Maintaining Focus and Productivity

As the year wraps up, it can feel difficult to stay focused and keep on top of tasks and projects. Most will think of overworking to ensure that everything is complete before heading home for the holidays, but this is often not the best solution.

Here are some simple but effective ways to increase productivity and focus in a busy work period:

Break down large projects and tasks

A mountain of work can seem daunting, but breaking it up into smaller sections and tasks can help make it more manageable. Seeing a physical list of everything you need to do can motivate you to complete it. Organise your tasks in order of importance and set aside smaller, less urgent tasks for later in the day.

Remove distractions

Can’t stop looking at your phone? Turn it off and put it away from sight. If your office is too noisy, you could put on soundproof headphones and play some soothing music to help you concentrate. Close your email inbox and only keep essential tabs open in your web browser. Distractions can break your focus and should be kept to a minimum.

Don’t spend too long on emails

A useful approach to this is to skim-read the emails in the inbox, work out the urgency and importance of each email, and estimate the time it will take to deal with the emails. If enquiries are straightforward and can be completed effortlessly within a few minutes, reply to these first. Next, you can approach the remaining emails. These will take more time and effort to complete and should be organised in order of priority.

Don’t try to ‘multitask’

Flipping between tasks and activities quickly, reducing our focus and breaking our concentration in the process. Putting all your effort and concentration into one task is more beneficial than splitting your attention between three unrelated tasks.

Ask for help

When there is too much work on your plate, it’s ok to ask others for help. Being able to delegate low-priority tasks to colleagues will help you focus your time on urgent or high-priority work. Having someone else look at your work with fresh eyes can help you view your task from a different angle, spotting areas of improvement and leading to progress.

If you are interested in learning more, the Development Zone has a range of courses related to topics we have touched on in this article, including:

If you are new to the Aviva Development Zone, we offer a 14-day free trial where you can try every feature and every course! Click here to find out more: https://mydevelopment.zone/

About the author

Regine joined RWA between 2021-2023 having graduated from Loughborough University with a 2:1 in Graphic Communication and Illustration. As a Digital Content Assistant, Regine used their graphic design and illustration experience to create engaging e-learning modules. 

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