5 Easy Hacks To Stay Focused At Work

We all want to feel focused, organised and in control when we are at work, but sometimes this is something as business owners we do struggle with.   We are told we need a work life balance; we need to think about self-care and not get trapped into the 5-9 and feeling like we have to “hustle” to be successful. 

These 5 easy hacks will help you plan, prioritise and stay focused at work so you feel like you are running your business rather than your business running you. 

1.     Plan Ahead

The best time to plan the week ahead is a Sunday evening.  Map out all your meetings, calls, appointments and work into your calendar so you can visually see what you have planned for the week. If you feel overwhelmed by the amount of work you have ahead, are there any appointments that can be rearranged?  Don’t feel pressured into doing them all in the same week, If they can be moved to the following week.  You will feel less overwhelmed and more focused on the tasks that need doing for the week ahead.    

2.     Prioritise

Now you have all your appointments planned for the week, prioritise each one.  This can be done by colour coding them. 

Red – This means it must be done on that day, No excuses.

Amber – These can be completed over a couple of days but give yourself a deadline otherwise it will be pushed until the end of the week and then you will feel overwhelmed and more than likely having to work into the weekend. 

Green – These are tasks that can be done at any point during the week.  But again they need to be done that week, otherwise you will procrastinate and they will be moved over to the following week and never get completed. 

3.     Set out your week

Plan out your calendar into sections every day. This could include client calls, work, admin time, bookkeeping, going to the gym, going for a walk.  Having each task blocked out will keep you more focused and more organised. 

They don’t have to be set in stone, and you can move them around, but making sure each task is carried out for the same amount of time every week.  This will make you feel like you have accomplished something, rather than spending the week in and out of meetings, client calls throughout the day and not having time to do your actual work. 

4.     Avoid distractions

Avoiding distractions doesn’t always come easy especially when we have families, but this is where blocking out time in your diary comes into play.  Having set days of the week where you allocate time for example having phone calls with clients will help you be more focused and less overwhelmed & tired.

Turn your phone onto silent.  Its very easy to check your phone when notifications pop up, having a quick scroll of Facebook and before you know it half an hour has passed, and you haven’t even started what you were supposed to. 

Turn the TV off.  If you work from the kitchen table, having background noise such as the TV is very distracting.  Turn it off and perhaps put some music on.  Playing your favourite songs can make us feel upbeat and lightens our mood. 

5.     Exercise/Breaks

This is a big one and no doubt you will have heard it a thousand times, but getting up and taking a break from your laptop and going for a walk or going to the gym works wonders for your mood, your focus, productivity and you feel like you have thought about yourself for a short while during the day.  Studies have shown that people who work out have greater volume in the parts of the brain that control memory and thinking.

Our bodies can lose concentration after 90 minutes, so a short break is better than no break at all.  Having healthy snacks at the side of your laptop will also mean you are keeping your brain focused by providing the nutrients and vitamins it needs to concentrate.  A little tip is to meal prep the night before. 

Selina Johnson — Business Support Expert, solution seeker and freedom fixer — helps successful coaches, consultants, speakers and entrepreneurs from across the globe to scale their businesses, make more money and achieve faster, sustainable results without compromising their time.

Over the past 16 years, she’s supported high profile individuals like award-winning architect Dame Zaha Hadid DBE, Sunday Times Top 20 Most Influential Entrepreneurs In The UK Sháá Wasmund MBE, former Co-Director of the Serpentine Gallery Dame Julia Peyton-Jones DBE, and Russian billionaire Timur Sardarov.

Today, she teaches brilliant entrepreneurs just like you how to implement her simple methods that result in BIG wins in their businesses — including the dynamite delegation strategies, time management hacks and mindset mastery she’s used to halve her hours, double her income and ditch her commute, leaving her free to create and live the life she loves.

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