27 answers
Sincere
Student
Clarksburg, Massachusetts
1
Question
Asked
712 views
How can I better myself at staying on task
it’s hard for me to sit down and do work I need like help or someone to sit with me and do my work or at least help me if I get stuck starting something #cantstopmoving
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27 answers
Karen Walker
Finance
3
Answers
San Francisco, California
Updated
Karen’s Answer
Hello! I would recommend creating a list for yourself and putting in due dates to hold yourself accountable. I would also try to think about how much planning you need to do in advance of any major deadlines. For instance, if you need to complete a project for school or an application that may take four weeks plan smaller steps or milestones in advance and then layer in the smaller tasks. You can break the bigger tasks down in to smaller pieces.
If you are like me and you have a lot going on at once it can be overwhelming and so you should dedicate time to planning and creating a list and prioritizing it. It will also make you feel good to be able to mark some things off the list as you go.
Think about longer term deadlines or goals.
Break bigger tasks down into smaller pieces that you can tackle.
Create a list and due dates.
Strikethrough things that you completed so that you can see what you accomplished.
If you are like me and you have a lot going on at once it can be overwhelming and so you should dedicate time to planning and creating a list and prioritizing it. It will also make you feel good to be able to mark some things off the list as you go.
Karen recommends the following next steps:
Great idea
Kristen Wallace
Tax Partner
2
Answers
Raleigh, North Carolina
Updated
Kristen’s Answer
Hi Sincere,
Staying on task is a challenge for all of us, especially while working or learning from home!
Some things that help me are:
- designating the same learning/working space that has less distractions
- making a to do list for the day, what do I "need" to accomplish today
- building in breaks to do your to do list so you are not just sitting still
- put a timer on for your breaks so that you are able to get back to the next task
- while working/learning turn off as many "distractions" as you can, phone/personal email/social media/tv
- plan a reward at the end of the week
Good luck!!
Staying on task is a challenge for all of us, especially while working or learning from home!
Some things that help me are:
- designating the same learning/working space that has less distractions
- making a to do list for the day, what do I "need" to accomplish today
- building in breaks to do your to do list so you are not just sitting still
- put a timer on for your breaks so that you are able to get back to the next task
- while working/learning turn off as many "distractions" as you can, phone/personal email/social media/tv
- plan a reward at the end of the week
Good luck!!
Kyle Stewart
Tax Associate
10
Answers
Miami, Florida
Updated
Kyle’s Answer
Hi there! I am also easily distracted while trying to focus on a job or project. I highly putting your phone in a different room (if you do not need to use it for the project) while you are trying to focus on the task at hand. There are also good music playlists that help you relax/focus (mostly instrumentals)
Priya Patel
Pre-Medicine Student
3
Answers
Charlotte, North Carolina
Updated
Priya’s Answer
Hey there!
It can be hard to stay on task, but there a few things you can try. For example, every morning write out a to-do list for the day. When you start a task, set a timer for yourself and make sure you adhere to the time! Don’t forget, you can always reward yourself after finishing an assignment.
Motivate yourself by playing music while you work, but not on your phone! Try putting your phone in a different room to avoid those distracting notifications.
It can be hard to stay on task, but there a few things you can try. For example, every morning write out a to-do list for the day. When you start a task, set a timer for yourself and make sure you adhere to the time! Don’t forget, you can always reward yourself after finishing an assignment.
Motivate yourself by playing music while you work, but not on your phone! Try putting your phone in a different room to avoid those distracting notifications.
Saurav Agrawal
Tutor
2
Answers
Biratnagar, Eastern Region, Nepal
Updated
Saurav’s Answer
You first need to find out the reason why you can't stay focused in the current task.
It can be because of your lack of interest in that project, tired of monotonous work, any other pending work, stress, etc.
If you find the problem first you can address it easily. Meditation and Exercise will help you to manage your issue. Also try not to keep any of your task pending.
It can be because of your lack of interest in that project, tired of monotonous work, any other pending work, stress, etc.
If you find the problem first you can address it easily. Meditation and Exercise will help you to manage your issue. Also try not to keep any of your task pending.
John Frick
Career Coach and Mentor
995
Answers
California, CA
Updated
John’s Answer
Achieving our goals is seldom easy. It's why knowing how to stay motivated is so incredibly important when it comes to getting what we want in the long run. And in a world with more distractions than ever before — from non-stop web access to constant texting — it's becoming harder to stay focused and productive and not just give in to what's easier that moment.
5 WAYS THAT HELP ME STAY FOCUSED SINCERE
SET CLEAR GOALS
Review your list of goals each morning and decide—realistically—what tasks you can accomplish that day. This will better your chances of success, it’s a good idea to start with a plan, and write it down. So here’s a 6 step plan for setting clear goals this year, following them should help keep your goals rolling along.
• Be clear and specific with what you want to achieve.
• Break your goals down into steps and reward yourself with something when you reach them.
• Track your progress, I guarantee you'll see improvements at staying on task.
• Be accountable, have a study group or a friend make sure your following through.
