Alveena Ahmad
There is not even a single aspect of human life that has not been influenced by technology. Our work has been transformed and our lives have become more convenient. Now we can perceive the world’s information in more detail in no time. Technology in a sense has made us smarter and quicker in our ways of work.
Productivity has increased with more technical advancements at our disposal now but so has the work pressure. While we are snowed under our work, we stay connected to our social media accounts or keep on checking our WhatsApp time and time again.
The biggest Time Killers:
At workplaces, people waste a lot of time on Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, Pinterest, and other social media apps
According to research, 95% of employees get distracted during the workday. Another survey was conducted by OfficeTime.net, which accounted for more than 17,000 freelancers’ small business owners, and professionals. They questioned these people about the activities that resulted in a distraction from their work during their working hours. The results were pretty surprising,
45 % of the respondents spend most of their time dealing with their inboxes, reading, and replying to their daily emails.
43% of the workers regarded social media as their biggest time consumers.
And 34% of people waste their time just following the latest news coverage.
According to Stephen Dodd, founder of the OfficeTime.net and CEO of Productive Monkey, email checking is the biggest time-wasting activity for people during work. It is a huge distraction to a person’s mind and people do not realize how easily they let go of their precious time that otherwise could become productive for their future.
He stated that people must not check their emails at work, if they need to send replies urgently then make the replies straight but polite. Unsubscribe from all the unimportant sites and use the time to stay focused on your work.
Chasing distractions:
Distractions do not come on their own; we allow these distractions to take control of our attention and resources. Many workers use their most productive hours of the day chasing after social media notifications or email replies. They lose energy while performing such unproductive activities. Getting attracted to breaking news breaks our focus at breakneck speed.
For professionals and researchers, this has become a huge concern because the productivity of workers is getting wasted with unreliably easy time distractors. But the reason is that workers easily fall prey to these time distractors because they love to spend their time in fun activities. They enjoy staying connected to social media, checking emails, and responding to their phone messages because they find it interesting. They always seek refuge from the work they should be doing.
Go back to old-fashioned methods: Stop procrastinating
Attention-stealing stress can be overcome if we start running our lives the old-fashioned ways. Sticking to healthy habits like getting proper sleep and eating healthy food can help to stay better focused during work. Procrastinating work can turn into an extremely damaging practice; you can end up in life with nothing in your hands for the future. It is our responsibility to be attentive to the preferences in our lives and to keep track of our goals to achieve.
There are tools available online such as “Cold Turkey” and “SelfControl” that help you block distracting websites for the working hours of your day. But the biggest distraction blocker is fixed in your brain, if you decide not to pay attention to things that are not important more than your work, nothing can disturb you ever.
“You have to be so disciplined that even your distractions become focused”. Onyi Anyado
