Are you also disturbed by all those e-mails, messages, questioning colleagues and other disruptions at work? The book 'To be disturbed' is packed with tips to tackle your concentration problems. Blogger Jolinda got to work on it.
“I can only work from home when the children are at school. Otherwise I will be distracted way too easily.” I chat with a colleague. No, with children around me I can't get a letter out of my keyboard. Not now, by the way, because we effortlessly switch from the subject of working from home to children with the flu. Why concentration problems? And that mothers cannot be sick. Our coffee has long since flowed out of the machine. Now I really have to get to work, that deadline of 4 p.m. is getting closer. pling. Just read that whatsapp quickly. Another colleague comes in and asks what is going on outside. I look out the window, what a line of cars! Check twitter to see if there has been an accident in your area. Yes, there's a tweet from the regional newspaper. There is even more interesting stuff on the site. But no, now I really have to get to work. Pling…
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Recognizable? You think you are quite productive at work, but if you add up all the short interruptions you could still be quite shocked. I do anyway. So when I got the chance to review Barbara Aalpol's book 'To be disturbed by, how do you keep your mind on your work' for Mamsatwork, I came across a lot of tips that I can immediately put into practice.
I like working from home, I don't have colleagues with whom I spend too long a conversation. But no brainstorming partners either. And at home, am I there as productive as I could be? The fact that I have opened the book 'to be disturbed by' a dozen times, but have also put it aside because the pling sounds again, the house telephone rings or the washing machine is ready, says it all. This could be better!
I'll share with you the tips that I'll put to work right away. You'll have to read the other tips yourself 😉 .
This seems obvious, don't we all know that we should just put that phone away when we are working? True, but why don't we do that? For me, I also need the social media channels professionally. So I always keep twitter and facebook open. But if I have to write a text, it doesn't really help if I get distracted again. So, as soon as I actually start typing, I'm going to put my phone in my desk drawer and I'll close twitter and facebook on my laptop. Until I really finish my text. And when I have to do research for my text and end up on the internet as a result, I don't let myself be distracted anymore. Just click away that article about that new TV series. Focus!
If you know this, you can take into account the pitfalls that come with it. I am clearly a thrill seeker, with a deadline panting down my neck I perform best. The great danger is that I put things off that have no clear deadline. Solution; come up with your own deadlines and thus prevent concentration problems.
Hmmmm, sensitive point. I am an evening person. Always has been. But that does not combine very pleasantly with a family and work. School starts exactly at half past eight, after which I am supposed to go to work. If I go to bed late at night, as usual, I am much more distracted and less productive for the first few hours. I write the best lyrics later in the day and even in the evening. Let's see if I can move that up a bit. So go to bed earlier. Sorry Humberto, I'm giving up.
These are just a few examples of tips from Barbara Aalpol's book. It is an accessible book, fluently written and just as fluently designed. That seems a bit busy to me. Certainly for a book with the title 'to be disturbed', I would appreciate a little more calm in the design. I also can't read the book in one sitting. It doesn't matter, I've picked it up from time to time and read parts. I will definitely apply the tips that are useful to me.
Tell me, can you easily work undisturbed or do you let yourself be distracted a lot? And how do you deal with that? Share your tips!
To be disturbed by is written by Barbara Aalpol, publisher Blance your work, ISBN 9789082337201 and can be ordered here!
