How to stop distractions: 10 ways to beat the distractions

Even if you are very cool in self-control, you can be very difficult to concentrate on work. Especially if you really do not want to. Unfortunately, even the smallest distraction can completely disrupt the performance. Here are ten tips to help you get down to business, especially when it is essential.

1. Plan your day

Each of us have certain times when we were all given a little easier. Plan the implementation of the most important tasks so that they come just at this time. I also found that scheduling a day helping to catch everything and not forget anything. Whether it is a reminder of the meeting, the deadline or lunch.

2. Go to full screen mode

We are not as versatile as we would have liked. And once it so happened that the work will have hard, remove all possible distractions. Remove any unnecessary icons from your desktop and open to full screen, such as a text document in which you are working. After all, the less excess before your eyes, the less chance that you will distract on something unnecessary.

3. Lock or hide any distracting websites and applications

Parental control is useful not only for naughty children. It is also useful to us, eternally distracted adults. It is difficult to be offline in Facebook during work? Remove the links from the browser. Or even delete the application from your phone. You can also create a separate browser profile for the job. Or, if you need more drastic measures, you can use extensions such as LeechBlock (Firefox), or StayFocus (Chrome), you have to block out distracting websites.

4. Turn off notifications on your smartphone

There are applications that can not be removed. For example, Gmail or corporate chat. For such applications should choose in the settings mode, when completely turned off all notifications. Try to turn off notifications for email. You do not need to check your mail when a new email arrives. At least, set the ringtone to silent for these applications.

5. Track how you spend your time

Distractions can manifest itself in different forms. This is not always a waste of time on Facebook, the game in the phone or kittens pictures, but the essence is always the same. Some tasks are less important than others. And if you spend more time on them than they should, they, too, should be seen as distractions. If you can not understand where all your time is spent, use the time counter. Such as RescueTime. It will show what sites you visited, what applications are used and how much time you have lost on each of them.

6. Keep distractions you colleagues at a distance

Of course, a lot of stimuli occurs in the real world. If you work in an office, you probably know how can distract colleagues. Just to chat, a lot of questions that really can wait, and more. good headphones can show that you are working hard right now. And if that does not work, we can say directly that you are busy. Or load them so that the next time they did not have the idea of ​​you distract.

7. Set aside the distractions for later

If you can not stop thinking about the things that distract you, just set them aside for later. Keep a "lazy" review on your computer or phone. And writes in this note the things that distract you. Then you can not forget about them and get back to them later.

8. Break your tasks

It is very easy to get distracted, or even to avoid the beginning of the work, when the task seems incredibly huge. If you need to motivate yourself to work with large projects, break the task into several smaller subtasks. It is much easier to force myself to make a small specific task. It's easier than jumping headlong into a huge problem. «tomatoes method"Excellent for this purpose, if you have a handy timer.

9. Teach your brain to focus

You can put a tremendous amount of effort to get rid of distractions. But your brain still can be your worst enemy. So if your brain jumps from thought to thought while working, you need to learn to control it. The following advice may seem silly. But try, suddenly help. Put on your rubber band on your wrist. Every time will only occur distracting thoughts, beat yourself up this band. Let the habit of the brain that can not be distracted.

10. Do not overdo it: the distraction is a necessary part of efficiency

Distraction at the wrong time can be detrimental to the performance of a given task. But this does not mean that we should be focused 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Distractions are vital for a healthy lifestyle. And also stimulate creative thinking. Studies have shown that web browsing on the job will help make you more productive. But just in case, if you did it at the right time.

So instead of letting your mind get distracted during the critical tasks specified in your plan for the day time to relax your brain. This will give you the opportunity not only to relax but also improve productivity. After all, your brain will be in a hurry to complete the task, to quickly get the rest.