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Feeling dead tired at work is the worst. And although you probably try to cope the best you can (i.e., by mainlining gallons of coffee), sometimes it can feel next-to-impossible to shake your fatigue.<\/p>\n
Which isn\u2019t surprising since research shows that sleep deprivation actually disrupts communication between the brain cells<\/a>–causing them to respond slower and fire less strongly. In layman\u2019s terms, we call that brain fog.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, brain fog means we experience lower levels of alertness and concentration. Worse, because we find it harder to stay focused, we struggle to perform complex tasks or those that require logical reasoning.<\/p>\n Although there isn\u2019t a quick fix for fatigue, there are things you can do that\u2019ll improve your concentration.<\/p>\n For starters, it\u2019s a good idea to get some exercise in. While you don\u2019t have to kill it at the gym for an hour, a brisk 5-10 minute walk in the fresh air can be invigorating.<\/p>\n More importantly, it will get your blood pumping, while increasing the levels of cortisol, epinephrine, and norepinephrine in your body. Since these hormones help elevate energy levels, a walk can be especially useful for overcoming fatigue.<\/p>\n Another great tactic for regaining your focus is to take a 20-minute power nap. Admittedly, that may be easier for remote workers, but if you can sneak away during your lunch hour to take a quick nap in your car, go for it. Just 20 minutes of zzz\u2019s can do wonders for your concentration.<\/p>\n In fact, according to one study<\/a>, naps are more effective than caffeine for improving verbal memory, procedural motor skills, and perceptual learning.<\/p>\n And speaking of that caffeine, you\u2019d be well-advised to take it easy, because Medical News Today reports<\/a> that contrary to popular belief, caffeine can sometimes cause tiredness.<\/p>\n Instead, reach for a glass of water. The vast majority of Americans (75%) are chronically dehydrated. Worse, dehydration can have a huge impact on concentration.<\/p>\n Finally, if you regularly feel tired, it\u2019s time to reevaluate your sleep schedule–and perhaps even start going to bed earlier at night. According to the Sleep Foundation<\/a>, healthy adults need 7-9 hours of sleep a night.<\/p>\n Getting less than that can not only impair your concentration, but it can also worsen your mood, weaken your immune system, and increase your risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, and diabetes.<\/p>\n Sometimes a task can seem so complex that you don\u2019t even know where to get started, leaving you overwhelmed. And because you\u2019re overwhelmed, you start stressing out–which is incredibly detrimental to concentration.<\/p>\n After all, think about it. How easily can you concentrate when you\u2019re having racing thoughts about how you can\u2019t figure out what to do, have no clue where to begin, and your career is probably toast if you don\u2019t somehow start magically producing?<\/p>\n Because your mind is focused on your worry–rather than the task at hand–your concentration is shot.<\/p>\n Fortunately, the Swiss Cheese method is a great technique for regaining your focus when you\u2019re feeling overwhelmed.<\/p>\n To use it, you\u2019ll want to begin by taking a deep breath and spending a couple minutes thinking positively about the task you\u2019re struggling with, for instance by imagining how great you\u2019ll feel once you\u2019ve completed it.<\/p>\n Then, from that improved perspective, spend a few minutes thinking about a list of short tasks you can do to complete the larger one. You may need to break a few bigger tasks into smaller action items to come up with your list.<\/p>\n Once you\u2019ve created your list, take a piece of paper and draw circles on it, putting each small task into a circle. Then, start on the task that most appeals to you. Once you\u2019ve completed it, darken the circle to indicate the task is done before moving on to your next most appealing task.<\/p>\n The Swiss Cheese method works so well, because it makes complex tasks seem far less intimidating. Even better, once you begin to \u201cpoke more holes in the Swiss cheese\u201d i.e., darken the circles, you\u2019ll gain momentum which\u2019ll make it that much easier to complete the task at hand.<\/p>\n Sometimes we\u2019re attempting to do several things at once–for instance, like talking on the phone while responding to an email. Mind you, with 20 browser tabs, five documents, and two email clients open, as music plays in the background.