Concentrate…part 5

In this final article on ways to improve your concentration, we look at a mixed bag of tips and techniques that might help you.

• Prioritise – having too much to do can be distracting, and this often leads to procrastination. Do you jump quickly from task to task, creating an illusion of work but in reality, not achieving much? Try starting your day (or ending the day before) with 10 or 15 minutes to prioritise your to-do list. There are many articles you can read on ways of overcoming procrastination – see if you can find one that suits you.
• Take on your hardest tasks when you are most alert and fresh – this will help you maximise your concentration. For most of us this will be first thing in the morning but everyone is different and you will know what time of day you are at your best, so use it wisely.
• If you have a headset for your phone, consider using it for a few hours each day. If colleagues think that you are on the phone, they will be less likely to interrupt you.
• Promise yourself a reward – this can be great if you work alone or for yourself and don’t have the support of a team to help keep you motivated. For example, I promise myself a trip to the local florist which is also a great coffee shop. Small self-rewards can be great motivators.
• Turn off email notifications or better still have email down-time. It can be very distracting to have emails pinging into your inbox every few minutes – you’re tempted to stop what you’re doing and answer them. In Outlook to turn off the email notification, select File > Options > Mail and under the Message arrival banner un-check the “Play a sound” option. Better yet, turn off your email altogether and jot your notes into Word and copy and paste them into Outlook when you are online next.

Many of the suggestions covered in this five-part series on improving concentration and focus may be obvious and some you probably already know. But when you are absorbed in problems and trying to get focussed, it can be all too easy not to consider what you already know, so hopefully these reminders will be useful. If you just try one or two of the techniques you might find you get enough of a boost to your concentration to try more!

Concentrate…part 4

This week we will consider your mindset and how it affects your productivity and ability to concentrate on what you have to do. Most of us have so much on our minds it is easy to be distracted from what we should be doing. Try some of these techniques:

• Set aside time to deal with worries – if you are constantly worrying about other things, you won’t be able to focus on the task in hand. Maybe you have an approaching deadline for a project you haven’t started, a new colleague causing problems, or just too much work on your plate. If you find yourself distracted by worries, note them down (for example, in Evernote) so that you can let them go, then schedule time to deal with them properly.
• Focus on finishing one task at a time – 15 to 30 seconds can be all it takes to answer an email, send a text or take a quick phone call, but it disrupts your focus. Some researchers say it can take up to 15 minutes to regain complete focus after even the smallest disruption.
• Limit distractions – close your email and any chat programs, put your mobile phone on flight mode and let your voice mail do its job. If your office allows it, close your door or put up a “Do Not Disturb” sign to let colleagues know you need to focus. If you’re a manager and you want to operate an open door policy, then consider working from home or in another room. If you work from home, set boundaries with family and friends to set aside particular time slots for undisturbed work.
• Switch between high- and low-attention tasks – this can give your brain a rest after heavy concentration. For instance, if you spend two hours working on your budget, you’ll probably feel tired afterward. Recharge your energy by working on a low-attention task, like filing, for 15 minutes before going back to your budget.

Concentrate…part 3

This week’s article continues our theme of concentration and looks at some of the physical techniques you can use to keep your concentration.

• Get up and move around. If you are like many people, you probably don’t move around enough. Research shows that regularly walking around and stretching helps increase your focus. Depending on your type of work you might find it better to take mini-breaks regularly, for example, 5 minutes every half-hour, or to take breaks between tasks or different activities. For example, I leave my mobile phone on the staircase, so if it rings I have to get up to answer it.
• Breathe. It might sound obvious but most of us do not breathe properly or deeply enough. Make sure your posture is right to allow you to breathe fully. If you can’t do it constantly, then at least make sure when you take your moving around breaks above, you practice some deep breathing. Proper breathing is the key to making sure your brain gets the oxygen it needs to work properly. To help get breath into my lungs (especially when I have spent a lot of time at the computer) I stand with my back against a wall, stretch my hands above my head (keeping my arms against the wall) and breathe. Take 5 deep breaths and I’m sure you will feel a lot better.
• Start your day or take a break at lunchtime, with some exercise. Take a yoga class, go for a swim, run, cycle, walk, or use one of the many exercise apps available. Exercise produces adrenaline and other beneficial chemicals in your body, all of which will help you work and focus more effectively.

Concentrate…part 2

This week we continue to look at ways to improve your concentration. Here are some nutritional tips to keep you energised so that you can focus on what you have to do.

