“Beep! Another message. Ping! Ah, a chat. Hi, can I ask you something? Oh, that’s your colleague again. Did you know that on average we get distracted every 7 minutes? No wonder by the end of the day you ask yourself, ‘What did I actually do today?’
The double issue is: because of all those distractions you work less effectively, but you also cannot do without them. In fact, you need them. The art is to minimise the ‘undesirable’ distractions and plan the ‘desirable’ ones.
In this blog we dive into effective working in the world of distractions:
- How do you prevent ‘undesirable’ distractions?
- When do you actually need distraction?
First, an impressive radio-interview about ‘the costs of distraction’
Listen to it here
Facts about distractions
The number of distractions we receive doubles every five years. These could be anything: Facebook, a colleague dropping in, a new email, app notifications, your colleague’s radio. Even briefly googling something while you’re in the middle of a report counts as a distraction.
About 30 percent of your working time is ‘wasted’ because of this. That’s 2.5 hours in an 8-hour working day. Pretty shocking, actually. If you could cut that in half, just imagine how much more effective you would be. You’d finally get to the tasks you choose. Overtime would be history!
Tip:
Every time you are distracted, you have to get back “in”. “What was I even doing?” How long does it take to truly regain full focus? A full 20 minutes. Let me guess: you never make that if the next distraction comes along after a few minutes.
Time for solutions
- Mute those sounds
Yes, we know. Open door. Turn off all notification sounds on your phone. Even the vibration zone! Only leave on the notifications that you really need for your work. - Desk-hours
Do you get asked things by colleagues all day long? Make sure you bundle those questions and schedule a few consultation moments each day. Make sure everyone knows when they can ask you something. - Silent zones
Working in a trendy open office? Great for the vibe, but disastrous for your concentration. Find a silent zone or your own space when you need to do something where you really don’t want interruptions. - Pre-meeting
At the start of each day sit down briefly together. Who today cannot be disturbed? What needs to happen today? Etcetera. That way all noses point the same way and you can work effectively. - Cluster your tasks
Effective working means a good daily plan. Which tasks are priorities? Plan three or four mail-check moments. With a good plan you also avoid many switches between tasks. Because switching tasks frequently, you lose your concentration. - No multitasking
It seems effective: making a call and at the same time drafting an email. But we are not made to do two or more things at once. It’s fatal for our concentration. Do one thing at a time, then you’re consciously engaged and it goes much faster.
The right distraction at the right moment
We’re not going to say you may not have any distractions during the day. On the contrary, you regularly need a ‘pit‐stop’ to be able to work effectively. You simply cannot be concentrated for eight hours straight. That causes stress instead.
Research shows that you work best in blocks of 60 or 90 minutes. That’s your sprint in which you aim to reach a certain goal. Alternate the sprints with short breaks of 5 to 10 minutes. During your pit-stop, do something completely different. Don’t think about work, don’t talk about work, and don’t stay at your workstation. Take a little walk, check your Facebook (yes, that’s okay), meditate. It doesn’t matter what. As long as you step away. Your brain relaxes, you get new ideas, you’re recharged and thus more effective.
Go ahead and get started. And don’t let yourself be too distracted! You’ll see that you work much more pleasantly and you get a lot more done.
