While it’s common to get distracted by things during your day, one thing that causes a lot of the distraction that people indulge in while at work is their phone. With everything in your life right at your fingertips, it can be hard to leave your device alone for enough time to get some real productive work done. Especially if the majority of your workday is spent policing yourself in this area, you may find that you really struggle overcoming this. So to help make your days at work more productive, here are three tips for being less distracted by your phone while at work.
Tackle A Task Before Answering Emails
For most workers, it’s easy to answer emails using your phone. However, this is often a task that isn’t necessary to do at the beginning of every day even though that’s when most do this. According to Jason Selk, a contributor to Inc.com, many people start their workday checking them email because that’s just the routine they’ve set for themselves. But if you try to tackle an item on your to-do list first thing in the morning, before you check your email, you may just find that it’s easier for you to get your work accomplished all throughout the day, not just first thing in the morning.
Turn Off Your Notifications
If you have a lot of apps on your phone, you’re likely getting a lot of notifications throughout the day as well. Luckily, you have complete control over which notifications come through to your phone. So to help keep the distractions down, David Nield, a contributor to Gizmodo.com, suggests that you turn off almost all of the notifications, especially the push notifications, on your phone. This will make it so your phone isn’t constantly beeping or buzzing during the day and becoming even more of a distraction that it normally is.
Create A Work Ritual
As was mentioned above, most people allow themselves to get distracted by their phones at work because that’s just the habit and routine they’ve gotten themselves into. So to counterbalance this, Nancy Collamer, a contributor to Forbes.com, recommends that you try to create new workplace rituals that get you ready to work. This could include putting your phone in a drawer, turning the sound completely off, or simply leaving your phone in your car. By creating this habit, you get yourself into the right mindset for working whenever you do this specific action.
That said, there are many companies that have a rule of not carrying personal cellular devices onto the work floor. Employees are meant to get inside the premises, put their phones and other belongings away in a Locker provided by the office, and only then proceed to begin with their work. However, that is the case in a few companies and the remaining majority do not have such rules put in place to reduce phone time during work.
If you have a hard time staying focused and on task when you have your phone as a distraction at work, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you overcome this distraction and become much more productive.