• Drink water! It seems self-evident and everyone says it, but many of us get busy and simply forget. Dehydration can make you feel tired, irritable, slow, or even sick. When your brain doesn’t have enough fluid, it can’t operate at peak performance. So keep a water bottle or jug with you and drink regularly. Try adding a slice of lemon to give it a bit more flavour.
• Eat breakfast – starting your day with a healthy breakfast can help you concentrate throughout the morning. Your mind wanders too easily if you are hungry.
• Have healthy energy-boosting snacks available. Keep snacks at your desk to give yourself a quick energy boost when you feel yourself flagging – almonds, whole-grain crackers, fresh fruit and vegetables are all good choices (unfortunately chocolate is not – enjoyable though it may be!).
• Eat something light but nutritious for lunch – a big, heavy lunch will slow you down, and many people find high gluten foods (like bread and pasta) make them sleepy in the afternoon. Keep your lunch light and healthy and you’ll feel more energised through the afternoon.

Concentrate…

Over the next few weeks we will look at ways to improve your concentration. These are tips collated from a variety of sources, but I hope that putting one or more of these into practice will help you to focus – on whatever you are trying to do.

How many times have you sat at your desk and tried to focus on a task, only to find your mind wandering? Despite your best intentions, you get distracted and just can’t concentrate. We’ve all been in this familiar, frustrating situation, and it can really undermine your performance.

This first article in our series will look at environmental factors that can help you concentrate.

The more comfortable and welcoming your environment is, the easier it is likely to be for you to stay there and focus. Here are some ideas for improving your physical environment:

• Be comfortable – adjust your chair and desk to the right height for you to work comfortably. There are plenty of websites that will help you set up your equipment correctly and give you ideas for effective ways to layout your work area.
• Add some pictures – looking at a natural scene or wildlife can help improve concentration, and can also give your eyes a break from the computer screen (we’ve mentioned before some of the eye exercise apps you can use to help your eyes stay healthy).
• Shut out distractions as much as possible – listening to music can help, especially if it’s instrumental music. Some people find white noise machines useful – this steady background noise can drown out other noise, helping you focus better and ignore distractions.
• Maintain air flow – if you have a window open it for some fresh air. If not have a pot plant on your desk to help purify the air a little.

Don’t SPAM me!

Sometimes in the interests of marketing ourselves or our business, we get caught up in connecting with as many people as possible.

Once someone is on our contact list it can be easy to keep sending emails, SMS, or IM to try to get them on board as clients.  But you do need to think about what permission you got from them to contact them in the first place, and there are also rules around ongoing communications.

The Australian SPAM Act was passed in 2003 and that’s a relatively long time ago, so it is not necessarily front of mind.  Under the Act you are required to include an opt-out method with every communication.

Whether you’re continuing your existing marketing communications plan or putting new strategies in place it is worth refreshing your memory and checking that you are complying properly.

Check out the ACMA website http://www.acma.gov.au/Industry/Marketers/Anti-Spam for clear information on what you can and can’t do.

Keeping track of everything

I used to think I had a great memory and didn’t need to write things down. But I came to realise that there is always so much happening it pays to keep track of ideas, agreements, etc, especially when you are running a business.

I’ve always been a fan of keeping a notepad in my handbag. But now I use Evernote. Why Evernote? Well, it helps me keep track of everything and it works on any and all of my devices (my iPad, android phone, the laptop and my desktop computer).

Evernote lets me take notes (both written and audio), make to do lists, clip and save items from the web, share and discuss ideas and more. I can set up as many folders as I wish to store my information (although I do recommend keeping the number of folders as low as possible). When I’m finished taking notes on one device it shares the information between all my nominated devices. And the best feature is, it is fully searchable.

I use it, for example, in client meetings to take note of important issues or agreements, and even more importantly, while I’m working on something, if a random idea drops into my head I have a safe place to record it.

Evernote was enormously helpful while writing my book, Technology Made Simple, as I could add points to my “book” folder at any time, from whatever device I had at hand, and could easily reference and incorporate them later.

If you’re not convinced how useful this app can be, why not try the free version? I almost guarantee you’ll soon upgrade to the paid version (which is reasonably priced), which has the added benefit of being available offline when you haven’t got internet access and has loads of storage space.

How to save when shopping online

We’re all looking at ways to save money and time. Shopping online is sometimes a more cost effective option based on price alone. Once you start adding in the cost of getting to the store, your time looking around, going to other stores to compare, talking to sales assistants and so forth, then buying online, even if the price isn’t cheaper, starts to look very attractive. Online shopping is particularly useful too for items you want to get from overseas that may not be available in Australia.

But are we really getting the best deal? Zurich recently published an article listing five ways to save when shopping online:

1. Find the best day for the product type you’re buying (a bit like buying petrol on Tuesdays)
2. Search for online discount coupons
3. Use a VPN or switch to private browsing so your location doesn’t affect the price you are quoted
4. Leave things in the shopping cart for a while to see if a special offer comes through to “tempt” you to finalise your purchase
5. Use third party postal services for items from countries that won’t ship directly to Australia.

If you don’t already shop online maybe you can start using some of these tips. You can read the full article here. Happy shopping and saving!