• Make sure you have fun, reward your sell every time you achieve a goal.
With each new challenge you succeed in, will make the next one even easier. The thrill and rush of success never wears off Sincere. With each accomplishment you’ll increase your appetite for more new and exciting challenges.
WORK IN 60-90-MINUTE BLOCKS
Sincere if you try and work for long periods of time, your alertness is going to drop off making you vulnerable to distractions. Scheduling distractions as a reward for productivity can motivate your brain to stay focused. Distractions are not all bad, but you need to make them work for you. Use them as reward for a solid chunk of work. If Facebook and Twitter are your thing, block off time in your schedule to post or browse other people’s updates, and stick to your schedule task. Remember, you control the distractions.
RECOGNIZE YOUR PROGRESS
Everything you may be working on can be easily be split into smaller parts and stages. For most tasks, it is quite natural to split the process of accomplishing them into smaller tasks and milestones. There are a few reasons behind doing this, and one of them is tracking your progress. Tracking is merely taking a note of having reached a certain stage in your process. Recognizing is taking time to look at a bigger picture and realize where exactly you are, and how much more you have left to do.
TURN OFF THE WORLD
Let’s face it, the world is a distracting place, avoid temptation by severing all ties. This includes email, phones, texting or any other interruptions, this might require finding a quiet place away from others so can work or hiding out in your room. If you need to, set up a system for urgent messages to reach you. This doesn’t include meeting your friends for a video game night.
SOMETIMES YOU NEED TO CHANGE YOUR APPROACH
When something doesn’t feel right, it’s always a good time to take a moment and look for a different approach for your task. You could be doing everything same as last time, but the same approach isn’t necessarily the most efficient one this time. Quite often, you may find a number tweaks to your current approach which will both change your experience and open up new possibilities. If a certain approach doesn’t work for you, find another one, and keep trying until you find the one which will both keep you motivated and get you your desired results.
REWARD YOURSELF
This is a task everyone likes: rewarding yourself is going to make your task more pleasant. This is also one of the easiest and at the same time most powerful ways to stay motivated. Right from the beginning, agree on some deliverables which will justify yourself getting rewarded. As soon as you get one of the agreed results, take time to reward yourself in away you enjoy.
5 ADDITIONAL TIPS TO STAY FOCUSED
Get enough sleep the night before
Apply some time-management strategies
Do tasks according to priority
Don’t put pressure on yourself
Avoid negative people
5 WAYS THAT HELP ME STAY FOCUSED SINCERE
SET CLEAR GOALS
Review your list of goals each morning and decide—realistically—what tasks you can accomplish that day. This will better your chances of success, it’s a good idea to start with a plan, and write it down. So here’s a 6 step plan for setting clear goals this year, following them should help keep your goals rolling along.
• Be clear and specific with what you want to achieve.
• Break your goals down into steps and reward yourself with something when you reach them.
• Track your progress, I guarantee you'll see improvements at staying on task.
• Be accountable, have a study group or a friend make sure your following through.
• Make sure you have fun, reward your sell every time you achieve a goal.
With each new challenge you succeed in, will make the next one even easier. The thrill and rush of success never wears off Sincere. With each accomplishment you’ll increase your appetite for more new and exciting challenges.
WORK IN 60-90-MINUTE BLOCKS
Sincere if you try and work for long periods of time, your alertness is going to drop off making you vulnerable to distractions. Scheduling distractions as a reward for productivity can motivate your brain to stay focused. Distractions are not all bad, but you need to make them work for you. Use them as reward for a solid chunk of work. If Facebook and Twitter are your thing, block off time in your schedule to post or browse other people’s updates, and stick to your schedule task. Remember, you control the distractions.
RECOGNIZE YOUR PROGRESS
Everything you may be working on can be easily be split into smaller parts and stages. For most tasks, it is quite natural to split the process of accomplishing them into smaller tasks and milestones. There are a few reasons behind doing this, and one of them is tracking your progress. Tracking is merely taking a note of having reached a certain stage in your process. Recognizing is taking time to look at a bigger picture and realize where exactly you are, and how much more you have left to do.
TURN OFF THE WORLD
Let’s face it, the world is a distracting place, avoid temptation by severing all ties. This includes email, phones, texting or any other interruptions, this might require finding a quiet place away from others so can work or hiding out in your room. If you need to, set up a system for urgent messages to reach you. This doesn’t include meeting your friends for a video game night.
SOMETIMES YOU NEED TO CHANGE YOUR APPROACH
When something doesn’t feel right, it’s always a good time to take a moment and look for a different approach for your task. You could be doing everything same as last time, but the same approach isn’t necessarily the most efficient one this time. Quite often, you may find a number tweaks to your current approach which will both change your experience and open up new possibilities. If a certain approach doesn’t work for you, find another one, and keep trying until you find the one which will both keep you motivated and get you your desired results.
REWARD YOURSELF
This is a task everyone likes: rewarding yourself is going to make your task more pleasant. This is also one of the easiest and at the same time most powerful ways to stay motivated. Right from the beginning, agree on some deliverables which will justify yourself getting rewarded. As soon as you get one of the agreed results, take time to reward yourself in away you enjoy.
