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Abstract

find it so hard to take a break, it feels like cheating. Tell me this though, is it better to work a 7 hour day at 35% capacity, or to take an hour out, meaning you feel refreshed and focused? You will easily make back that hour in terms of productivity.<h2 id="f01b">2. Win with your time</h2>When you’re not feeling productive, a full day ahead can be a killer for motivation. This leads to procrastination, often before we even start working. One way to do overcome this is by dividing your time into chunks. You can do this according to the tasks you need to complete, or by simply timing yourself for a set amount and then taking a break.The former works great for organising your day. If you know what you need to be doing at each set point in the day, it helps to maintain focus. When the time is approaching to work on the next task, it acts as a natural motivator by making us speed up in order to complete the goal we’ve set.The latter is also great because we know we have a set time to stay in the zone and then we can take five. I recommend a <a href="https://tomato-timer.com/">tomato timer</a> or Pomodoro timer for this. I set it for 25 minutes, no excuses and then I can stop for a 5 minute break.<h2 id="73cb">3. Reward yourself</h2>If the reward of a break at the end of a segment isn’t enough, you can use other rewards or incentives. This requires some discipline. If you tell yourself you can have a bar of chocolate after 25 minutes of work, who is there to police it but you? You need to be fully on board with this technique for it to work.You also need to make sure your rewards are not just chocolate. I’ve made that mistake many times. Too much chocolate isn’t great for productivity either. Mix it up with other things you enjoy. For years I’d bob about taking ages to do my work in the day, only to be left working at night to get things finished. It took me too long to realise that if I work hard in the day, the evenings are mine.<h2 id="bb9f">4. Move</h2>Sitting for long periods of time isn’t good for us. We know this and we are told to move every 90 minutes. This is great advice, but what about going one step further? Don’t just get up and take your eyes off the screen, really move. When we slump physically, we reduce our capacity mentally too. Our minds and bodies are linked. If we are physically tired and running on empty, this effects us mentally too.With this in mind, we can increase our capacity to work by increasing our physical energy. The best way to do this is through moving. Do something that gets your heart rate up. Put some music on and dance, do some star jumps, hype yourself up and shout out your motivations and goals for the day. This will put you in a peak physical state which will translate into a focused, energetic spell of productivity that beats a shot of coffee.Moving in the day is so much more than stopping yourself getting stiff or helping your soar square eyes.<h2 id="be13">5.

Options

Big yourself up</h2>One of the biggest culprits for stopping us reaching our goals is the little voice inside our head. You know it right? The one that tells you ‘Why bother? You’re not good enough’.Listening to this is a killer for motivation and productivity and is the definition of being inside your head. If you want to get on with what you have planned, you need to ignore that little voice, or better still, answer it back and put it in its place.So the voice says you can’t get this article written? You don’t have the knowledge or experience?Rubbish!Tell it where to go by coming back with some evidence that this isn’t true. When have you written an article you were really proud of? What was the result? Finding evidence to the contrary can work wonders at quietening this annoying voice.To avoid even getting to the point where the voice allows you to doubt yourself, start your day with some positive thoughts and exercises to get you focused. Write down something you’re grateful for, something you’re good at, and what you want to achieve that day. Following that, say an affirmation about yourself out loud. This might be ‘I am fully aligned with my business and write with passion’ or ‘I have the skills to make it into a major publication’.Obviously adapt this to something that feels right for you. This works for me but it is a personal thing so play with it and see how it plays out.<h2 id="548e">Take home</h2>Procrastination happens to us all. We are only human after all, and we have been conditioned to expect and wait for distractions. Put your phone away and every time you feel yourself losing focus, apply one of the techniques above. I‘d love to know how you get on.Join other like minded people who have re-imagined their career to mean more than money and status by signing up to my fast growing newsletter <a href="https://redefiningsuccess.substack.com/">REDEFINING SUCCESS</a>.If you haven’t signed up to Medium yet, you can do so <a href="https://nikkivivian.medium.com/membership">here</a>.You may also like these articles:<a href="https://byrslf.co/sometimes-knowing-too-much-about-how-to-better-myself-can-make-me-feel-worse-ccaf6fdd372d">Sometimes knowing too much about how to better myself can make me feel worse</a><a href="https://readmedium.com/non-business-books-that-taught-me-a-shed-load-about-business-anyway-4f92db69c555">Non-business books that taught me a shed load about business anyway</a><a href="https://readmedium.com/apply-a-childs-mentality-to-landing-your-dream-job-767fe6d4923f">Apply A Child’s Mentality To Landing Your Dream Job.</a>Finally, if you’re not a member yet but are considering joining, I will be extremely grateful if you use <a href="https://nikkivivian.medium.com/membership">my link</a> so I earn a small commission.</article></body>

5 Things You Can Do to Get Out of Your Head and Into Your Work- Today

Productivity Boosting, procrastination reducing tips to keep you on track.

You’re procrastinating again aren’t you? You’re only reading this because you’re trying to distract yourself from what you should be doing.

I know I’ve called you on it, but don’t get all grumpy and click off now, I think I might be able to help you. Allow yourself 5 minutes and read on. I’m going to share with you some tips to help you stay focused throughout the day.

