Phone calls, emails, social media notifications, meetings, other employees and the list goes on. These are just a handful of the countless distractions we battle each day at work. They divide our attention and often destroy our noble plans for daily productivity.
As professionals, we have to find ways to counter these constant distractions and consistently work at our best. The vicious cycle has to stop somewhere. One or more of the three tools below could be just what you need to limit distractions and boost your productivity.
Pomodoro Timer
One of the biggest threats to being productive is working without breaks. Especially when we’ve gotten behind or procrastinated on our work, we try to cram everything into one huge block of time. This zaps focus, energy and creativity.
Pomodoro Timer does the opposite. It increases focus and creativity while preserving energy. How? It allows you to break your work day up into small increments — 25 minutes of work followed by a five-minute break. Each work period is called a Pomodoro. After four of these periods, there’s a longer 30-minute break.
Non-stop work tires out the brain, which means that less and less attention is devoted to each task. Pomodoro timer allows you to approach each new task with equal and renewed focus.
Block Site Extension
The internet can be a blessing or a curse. Really, it all depends on how you choose to use it, especially during the course of your workday. Most of us have been guilty of using it the wrong way, checking sites such as Facebook and Instagram every chance we get.
That’s why this browser extension is so amazing for the addicted brain. It will block the sites of your choice — whichever ones are your weaknesses during work hours.
You might experience some withdrawals when you find that you can’t access your go-to, time-wasting sites. But it’s worth it once you realize how much time you save and how much your focus improves throughout the day.
Focus for Mac
If a site blocker is the kind of thing you need in your life, you might also like Focus. Similar to the Block Site Extension, it shows a quote in the browser instead of an error message.
While it comes preloaded with a set of quotes, you can also add your own. This can give you a bit of added motivation to stay on task.
In addition, Focus can also block applications like Skype, which dish out tons of distracting notifications.
A Few Bonus Tips
Disable Notifications.
Notifications are the worst. There are just too many — games, messengers, emails, social media, etcetera. Don’t get us wrong, some of them are important...but most of them can wait. Whether in your browser or on your phone, turn non-essential notifications off.
Disable your phone.
Turn the wifi and data off or turn your phone off completely. You can’t use it if you can’t use it, right?
Schedule Email Checks.
If you only check email at certain times each day, you won’t be distracted at other times. This works even better when you turn email notifications off.
What are you waiting for now? You’ve got the tools and the tips. Quit reading this post and go have a productive and distraction-free workday!