<\/p>\n While this may seem like a timesaver, the research is clear–only a scant 2.5% of people can multitask well<\/a>. For the rest of us, our brains are unfortunately, only set up to perform one task at a time.<\/p>\n In fact, one study found<\/a> that it takes us 25 minutes on average to fully return to a task after having been interrupted. With multitasking, we\u2019re constantly dividing our attention between multiple tasks–and typically doing neither of them well.<\/p>\n As a result, the work we\u2019re doing is more prone to errors. And as bad as that is, the news gets worse, because most people multitask to save time–yet by trying to do several tasks at once, it can take us longer to complete our work than had we just single-mindedly focused on one task, before tackling the next one.<\/p>\n Fortunately, there\u2019s one time management technique that people swear by to maintain focus on a single task. It\u2019s called the Pomodoro Technique<\/a>, and it was invented by university student, Francesco Cirillo, in the late 1980s.<\/p>\n At the time, he realized that by working in short, timed sprints, he could more easily maintain his focus. And after experiencing success with the method, he went on to write a book about it.<\/a> Since then, the Pomodoro Technique has become wildly popular.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s how the Pomodoro Technique works:<\/p>\n Because you\u2019re trying to make as much progress as you can over the course of 25 minutes, the Pomodoro Technique makes it easy to remain hyperfocused on your work–rather than squandering your time on seemingly small distractions that can add up over the course of a day.<\/p>\n Sometimes we simply loathe what we\u2019re working on–and will do virtually anything else to avoid tackling it. So, rather than sitting down and preparing the dreaded monthly sales report for the management team, instead we surf the Internet, text our friends, visit with coworkers, and so on.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, the problem with procrastination is that while it may alleviate our negative emotions in the short-term, those feelings will return every time we go to work on that task–along with greater stress and anxiety, as well as feelings of low self-esteem and self-blame.<\/p>\n Worse, if you make a habit of procrastinating, it can have a detrimental effect on your mental and physical wellbeing. So much so that chronic procrastinators have been shown to experience general psychological distress and low life satisfaction–along with symptoms of depression and anxiety.<\/p>\n They\u2019re also more likely to experience headaches, insomnia, digestive issues, colds, and even heart disease!<\/p>\n One of the best ways to overcome procrastination is the Eat the Frog Method, which was coined by Productivity Consultant Brian Tracy, who was inspired by advice attributed to Mark Twain \u2026<\/p>\n \u201cIf it\u2019s your job to eat a frog, it\u2019s best to do it first thing in the morning. And if it\u2019s your job to eat two frogs, it\u2019s best to eat the biggest one first.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n The general philosophy being that by eating the frog first thing in the morning, you have the satisfaction of knowing that it\u2019s probably the worst thing that\u2019ll happen to you all day long.<\/p>\n In the case of work productivity, your \u201cfrog\u201d is your biggest, most important task–the one you\u2019re most likely to procrastinate on. And if you have two \u201cfrogs,\u201d you\u2019ll want to tackle the biggest, ugliest one first i.e. right at the beginning of your workday.<\/p>\n The reason this method is so successful is because as todoist puts it<\/a>, not all work hours are created equal. By tackling your most important task early in the AM when your energy and willpower is at its peak, you\u2019ll have the mental energy and focus to complete it.<\/p>\n By contrast, if you tell yourself you\u2019ll get to it at some nebulous time in the future, it\u2019s easy to continually put the task off–increasing the likelihood you\u2019ll be forced to tackle it when your willpower and focus is depleted.<\/p>\n It can be really hard to focus at work when time management isn\u2019t your strong suit \u2026 which may be the case if you\u2019re prone to starting sentences with, \u201cOh, let me just check my email\/respond to a text\/scroll my Facebook feed\/call my chiropractor real quick. Then, I\u2019ll get started on my work.