Three evenings ago, my husband and I ordered a pizza to be
delivered from a local eatery. We were told the wait time from kitchen-to-door
would be about 45 minutes. A little over 75 minutes later, the driver arrives
with my husband waiting on the porch. As he approaches the vehicle, the young
man steps out of his driver’s-side door and opens the door to the backseat. In
a frenzied state, he turns around after looking inside his car, faces my
husband and asks, “Where’s the pizza?” My husband replies, “What do you mean?”
The driver, incredibly flustered now, says, “Where did the pizza go?” The
driver proceeds to look under the seat (really?) and then opens his trunk. He
says, “Man, I don’t know where the pizza went. What should I do?” Once again,
really? My husband responds, “I guess you may want to head back to the
restaurant and see if the pizza is still there.”
I realize mistakes happen. They happen to all of us. Yet,
when someone neglects to perform his/her core job responsibility, is that a
mistake or an error due to ineffective training? It’s neither. Instead, I
believe it’s an example of a huge mental traffic-jam.
So how do you regain mental focus and become productive
again? Are there strategies we can apply ourselves and also share with our
co-workers to help them? The answer is “yes” and if you want a high-performing
workplace culture, it’s important to apply these five practical prescriptions
to fine-tune your focus:
Rx #1: Reduce distractions. While it might be
as simple as unplugging from your favorite device for a bit, you might find it
much more challenging to deal with a colleague who frequently interrupts your
train-of-thought. One way to help mitigate this problem is to identify a
specific time and place where you can be distraction-free. Be sure to schedule
that time in your calendar and find a quiet spot to ensure you can maximize
your productivity during that time. Maybe it is only for 30 or 60 minutes per
week, but that sure beats never.
Rx #2: Focus on one thing at a time. Juggling
multiple tasks at once can dramatically cut down on productivity and it becomes
much harder to hone in on the details that are truly important...like
remembering to put the pizza in your car. Why? Because our attentional
resources are limited so it is important to budget them wisely.
Rx #3: Take a short
break. Have you ever tried to focus on the same thing for a long period of
time? After a while, your focus starts to break down and it becomes more difficult
to devote your mental resources to that specific task. By taking a brief break,
you are able to push pause on your
level of concentration, helping you to regain mental focus after you have allowed
your brain a rest.
Rx #4:
Avoid negative emotions. Negative emotions can represent an “off-switch” for peak
performance. If you work in an environment where emotions run high on occasion,
you likely wonder when the next outburst will ensue. Do your best to stay clear
from unnerving emotional situations and also steer away from letting your unwanted
emotions escalate. If you can’t avoid
negative emotions, do your best to control or minimize them as quickly as possible.
Rx #5: Maintain a consistent sleep schedule. Start by getting to bed and
getting up at the same time every day, including weekends. As tempting as it
may be, don't try to make up for a lack of sleep by staying in bed on the
weekends. Sleeping in won't make up for a sleep deficit. In fact, according to
a recent Harvard study, when you snooze extra hours to compensate for sleep
deprivation, your ability to focus is worse than if you had stayed up all
night.
Even though we never got to enjoy a delicious piece of pizza
pie that night, my husband and I did have a few laughs over the experience and I
did get a great story that I couldn’t wait to share with my readers. So the
next time you encounter a craving for thick-crust, consider averting a similar
outcome by tossing a few ingredients together yourself, staying focused on the
oven timer, while saving some dough in the process.
