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by Ben on May 4, 2012

How To Improve Concentration At Work

Have you ever had just one of those days where you’ve f ound it really hard toconcentrate? Did you f ind it hard to f ocus on what you were going?

I’ve had days like that bef ore. For one reason or another, I have days where it ’shard to concentrate at work. In this article, I’ve come up with a f ew tips that I useto improve concentrate at work.

Mobile Phone – On Vibrate, Out Of Sight

I always put my mobile phone out of my direct line of sight. This is so I don’t getas distracted by it. If it ’s in sight, I’ll get tempted to check emails, calls, Facebook and other apps on myphone. The temptation can still be there if it ’s near you, but if you can’t see it then it ’s not in your mind asmuch.

I also put my phone on the Vibrate setting – the ringtone is turned of f , but the phone vibrates when a callor message is received. This way, I can still get notif ied if I receive calls, it ’s not distracting other people inthe of f ice with my ringtone, and in turn it helps improve concentration at work.

Leave Personal Browsing For Lunch Breaks

I’m sure you have a lot of things going on outside of the workplace. I can sometimes have things that needto be organised, or web sites that I like to visit to catch up on the latest news or recent IT career adviceover at CIO.com. However, I could spend hours doing things like that – which then eat into my work time. I’veset myself a rule – I only browse these sites during lunch my lunch break.

I eat my lunch, I come back to my desk f or a litt le while, do some personal work or browsing if I need to(within reason), and then get back to work.

Your personal browsing will then be grouped or segmented into a certain part of the day. It helps to breakthings up as well, giving your mind a break between working on tasks, which is a great way to improveconcentration at work.

Eat Well During The Day

When I f irst started working in IT, I f ound it hard to concentrate consistently f or eight hours a day. I hadsuch a short term approach to my day. When I f elt t ired, I would get a can of Coke or some chocolate orsome other snack. I would then get the buzz f rom that f or a litt le while, then it would wear of f .

Since then, my diet has improved, and lately I’ve been eating even healthier. Have several snacks throughoutthe day (I usually have bananas, apples or muesli bars), eat a health lunch, drink plenty of water. I’m nohealth expert, but I’ve read and been told that this has multiple good ef f ects on your body, one of which isthe energy, which in turn helps concentration at work.

Improve Concentration At Work – Get A Good Night’s Sleep

I think the thing that has the biggest impact to your ability to concentrate at work is the amount of sleepyou get the night bef ore. I’ve had nights where I’ve gotten f our hours or less sleep, and I’ve f elt like I’vebeen hit by a truck. I slouched around the of f ice, f eeling like a zombie, not concentrating at work and

counting down the minutes until home time.

I’ve also had days where I’ve gotten a solid eight hours sleep, woke up f eeling f resh, and put in a great dayof productive work. Sleep is important – getting a good night’s rest is vital to improving concentration atwork. Your requirement f or the number of hours you need will vary – I believe the recommended amount is 6to 8 but as long as you f eel ref reshed the next day, the exact amount of hours isn’t that important.

Do you have any other things you do to improve concentration at work? Share them below!

Image: Ambro / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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