6 Ways to Stay Focused in the Office After Working Remotely
After working in a home office, transitioning back to a bustling workplace might feel both exciting and a bit overwhelming. While the collaborative energy of being around colleagues can be great, the buzz can sometimes be distracting. If you're finding it tough to maintain your focus in the office, here are some top tips to help you stay on track.
Maximise your peak productivity hours
Everyone has different times of the day when they are most productive. Whether you're an early bird who works best in the morning or a night owl who finds their focus later in the day, try and use these peak hours to your advantage in the office environment.
You can do this by first identifying your most productive times and scheduling your key tasks during these periods. For example, if you tend to lose focus in the afternoon, dedicate your mornings to your most important work.
- Top Tip: Try using noise-cancelling headphones during these peak hours to help create a focused work zone and minimise distractions.
Sounds for success
Using music can be an effective way to help you to maintain concentration in the office. Depending on your role or the project you're working on, it might not always be possible to have music playing but where you can, consider creating a playlist of relaxing or instrumental music to listen to through headphones.
This can help establish a calming ambiance that helps you to focus, as well as signposting to colleagues that you prefer not to be disturbed at this time. By creating your playlist in advance, you can ensure that you’re prepared for the day ahead!
Define personal deadlines
Clearly defining your daily deadlines is another top tip for staying on track. By setting intentions before you even step into the office, you can provide yourself with a clear goal of what needs to be accomplished.
Should you find yourself getting caught up in office conversations and catch-ups, having set deadlines will remind you of your priorities and help you set boundaries with yourself and those around you. This way, you can ensure that your workday remains productive and goal oriented.
Demarcate social time
Part of the bonus of being back in the office is the human interaction and networking opportunities that it brings. It may help to mark a coffee break or lunch with colleagues out in your diary will help you reconnect as well as clearly demarcate times for social interaction and times for quiet focus on work.
Ditch the juggling act
Multitasking can often feel engrained in our daily routines as working professionals, and sometimes it is necessary. However, it's also helpful to recognise that returning to the office introduces an additional layer of multitasking in itself.
If you find it challenging to stay organised without constantly multitasking, consider a new way of structuring your days, dedicating time to specific jobs. Of course, this is dependent on the nature of your work, but if you’re able to disable certain notifications e.g. emails, during this time then this can be helpful.
Your manager may also be able to help you with time management strategies to navigate this readjustment. Open communication about your needs and how you can work more effectively in the office can lead to better support and a more manageable workload.
Ask for consideration
Sometimes colleagues might not realise that the noise they’re making is distracting you from your work. While, of course, it’s unrealistic to expect silence in a shared office space, it’s important to communicate that you need some quiet time. If you’ve already given clear signals that you’re concentrating, such as wearing headphones or moving to a quieter area, you may need to directly request some co-operation to address your concern.
This doesn’t have to be confrontational and perhaps you could first speak to your manager or someone else who you trust about this being an issue. Be clear and respectful in how you go about this but ultimately, by communicating your needs, you can create a more productive work environment for yourself and help your colleagues understand how you can all share the workplace in a mutually beneficial way. You can find some more tips on setting boundaries at work to protect your time and energy in our previous article.