How often does this happen: You come with a freshly brewed coffee, motivated vibes, and a long to-do list to scratch for the day. And just an hour or two later, you find yourself drained, baffled by the lengthy emails, and pushed into conversations you never really wished to have in the first place. And just like that, all the motivation for the day flips, your to-do list slips into the bin, and you end up procrastinating things for the next day.
You are not alone
If you have ever found yourself in a similar situation or find this relatable, you are not alone. Businesses are struggling to cope with the losses that distractions cause. And the majority of these distractions don’t come from any external source; they surround us, and we give them undue attention. As per the analytics and insights, people are the biggest distractions. At one point, you might ignore emails, texts, or switch off your smartphone, but what about people?
Distractions mean a lack of focus
You get distracted when you lack focus, and this directly impacts your productivity. Something that can be done and dusted within an hour, but is stretched for hours, directly indicates that you are distracted. Lack of focus, poor productivity ultimately affect your performance at work, and also cause the business to suffer.
Now here comes the real question. How to overcome these distractions and enhance your productivity at work?
To understand this, you need to ask yourself a question. What is the purpose of my work? As a business owner or an entrepreneur, you might have hundreds of things going through your mind. However, the key difference lies in whether your work is merely productive or productive and effective. Being just productive means meeting societal work standards, but being productive and effective is where you bring a real difference to your business. Growth accompanies you when your work is effective and is directed to achieving a purpose. Without a purpose, your efforts are in vain because you are lost, you don’t know where your efforts are directed, and as a result, you get distracted by anything that comes your way.
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Find your purpose.
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Make result-oriented plans.
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Create a measurable outcome.
How to know what my purpose is?
Purpose is the vision or the goal that motivated you to start the business in the first place. It’s exactly what pushes you every morning to head for the office. Your goal could be to lead the industry or bring a positive change to society, or do a greater good for the elderly. Knowing the purpose is important, and what’s more important is sharing it with your employees.
Make a result-oriented plan
Create a plan. You must explore all the possible action plans, chart out the obstacles and risks each action plan can bring, and even seek help from a professional career coach. Take your time to make a result-oriented plan and work on executing it.
Create a measurable outcome
How to know which step of the ladder you are on? You must set a target and use the data to compare your progress. When you create measurable outcomes, you can learn how close you are to your goal.
So, when you have a purpose, an action plan to follow, and a measurable outcome to compare your progress with, you can minimize the possibilities of distractions. To prevent burnout and keep yourself focused, you can continually seek guidance and coaching from a professional career coach, Joanna Krzastek.