6 crazy ways to enhance the success of your business and get your brain thinking in a new way!
Nowadays with all the technology and smart phones we have at our fingertips, it can seem pretty daunting trying to finish a task from start to finish without being distracting at least once.
With new memes or videos of cats doing ridiculous tricks appearing on the internet every morning, it may seem almost impossible to stay focused on what we really need to get done.
Many businessmen consider these distractions to be somewhat of a plague that is greatlyaffecting the productivity and success of businesses all around the world.
It’s been estimated that any given company can lose up to 10 thousand dollars in profitssolely due to the fact that employees are too concerned with what’s the new and exciting thing on the internet versus what’s happening in their office.
As the owner of your business, you should bare in mind that having o constantly make sure that your employees are on task and staying focused, will slowly start to drive you insane.
Studies show that any given employee is distracted in some way, shape or form every 3 minutes and it will then take that employee another 23 minutes to get back on task.
May big name businesses like eBay, Intel, Amazon and Microsoft are now taking huge strides to try and decrease the daily distractions happening in their offices.
It’s more complicated than it seems to not only try to eliminate the amount of distractions, but also to train your brain so as to not distract itself.
Especially within the office environment, it can be difficult to stay on task and be sure that every phone call, email or noise that comes through does not damage the flow of work happening.
However, it’s important to keep in mind that in any given office, multitasking is also a huge part of being successful. You may find yourself on a conference call, checking information on the internet and taking notes at the same time, but don’t confuse yourself with multitasking and distracting.
In order to recognize some of the problems you may have with staying focused, ask yourself the following questions:
Many employers don’t know the real reasons why their workers are unable toconcentrate and do their work correctly.
EGA Futura, with more than 20 years of experience under our belt, are here to share with you 6 new techniques to reduce the amount of distractions and increase your concentration within the work place.
Whether you’re the owner, an independent worker or an employee, these tips will be useful in helping you to exercise your brain and enhance your productivity.
Making a list will help your brain to stay focused on what’s really important!
Nothing is easier than looking for something on the internet. Whether it’s checking the weather or searching for a good recipe, everything you need is right there if you just plug it into Google.
The only problem is that the minute you turn your attention (even if only for a second) to the internet, you’ve already distracted yourself.
With that said, make a list! We have a tendency of believing that if we don’t do something right when we think of it, we may forget about it. So, always having a piece of paper and pen ready with a list of everything you’d like to accomplish that day can be a huge help.
This way, when you find yourself working and suddenly remember that your wife asked you to check what was in the move theatre tonight, you can add it to your list and search the times and theatres later AFTER you’ve finished what you’ve already started.
By creating a list, you’re preventing yourself from checking the internet more frequently than need be. The real problem is that even turning to the internet for 2 seconds to check something small can lead to another 23 minutes of distraction.
But do keep in mind to use pen and paper. Staying away from the computer and phone is more important than you might believe.
It’s very common to want to start with the smallest and easiest tasks first, the only problem is that with each minute that goes by… so does your concentration.
Every activity, no matter how big or small, consumes that much more of your brain’s energy. An easy way to use your time more wisely is to change the order in which you complete your tasks.
When you arrive at the office each morning, start with the largest and most time consuming tasks first. This way, you can truly take advantage of your time and energy right when you walk through the door.
With a big cup of coffee in hand, start with the big tasks and work your way down to the smaller ones. Right when you arrive to the office is when your mind is the most relaxed and full of energy. Your mind and body are ready to start off the day right, so take advantage!
One of the easiest and most simple ways to exercise our brain capacity is by reading. Reading exercises the parts of your brain that are connected to your creativity and attention span.
Experts recommend reading for a minimum of 40 minutes per day in order to improve our creativity potential as well as our concentration.
Bare in mind that reading doesn’t just include novels. Reading can include articles, popular science articles, or newspaper reports. Reading, in this sense, means anything that is causing your brain to work a bit harder and think about certain ideas in a different light.
Although some of us tend to cut corners or skim instead of reading thoroughly, keep in mind that choosing not to read something just because it’s long is losing an opportunity togain knowledge that just may change your life.
Don’t be scared. It’s really not as complicated as it sounds. Pick up a book tonight before heading to bed and you’ll see just as easy it is to get into a new routine.
It’s always good to develop the habit of organizing your time between periods of high activity and zero activity. For example, try working hard for 45 minutes straight without any distractions and then reward yourself with 15 minutes to rest.
At first it may seem like 45 minutes is a lot (and especially for a person with a short attention span), but you can start little by little or even with smaller increments of time.
Try starting with just 5 minutes of working hard, without any distractions and disconnected from everything around you.
In those 5 minutes, advance as much as possible in your current work and then rest for 2 minutes. Taking baby steps in anything new is always a great approach.
Then you can try adding more time the following day. For example, try working in intervalsof 10 minutes and resting for 5. Just think… in only 9 days, you’ll be up to 45 minutes of working without any distractions!
Keep in mind that you can always change your routine. You can try working for a shorter period of time and resting for more… the most important part is that you train your brain to recognize when it’s time to work and when it’s time to rest.
Using email as a means of communication between employees has become a very common distraction throughout many big name companies. In fact, many businesses have nowprohibited using email to communicate with others in the same building.
The main problem that companies are finding is that employees are using emails to communicate with one another whether or not they have something truly important to say to the other.
Every time that we choose to check our in-box or even looking at our phones, we’re running the risk ofbeing distracted by one thing or another.
With that said, sending emails to another person who may only be a couple of feet away from you is rather unnecessary. It’s a much better idea to stand up, stretch your legs a bit and talk to that person face to face.
But what happens if you work in a large building and you could lose precious time by going to see that person yourself? Easy! Pick up the phone and call them. Either way, you’re keeping yourself closer to your work and object and further away from your potential distractions.
Just remember that while sending text messages or emails may seem like the easier option, you’re taking a very big risk, so weigh your options wisely!
Listening is one of the many fundamentals in succeeding in any given business.
The quality of your work depends highly on how willing you are and how good you are at listening to others.
It’s been found that the average person only remembers between 25% and 50% of what they hear in a conversation. Which is to say that after we finish a conversation with another, whether it be our client, boos or co-worker, we will only walk away with a quarter of the information that was shared with us.
Believe it or not, there is actually a technique called “Active Listening”. When we are actively listening to another person it means that we not only try harder to hear what they’re telling us, but we try harder to fully comprehend the idea behind what they are trying to communicate with us.
In order to be successful using this technique, however, you must focus on a few key things. First, you must ignore all of the other many distractions that you have surrounding you. Next, you need to forget what it is that you want to tell the other person once they’ve finished and you, no matter the topic, do not let yourself get bored!
It can be a bit complicated at first, but try to truly concentrate on what the other person is saying.
Try repeating in your head some of the words that the other person is saying to you. Doing this may help you to exercise or stretch your attention span and ultimately, better understand the message being sent in the conversation.
Just like the results that you will see in your body physically after exercising everyday, these tips and tricks will do the same for your brain.
Start by making small changes and overtime, you will see how your productivity in and outside of the office will soar.
When you can reduce the amount of distractions in the office, you will find the conditions necessary for you to accomplish your work more professionally as well as moreproductively.
