other tasks during the day.
Having a list reminds you of what your priorities should be and what your timeframe is for them. In this way, you will be more likely to work on your most important tasks and get less distracted by others.
Know your productive hours #productivehours
It’s no secret but our energy throughout the day fluctuates between highs and lows. You may feel yourself very much driven during the early morning, but suddenly feel lethargic and sleepy when noon hits.
This is why you have to optimize your schedule and know just when you feel your energy levels dropping and work on as many of the tasks as you can before those nonproductive and distracted hours come.
Reward yourself #rewardyourself
You may have seen students doing this. Rewarding themselves with a bar of chocolate after finishing a certain book to make themselves feel accomplished. The truth is, this applies to adults and most of our lives as well.
You can decide to go out to have some fun by yourself or with friends after work, treat yourself to a café, buy your favorite book, watch that Netflix series you’ve been waiting for, and other things you feel are a reward for yourself for a job well done. By having a reward for ourselves at the end of each task, we associate hard work with eventual rewards in our heads. This then makes work a lot more appealing to us enabling us to be more motivated to get the job done!
Take a break #takeabreak
Sometimes some tasks just take too long to finish and wrap up. Working through this nonstop and expending all our batteries in one go will not make us more productive. So remember to take a break from time to time.
Get up from your seat, get a coffee, chat with your friends, and have a snack before going back to work. This will make you feel recharged even if just a bit and help you continue on working on your task for a lot longer.
Hire a Virtual Assistant #hireavirtualassistant
Another way to stay focused on your tasks and avoid getting distracted by anything else is by hiring a Virtual Assistant (VA). They are skilled in a lot of areas and can help lift most of the burden off of your shoulders.
They can handle jobs ranging from marketing, administrative work, content creation, social media management, and many more!
Conclusion
It’s easy to get distracted and derailed from our tasks nowadays due to many compelling reasons. This reduces our productivity and limits our potential for growth especially if we are an entrepreneur.
Hence, these are the many ways you can stay focused on the most important tasks at hand. You can try a variety of the things mentioned above, but the most direct and efficient way would be to hire a VA that can help you on your journey!