職場勵志：十八種方法讓你集中精力工作

在過去的幾年中我在許多場所工作過。有一個項目甚至八十個人同時坐在一個開放的場所上班。在這種環境下工作就很難集中注意力。儘管現在我所在的項目已經比較小了，但是仍然有很多事情讓你在工作的時候分心。那麼有什麼方法可以讓我們把干擾和注意力分散最小化麼?

以下是18種讓我工作的時候集中精力的方法：

1 寫下每天的任務以計劃你的一天 沒有什麼比一張放在旁邊的任務單更讓你集中注意力了。當你寫下當天需要完成的事項後，把它放在你的旁邊可以不斷提醒你要集中注意力。

2 分配出同事可以打擾你的時間 在一個忙碌的工作場所，大家不斷的走動和談論。如果你的工作角色要求其他成員和你交流，試着分配一個時間段可以讓大家和你交流。讓他們知道一天中的某個時間，比如下午兩點到四點你可以被打擾，而不是每十分鐘就被打擾。這樣，在其他的時間，你就可以真正的做一些工作了。

3 使用時間表 在前面的一篇文章，我寫了關於使用時間表的好處。在有限的時間段內完成一件事，比如30分鐘，而不是做一件事直到完成。如果時間到了，工作可能已經完成。如果沒有完成，再分配其他時間段，可能過幾天再繼續做。這樣就可以保持工作的新鮮感，而不會因爲老做一件事而疲憊。

4 設置郵件過濾 如果你在計算機面前花費大量的時間在計劃和聯繫上，你可能要頻繁的處理電子郵件。設置你的電子郵件客戶端可以區分什麼是重要的，什麼是可以等待的。這樣你就只需要處理根據項目、優先級和內容分類的文件夾而不是成百上千的未讀郵件。

5 不要在早上檢查私人郵件 在早上檢查私人郵件是很讓人分心的事，即使你設置了郵件過濾。特別是當你的朋友發給你有意思的文章、笑話或者Youtube上面的視頻鏈接。如果你不小心，你可能就一下子陷進去幾小時。當你開機就開始工作而不檢查私人郵件。要在完成一些任務或者已經開始進入工作狀態後檢查私人郵件。如果你不想被分心，等到工作完後再回復。

6 設置即時通訊軟件的狀態 如果你有使用即時通訊軟件而不想被打擾，可以把它設置成離線或者正在工作的狀態，這樣你的朋友或者同事就會改成給你發郵件或者在你不忙的時候找你。

7 聽合適的音樂 音樂是一種很好的讓你進入工作狀態的辦法。另外，聽音樂可以讓你不受打印機和聊天聲音的干擾。但是要注意，根據個人的不同，有的音樂是不適合在工作的時候聽的。對我來說，工作的時候如果聽有很多歌詞的音樂就會打斷我的思維。

8 使用耳機但是關掉音樂 有些人喜歡在工作的時候是完全安靜的。我想這也是根據工作類型決定的。如果你做一些嚴密的計劃或計算工作，在耳邊放音樂也許就不能讓你集中注意力。這時你可以戴上沒有放音樂的耳機以屏蔽外界的噪音。

9 把你的水瓶裝滿水 不管出於什麼理由，足夠的水對你的健康都很重要。在一天開始的時候就往水瓶裝滿足夠的水而不是每一小時就去裝一次水。這樣你就不需要每次排隊等打水，也不會和打水的人聊起來。

10 找一個最適合做重複和無聊工作的時間 不管你怎麼逃避，你都要面對一些無聊或者重複的事情。對於這些事，我發現最好在一天的某些時候來做。比如，在一天開始的時候我就不會做這些事，我會做一些比較需要動腦筋的工作。我經常把重複工作放在一天結束的時候比較累的時候來做。

11 帶你的.午飯到辦公桌 我不建議你每天都這麼做，但如果你這得需要集中注意力並且在一個最後的期限前完成任務，在辦公桌上吃午飯很有幫助。我發現當我在辦公桌上吃午飯的時候，我的午休時間就會更短，也可以在吃飯的時候檢查幾封郵件。當我吃完後我又可以直接回去工作。

12 不要長時間打私人電話 大部分人都能分清工作和生活(或者說嘗試着分清)。我們都希望在我們的私人時間不要受工作的影響。反之也成立。試着限制在工作時候做私人事情的時間，不然這樣會分散你的注意力和工作的動力。你肯定不希望在需要完成一件重要的事的時候還想着週末和老婆出去玩的事。