\u201d<\/p>\n This \u201cjust one more thing\u201d phenomenon typically occurs when you feel like you have tons of time to get your work done \u2026 only to later discover that the day went by faster than you expected, and you didn\u2019t accomplish half of what you set out to do.<\/p>\n If you suffer from poor time management skills, a not-to-do list may just be your new best friend. Unlike the more traditional to-do list, a not-to-do list is a list of tasks and behaviors that you absolutely will not do–instead, either deleting, outsourcing, delegating, or saying no to them.<\/p>\n By eliminating these draining activities, you can stay more focused–subsequently spending the bulk of your working hours on real stuff that actually moves the needle.<\/p>\n So, how do you decide what goes onto your not-to-do list? Strategy and Operations Consultant Blaz Kos recommends that you include the following types of items on your not-to-do list<\/a>:<\/p>\n By creating a list of these time-wasters, then avoiding these activities during your workday, not only will you manage your time better, but you\u2019ll also find it way easier to remain focused and productive at work.<\/p>\n It can be especially challenging to focus at work when you\u2019re distracted by noisy chatter, which is often the case if you work in a cubicle or have an open office plan–and are subject to overhearing your coworkers\u2019 conversations.<\/p>\n Worse, these types of working environments practically invite team members to drop by and gab, since your door\u2019s \u201calways open.\u201d<\/p>\n For these reasons, 1 in 3 workers feel distractions from open work spaces hinder their productivity<\/a>, and 1 in 6 believe that open work spaces have a negative impact on their creativity.<\/p>\n Furthermore, studies examining the effects of office noise determined that irrelevant background speech increases the likelihood of errors by as much as 4%-45%<\/a>, depending on the type of task.<\/p>\n Noise-cancelling headphones are a great solution when you\u2019re struggling with work distractions. Even better, you don\u2019t have to listen to music for headphones to be effective–once coworkers see you with them on, they\u2019ll probably assume you\u2019re not to be bothered.<\/p>\n However, if you do choose to listen to music, be aware that not just any type will improve your focus. For instance, research shows that music with a fast beat or song lyrics is actually distracting<\/a>.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why if you want to dramatically improve your concentration and productivity, Entrepreneur suggests that you choose one of the following types of music<\/a>:<\/p>\n It\u2019s logical to assume that when you have a ton on your plate, you\u2019d be more focused, right? Well, not exactly. Instead, because your brain has more data to process, your focus takes a hit–decreasing your productivity.<\/p>\n Fortunately, it\u2019s usually pretty obvious when you\u2019re overworked and having trouble concentrating–for instance, when you have a ton on your to-do list but rather than working on it, you\u2019re surfing the Internet.<\/p>\nSo, How Can You Regain Your Focus?<\/h3>\n
<\/span>Reason #2 – You\u2019re Feeling Overwhelmed<\/span><\/h2>\n
So, How Can You Regain Your Focus?<\/h3>\n
<\/span>Reason #3 – You\u2019re Trying to Multitask<\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"Trying](\"https:\/\/www.teamly.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/reason-2.png\")
<\/p>\nSo, How Can You Regain Your Focus?<\/h3>\n
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<\/span>Reason #4 – You Hate What You\u2019re Doing<\/span><\/h2>\n
So, How Can You Regain Your Focus?<\/h3>\n
<\/span>Reason #5 – Your Time Management Skills Aren\u2019t Very Good<\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"Time](\"https:\/\/www.teamly.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/reason-4.png\")
<\/p>\nSo, How Can You Regain Your Focus?<\/h3>\n
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<\/span>Reason #6 – You\u2019re Distracted by Noise<\/span><\/h2>\n
So, How Can You Regain Your Focus?<\/h3>\n
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<\/span>Reason #7 – You\u2019re Overworked<\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"Overworked\"](\"https:\/\/www.teamly.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/reason-5.png\")
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![\"To-do](\"https:\/\/www.teamly.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/reason-6.png\")
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