The 7 bad habits that distract from work, how to eliminate them
The bad habits that, often, unconsciously, you have can lead to bad and incorrect management of your time, inevitably affecting your work productivity. How to change, to find the right concentration without being distracted by what is around you.
These bad habits that everyone has in their life can have a decisive influence for some, decisively on their professional performance, even going so far as to upset the way they work. In this period, where most workers have to live their profession completely through, for example, smart working, the ease of being distracted is very high.
Working from home, especially for those not used to doing it, comes with a significant disadvantage in concentration. In these cases, it is easy to be distracted to take half an hour-long break because – so much so is one at home.
Here, let’s find out, now, what these bad habits are and how they affect the operation of a worker!
Why are bad habits distracting from work?
One of the things that people underestimate when it comes to bad habits is the low importance given to moments of distraction. It is precisely when we let ourselves be carried away in idleness or in wrong ways of doing things that bad habits take over by acting slowly, creeping into people’s minds and daily thoughts. When, finally, you realize you are wasting precious time, it is always too late.
The list of jobs to be completed gets longer, and suddenly everything becomes complicated. The consequence? Personal and professional satisfaction collapses, creativity is blocked, and consequently, imprecision grows.
Having more control over these bad habits, in addition to increasing performance, also improves mood. And here, it becomes essential to recognize when certain harmless habits become bad advisers instead.
But what are, specifically, the bad habits that distract from work?
7 bad habits that distract from work
Surfing the Internet
One of the habits that cause workers to get distracted easily is surfing the internet when not needed. Everyone has fallen for it and many continue to do so.” I take a break then, I resume.” You already know the answer, right? That “then” is prolonged to excess with the consequence that precious hours and hours of work are lost.
Do you know why you shouldn’t surf the internet when you work? Well, to concentrate, a person needs 15 consecutive minutes to enter an activity fully. After these first 15 minutes, the mind moves into a state of euphoric productivity called flow.
When you get distracted to check social media, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or to read the latest news, productivity, the euphoric flow stops. And you have to go over the initial 15 minutes again.
So if you connect to the internet all the time, you may never enter the flow phase in the course of a day.
Business meetings distract from productivity
Maybe you can’t do without it, like all professionals who work for a company or otherwise have to “clash” with meetings and business meetings. But these are potentially bad habits that undermine worker concentration.
Super productive people avoid business meetings if they can. So, if you too fall into this category, like 99% of professionals, at the next meeting, point out that you can only stay if the scheduled points are respected; if not, leave as soon as you start wandering.
This way of acting, unconsciously, also pushes the other participants to stay focused and not waste time.
Reply to messages or emails
Another bad habit when at work is to reply to messages or emails regardless of importance continuously. This inevitably leads to a lowering of concentration, making you distracted from your work goals.
How to do it? In this case, the right solution is to diversify the various contacts through ringtones, selecting the ringtone for the important ones (for which you absolutely must answer immediately), from the less important ones such as friends, family, etc. you will respond later. By doing this, you will recognize by the ring whether or not it is worth distracting yourself from what you are doing.
Do not postpone the alarm, ever!
One reason that will make you distract yourself throughout your working day easier is to postpone the alarm.
It all starts here: when the alarm goes off in the morning, the mind is ready to activate, but the body still isn’t. If you postpone the alarm for another 10 minutes, this will not change things and, on the contrary, will drag you into a vortex of greater fatigue.
So, as soon as the wake rings, open your eyes, rub your palms together and place them over your eyes for a few seconds. This little exercise will automatically activate the nervous system and make you alert. Seeing is believing!
Start with the most complex work
When you start work in the morning, you choose to start with something easy, fast, and light, tending to put off the more complex work until later. This is a bad habit that, as you may have noticed, will not lead you to concrete results.
Even if it seems not to you, the mind is much more active in the morning because it is free from all chores, so always start with the most complicated, difficult work. Once the “complex work” is done, everything else will be a breeze.
The bad habit of checking your cell phone before going to bed
The habit of checking or distracting yourself by looking at your cell phone, tablet, or digital gadget before sleeping is wrong. Spending just 10 minutes in bed looking at your smartphone leads to restless sleep. Some scientific studies have shown it: the blue light of the screen of mobile phones or electronic devices disturbs relaxation, compromising the quality of sleep.
Moral? In the morning, you wake up tired. The work will inevitably suffer!
The bad habit of overeating sugar
When working, the mind needs fuel to be productive. A coffee break is healthy and must be done to reactivate the nervous system and promote concentration.
On the other hand, it is wrong to overeat while working with various sweets and crap. A poor diet based mainly on the intake (between meals) of complex sugars and fats harms, rather than strengthens, concentration.
So, yes to a healthy diet, preferring natural foods, dried fruit and lots of water. No to the abuse of chocolate and snacks. Only this way will you have the right concentration, a healthy mind, and an enviable line.