13 清理你的桌面 你的桌面也許只能用混亂來形容。 如果你不需要花太多時間就能夠找到你需要的東西的話，這也不算是一件壞事。但是，如果你不能夠迅速找到你要的東西，我建議你清理一下你的桌面。這並不是說要讓這張桌子什麼東西都沒有，而是指如果你需要一件東西的時候，你能夠隨手就拿到。比如，當你需要一個地方寫字的時候，讓筆和紙放在一個你很容易就拿到的地方，這很有幫助。

14 找一張好的椅子 如果你在桌子旁坐上幾個小時(我相信你需要這樣)，你就會發現有一張好椅子是多麼的有幫助。我發現當因爲桌椅不合適導致我的頸和背部很酸的時候要集中精力是一件很難的事。一張好的椅子就能夠避免這種問題，它可以讓你在長時間工作的時候不會因爲身體上的不舒服被打斷。

15 在桌面上使用快捷方式 如果你發現用你的一天用計算機做同一件事多於一次的時候，你會發現這樣做可以少很多重複工作。如果你發現一個項目的文件夾你需要不斷的進入的時候，試着增加一個快捷方式，這樣你就可以一下子就點擊進去而不需要一個接着一個的打開文件夾。

16 關閉不需要的程序 作爲一個軟件工程師，我使用一些對工作很重要的程序。但是在很多情況下，我只需要同時打開很少的幾個程序。只打開你需要的程序，不要老是按 Alt-Tab不斷切換讓計算機尋找你要的程序。把沒用的程序關閉。例如，如果你已經打開一個文件，不再需要查找工具了，你就可以把它關閉。因爲已經沒有理由把它開着了。

17 限制在Digg, Delicious, 新聞網站和blog上面的時間 我覺得這方面不需要說太多。要知道網上有多少的站點。Digg, Delicious,新聞站點和blogs從互聯網方面來講是好的，但他們會讓你在需要工作的時候分心。試着在工作時間的時候限制上這些站點的時間。如果你真的想上，在午休的時候上。不要每過幾分鐘想上網的時候就移動你的拇指。

18 改變你的觀念，讓工作變得有意思 對我來說，做一件自己不喜歡的事情要集中注意力是一件很難的事。在多數情況下，可能什麼也做不了。但是，也要注意到對於工作的感覺也是可以控制的這個事實。我最後的建議是改變你的觀點，把工作當作遊戲。注意力不集中，是因爲沒有挑戰，所以讓事情變得有意思起來吧。

我希望這些建議讓你在工作的時候更加集中注意力，更加富有創造性。

祝你好運!如果你喜歡這篇文章，告訴你的朋友，Digg it或者加入到你的Delicious書籤吧。

嘿，你還在這幹什麼?該回去工作了。

注：翻譯有部分刪除。翻譯本文主要出於學習的目的。如果你英語比較熟練，建議讀原文。

18 Ways to Stay Focused at Work

Over the years I have worked at many client sites and a variety of office layouts. On one project in particular, we had as many as 80 people in a project team, seated via an open plan arrangement. It was pretty difficult trying to stay focused in an environment like this. These days, the projects I’m on are typically smaller, but there are still a number of distractions which frequently interrupt my working groove. So what are some of the things we can do to minimise such interruptions and distractions?

Here’s my list of 18 ways to stay focused at work:

Write out a daily task list and plan your day. There’s nothing like a task list sitting next to you to keep you focused. When you have a list of the things you need to accomplish in a day, having that close to you constantly reminding you of what needs to be done is a great way of keeping on track. Allocate time slots colleagues can interrupt you. In a busy work place, people are moving and talking all the time. If you play a role in a team where others need to interact with you, try allocating a time slot they can interrupt you. Instead of having people stop by your desk every 10 mins and asking you questions, let them know of a time in the day, say between 2-4pm you can be interrupted. At all other times, you can really get some work done. Apply time boxing. In a previous article, I wrote about the benefits of time boxing. Instead of working at something till it is done, try working on it for a limited period, say 30 mins. By that time, the task is either completed or you allocate another time slot, perhaps in another day, to pick it up again. This way, you keep your work fresh and engaging throughout the entire working day. Setup filters in your email. If you spend a lot of your time communicating and planning in front of your computer, chances are you deal with emails on a frequent basis. Setting up filters in your email client can be a great way of sorting out what’s important and urgent from personal stuff which can wait. Instead of dealing with a single Inbox with hundreds of unread email, you only need to deal with smaller folders categorised by project, priority and context. Do not check personal email in the morning. Checking personal emails can be very distracting even with filters setup. This is especially true when your friends send you links to interesting articles, jokes or videos on YouTube. If you’re not careful, you can get side tracked for hours. Instead of checking your personal email as soon as you get in, try starting work straight away. This will build up some momentum as you ease into your work day. You should check your personal email only after you have a few tasks completed or underway. Also, if you don’t want to perpetuate a particular distracting email thread, just don’t reply to it until after work. Set your IM status. If you use Instant Messenger, when you don’t want to be disturbed, make use of the status and set yourself as being away or busy. Your friends and colleagues will honour that. They can either send you an email or look you up later when you aren’t as busy. Listen to the right types of music. Music is a great way of settling into the working routine. In addition, having music can drown out office noises like printers and background chattering. Be careful though, depending on personal preference, some types of music are not particularly conducive to productive work. For me, I can’t work when listening to songs with lots of lyrics because the words interrupt my thinking process. Use the headphones but leave the music off. Some people prefer to have absolute silence when working. I think that also depends on what kind of work you are doing. If you’re doing some serious planning or something computational, having music blasting in your ears may not be the best thing for keeping focused. Try using headphones or ear plugs to block out the background noise but leave the music off. Fill up a water bottle. Keeping yourself hydrated is pretty important for all sorts of health reasons. Instead of going to the water cooler with your glass every hour, try filling up a water bottle at the start of the day. This does a couple of things - firstly, it limits the starts/stops associated every time you get up for water and secondly, it avoids being sucked into lengthy discussions around the water cooler. Find the best time to do repetitive and boring tasks. No matter how much you try to avoid it, you’re going to have to face doing things which are either repetitive or boring. For these tasks, I find it is best to choose a time in the day to work on them. For example, I’m more alert at the start of the day, so it’s better to work on things which require brain power early. Working on boring tasks that can be done via auto-pilot are better left towards the end of the day when I’m usually tired. Bring your lunch and have it at your desk. I’m not suggesting you do this every day, but if you really have to focus and are trying to meet a deadline, having your lunch at your desk really helps. The normal one hour lunch break can really interrupt any momentum you might have built up during the morning. I find when I’m eating lunch at my desk, my lunch breaks are shorter and I can get through a few emails while I’m eating. After I’m done, I’m straight back working on the next task. Don’t make long personal calls. Most of us have a good separation between our working and personal lives (or a least try to). I think we can all agree we should avoid having work intrude on our personal time as much as possible. The reverse of this also applies. Try limiting the time you spend doing personal things during work as they can be distracting and draining on your motivation. For example, you do not really want to be thinking about your weekend away with your spouse when you really need to get things done. Clean up your desk. Some of you may have desks which can only be described as ordered chaos. That’s not necessarily a bad thing as long as you can find what you need without too much digging around. However, if you can’t, I suggest cleaning up your desk. That doesn’t mean having an empty desk, it just means having neat stacks of paper, all filed in the correct location. It also helps tremendously having all the things you need easily within arms reach. For example, if you need a place to write, having your pen and notepad close by and easily accessible is incredibly a good chair. If you sit for long hours at your desk and I’m sure some of you do, you might find it helpful to get a good chair. I find it’s pretty hard to stay focused when my neck and back are sore because I have a bad setup at my desk. A good chair can eliminate this, allowing you to work for long stretches without breaks and physical distractions. Use shortcuts on your computer. If you find you do the same thing with your computer more than once throughout the day, you might find it helpful to look for ways in which you can do them without too much manual repetition. For example, if there’s a project folder you access all the time, try adding a shortcut to your Explorer or Finder so you can get access to it with a single click, instead of expanding folder after folder in the tree panel. Close programs you’re not using. As a software engineer, I use a lot of programs important to my work. However, in most cases, I only need a few applications open at the same time. Instead of Alt-Tabbing constantly and fighting the computer to locate the program you need, try only having the applications you need open. Close everything else. For example, if you have already located a file and no longer need a particular Explorer or Finder instance open, close it. There’s no reason to leave it around at all. Limit time on Digg, Delicious, news sites and blogs. I don’t think I need to say too much about this. There are so many sites on the Internet worth looking at, including this site

. Digg, Delicious, news and blogs are great from an interest perspective, but they can really take you away from the work you should be working on. Try to limit going to these sites during the working day. If you really have to, try doing it during your lunch time. No, you don’t need to have your finger on the pulse every single minute of the day… Change your mindset and make work fun. For me, I find it difficult to stay focused on doing things I’m not by nature interested in doing. In most cases, there’s probably nothing I can do about it. However, be mindful of the fact that your perception of work is something you can control. For my last tip here, I suggest you try changing your mindset or turning work into a game. An unfocused mind, is an unchallenged mind. So make things fun!

I hope these tips will take you closer to more focused and productive work days. If you are still in need for more tips about staying focused, you can take a look at a previous blockbuster smash hit article I wrote entitled 11 ways of staying focused. In that article, I approached the issue from a top down, rather than bottom up perspective.

Ok, good luck! If you like this article, tell your friends, Digg it or add it to your Delicious bookmarks.

Hey, what are you still doing here? Get back to work!