• Home
  • About
  • Categories
    • DIY
    • Productivity and Organization
    • Lifestyle
    • Career
    • Other Stories
  • Blogroll
  • Press
  • Treasure Chest

Berlin and other stories

Concentration in a Busy Environment

14/06/2017 · 2 Comments

Concentration at work

Concentration at work 
 
 
As you know, in my day job I work at a PR agency. That in itself can be quite the hectic environment. Telephones ringing, people talking to journalists day in, day out and running around, trying to make deadlines. Additionally, the agency has grown quite a bit in the last 6 months. We are now up to almost 40 people, trying to fit into an open plan office that is honestly much too small to hold everyone comfortably. You can imagine how that can affect everybody’s concentration for the worse. 
 
Due to the situation, I had to find different ways to help me get into my zone and keep my productivity on fleek. In this post, I want to share some of these methods, to hopefully keep you concentrated as well. 
 

 

Clean your Desk

 
In all honesty, I have to admit that I am quite messy and scattered when it comes to my desk at the office. (To my co-workers reading this, trying to mend my ways guys. Promise!). However, whenever I have a hard time concentrating on a task, cleaning my desk is the first step I take. Here is why: 
 
The Princeton Neuroscience Institut has found that clutter can be a cause for distraction. According to the study, having various visual impulses within your field of vision will cause the impulses to compete against each other for the attention of your brain. This will lead to unnecessary distraction. Therefore, having a clean desk can help clear your mind and focus on the important tasks at hand. 
 

 

Organize + Prioritize

 
Often when I get distracted from work, I just have too much on my mind. I attempt to do three things at once and end up not accomplishing anything at all. To overcome this problem I try to get a structured mind, before jumping into a task. I do this with these two steps:
 
  • To Do List
    I dump out everything that I have to do, keep in mind and think about on a piece o paper. This clears up space in my head and gives my brain back some breathing room. Without having to constantly keep these To Do’s in the back of my mind, I can focus on the actual assignments. 
  • Order
    To make sure that deadlines are met and every task is finished when needed, it is now time to prioritize. The most time sensitive or crucial assignment should be your number one on that list. Following with the second important task and so on and so on. 
 

 

Limit Distractions

 
As mentioned in the beginning of the post, my work environment is temporarily pretty chaotic. That said, it is tough to always drown out every distraction completely. There are however a few things, that can be done so spike your concentration. Here is a list of examples: 
 
  • Turn your Skype on “Do not Disturb”
  • Switch your phone to silent. If you are not expecting an important phone call, you can call them back.
  • And now put it away. You don’t need to see the flashy light of an incoming notification. Your Instagram followers will survive a few hours without you. 
  • Turn off your e-mail notifications. That way all mail will still be coming in. You can then check and respond after you have finished your task.
 

 

Turn on the Music

 
The last step before jumping into the first assignment is to zone out from the rest of the world. For me, it sometimes even helps to just put on my headphones. Why? My co-workers will be under the impression that I am busy and therefore far less tempted to disturb me for meaningless chatter.  
 
If I really need to get into my headspace though, I put on a playlist. Usually, I turn to classical film tracks. To learn more about my favorite tracks for concentration and follow my work playlists, check out my post on “The best Playlists for every Girlboss”. 
 
 
I hope these tips can help you with your concentration to stay on top of your productivity. Let me know if you have any other techniques or tips for staying focused. Be it in a noisy office or at home in your workspace. I would love to hear about them!
 
xx
Nico
 
 

You might also love this

  • How to slay the home office gameHow to slay the home office game
  • Burning yourself out with productivityBurning yourself out with productivity
  • How to stay productive on a slow dayHow to stay productive on a slow day
  • 3 things for Friday to prepare for Monday morning3 things for Friday to prepare for Monday morning

Filed Under: Productivity and Organization Tagged: cleaning, concentration, distraction, focus, list, office, organizing, work

Comments

  1. Kim says

    15/06/2017 at 12:15 pm

    Thanks Nico for this Article. Concentration is a huge issue for me as well. I am the type of person who loves to abstract – the overloaded office doesn´t help even. I will try to remind your words when pinching myself. Enjoy your day!

    Reply
    • berlinandotherstories says

      15/06/2017 at 2:03 pm

      Thank you for your lovely comment, Kim. Hope you have a wonderful day and good luck with your concentration in the future 🙂

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.

I accept that my given data and my IP address is sent to a server in the USA only for the purpose of spam prevention through the Akismet program.More information on Akismet and GDPR.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Hello

Nico of Berlin and Other Stories

Welcome to Berlin and Other Stories. My name is Nico and I am so happy you stopped by. BAOS is a blog full of productivity and self-improvement tips and tricks for millennials. I hope you enjoy the content and find what you are looking for. If you have any questions or notes please join in on the conversation with a comment!
xx Nico

Never miss a post

Never miss a post

Or follow me on Bloglovin

Follow

Search

Social Media

  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter

Visit me on instagram

Copyright 2018 Berlin and Other Stories | All rights reserved

  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • Contact & Data Privacy

Theme Design By Studio Mommy · Copyright © 2021

Copyright © 2021 · Sophia Grey Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in