Staying focused is hard

I get it, it’s really hard to stay focused on the task in hand. Even if you love what you do, it’s not easy to keep your head in it for long periods, without finding yourself getting up, your thoughts wondering, or your fingers finding your phone to check Facebook. How many cups of tea have you made today? …exactly.

We are wired to multitask

The world is a busy place. We are bombarded with constant intrusions, requests and disruptions. We are expected to stay focused, whilst answering phones, seeing emails ping up in the corner of the screen and whist battling the temptation of social media.

Even our thoughts are manic whirlwinds. We have so much to think about, consider and do, that we are constantly awash with agonising about the next thing we have to do, things we’ve forgotten to do and the constant slog of wondering what people think of us and what we’ve been doing (thanks again Facebook). This is life in 2021 and it’s exhausting.

Thanks to this way of life, we have become experts at multitasking. While this might sound like a good thing, it means our ability to concentrate has become sapped and we can flit from one thing to the next and back again, but maintaining focus is an issue.

How to stay focused

I better get to the tips part, in case I lose you to something else then, right? When productivity dips and we can’t seem to stay engaged in a task, use these simple techniques to bring you back.

1. Take a break

This might sound counter intuitive when you’re up against the clock but really, take a break, recharge and come back fresher and more engaged. I don't mean take a break to check social media or make your 15th cup of tea, I mean a real break, doing something that will recharge you ready to give the task in hand your best efforts.

Go for a walk, do some exercise, read a book, sit outside, put some music on and sing, call a friend. Literally anything that will get you into the headspace to get back on it. We tend to find it so hard to take a break, it feels like cheating. Tell me this though, is it better to work a 7 hour day at 35% capacity, or to take an hour out, meaning you feel refreshed and focused? You will easily make back that hour in terms of productivity.

2. Win with your time

When you’re not feeling productive, a full day ahead can be a killer for motivation. This leads to procrastination, often before we even start working. One way to do overcome this is by dividing your time into chunks. You can do this according to the tasks you need to complete, or by simply timing yourself for a set amount and then taking a break.

The former works great for organising your day. If you know what you need to be doing at each set point in the day, it helps to maintain focus. When the time is approaching to work on the next task, it acts as a natural motivator by making us speed up in order to complete the goal we’ve set.

The latter is also great because we know we have a set time to stay in the zone and then we can take five. I recommend a tomato timer or Pomodoro timer for this. I set it for 25 minutes, no excuses and then I can stop for a 5 minute break.

3. Reward yourself

If the reward of a break at the end of a segment isn’t enough, you can use other rewards or incentives. This requires some discipline. If you tell yourself you can have a bar of chocolate after 25 minutes of work, who is there to police it but you? You need to be fully on board with this technique for it to work.

You also need to make sure your rewards are not just chocolate. I’ve made that mistake many times. Too much chocolate isn’t great for productivity either. Mix it up with other things you enjoy. For years I’d bob about taking ages to do my work in the day, only to be left working at night to get things finished. It took me too long to realise that if I work hard in the day, the evenings are mine.

4. Move

Sitting for long periods of time isn’t good for us. We know this and we are told to move every 90 minutes. This is great advice, but what about going one step further? Don’t just get up and take your eyes off the screen, really move. When we slump physically, we reduce our capacity mentally too. Our minds and bodies are linked. If we are physically tired and running on empty, this effects us mentally too.

With this in mind, we can increase our capacity to work by increasing our physical energy. The best way to do this is through moving. Do something that gets your heart rate up. Put some music on and dance, do some star jumps, hype yourself up and shout out your motivations and goals for the day. This will put you in a peak physical state which will translate into a focused, energetic spell of productivity that beats a shot of coffee.

Moving in the day is so much more than stopping yourself getting stiff or helping your soar square eyes.

5. Big yourself up

One of the biggest culprits for stopping us reaching our goals is the little voice inside our head. You know it right? The one that tells you ‘Why bother? You’re not good enough’.

Listening to this is a killer for motivation and productivity and is the definition of being inside your head. If you want to get on with what you have planned, you need to ignore that little voice, or better still, answer it back and put it in its place.

So the voice says you can’t get this article written? You don’t have the knowledge or experience?

Rubbish!

Tell it where to go by coming back with some evidence that this isn’t true. When have you written an article you were really proud of? What was the result? Finding evidence to the contrary can work wonders at quietening this annoying voice.

To avoid even getting to the point where the voice allows you to doubt yourself, start your day with some positive thoughts and exercises to get you focused. Write down something you’re grateful for, something you’re good at, and what you want to achieve that day. Following that, say an affirmation about yourself out loud. This might be ‘I am fully aligned with my business and write with passion’ or ‘I have the skills to make it into a major publication’.

Obviously adapt this to something that feels right for you. This works for me but it is a personal thing so play with it and see how it plays out.

Take home

Procrastination happens to us all. We are only human after all, and we have been conditioned to expect and wait for distractions. Put your phone away and every time you feel yourself losing focus, apply one of the techniques above. I‘d love to know how you get on.

Join other like minded people who have re-imagined their career to mean more than money and status by signing up to my fast growing newsletter REDEFINING SUCCESS.

If you haven’t signed up to Medium yet, you can do so here.