5 ADDITIONAL TIPS TO STAY FOCUSED
John recommends the following next steps:
David Goldstein
Project Management
1
Answer
Raleigh, North Carolina
Updated
David’s Answer
Hi, Sincere.
Staying on task is a constant struggle for everyone, so don't feel alone on this. You've received some great feedback from others responses. My two cents is that we all have a lot of stimuli and distractions around us; we need to manage it as best we can. Leveraging technology and breaking your tasks into manageable components can aid you in this area. Below are my suggestions; hope they help you and/or others.
Best,
David
1. Find a Note-taking Tool. Personally, I love/use Google Keep as I can easily create notes, lists, set reminders, and the bonus is that it's in the cloud so it instantly updates between my phone and desktop.
2. Create Thematic To-Do Lists. It's important to keep like-things together or else you will get overwhelmed with the volume of to-do's. For example, I have lists relating to "Personal", "Professional", and "Trainings"
3. List Tasks & Sub-tasks. Break them down into manageable components that can be accomplished within 60-90 minutes (typical attention span)
4. Conquer. You'll have a sense of accomplishment each time you "check off" a completed task.
Staying on task is a constant struggle for everyone, so don't feel alone on this. You've received some great feedback from others responses. My two cents is that we all have a lot of stimuli and distractions around us; we need to manage it as best we can. Leveraging technology and breaking your tasks into manageable components can aid you in this area. Below are my suggestions; hope they help you and/or others.
Best,
David
David recommends the following next steps:
Matthew C. Seelye, Jr., CPA
Auditor
6
Answers
Atlanta, Georgia
Updated
Matthew C.’s Answer
You could try some relaxing activities like yoga or listening to meditation sessions on the Calm app. Sometimes a mental break is just what you need to refocus.
Qizhi Cao
Engineer
2
Answers
Shanghai, China
Updated
Qizhi’s Answer
My solution is to clear the work environment and to force you starting the work and keeping on. When working on some task for more than 20 minutes, you'll get immersed and focused on that.
Nadia G
Coach & Career Advisor
47
Answers
Norway
Updated
Nadia’s Answer
I think answering the question "why" is the most important one.
Supporting questions:
- is your task boring?
-do you see the purpose of doing it?
-how is your workload? do you have a tendency to overwhelm yourself, especially with long, boring activities?
-what is your daily routine? when are you most productive and energetic? (if you are a morning person, don't plan challenging activities in evenings etc.)
-do you have a mix of activities that you like and don't like? do you have time to relax?
-do you have a reward system? it may sound a bit funny, but if you have a boring thing to do it's good to plan something fun afterwards. Example: I'll study Spanish for 2 hours, but then I will play a video game for 30 min.
Supporting questions:
- is your task boring?
-do you see the purpose of doing it?
-how is your workload? do you have a tendency to overwhelm yourself, especially with long, boring activities?
-what is your daily routine? when are you most productive and energetic? (if you are a morning person, don't plan challenging activities in evenings etc.)
-do you have a mix of activities that you like and don't like? do you have time to relax?
-do you have a reward system? it may sound a bit funny, but if you have a boring thing to do it's good to plan something fun afterwards. Example: I'll study Spanish for 2 hours, but then I will play a video game for 30 min.
Cameron Lacks
Sales Coordinator
5
Answers
Atlanta, Georgia
Updated
Cameron’s Answer
I am very ADHD and also trouble sitting still to do a task. I would remove all distractions (cellphone, tv, etc). Tell yourself if you can accomplish this task then you can go do something else that you want to do.
If you're trying to study or do homework, try and rewrite what you're working on/ reading. That helps you stay engaged and keeps you moving by writing!
If you're trying to study or do homework, try and rewrite what you're working on/ reading. That helps you stay engaged and keeps you moving by writing!
Umair M.
External Auditor
1
Answer
Raleigh, North Carolina
Updated
Umair’s Answer
All great answers! Also I would recommend my favorite book: 'The One Thing' by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan. Good luck!
Brian Fine, CPA
Tax Practitioner
5
Answers
Miami, Florida
Updated
Brian’s Answer
Staying on task can be very difficult and daunting.
Here are a few things I practice to ensure I stay on task:
1. I create a list of what I need to complete, and I try to move through the list. If I get stuck on items, I consider putting them down and coming back to them if I am unable get assistance.
2. Try to spread your tasks out by scheduling them over days.
3. Don't spend too much time in a day evaluating your tasks. Make a plan and stick to it.
Best of luck!
Here are a few things I practice to ensure I stay on task:
1. I create a list of what I need to complete, and I try to move through the list. If I get stuck on items, I consider putting them down and coming back to them if I am unable get assistance.
2. Try to spread your tasks out by scheduling them over days.
3. Don't spend too much time in a day evaluating your tasks. Make a plan and stick to it.
Best of luck!
Mike Fix
Lead-System Engineer
14
Answers
Frisco, Texas
Updated
Mike’s Answer
Hi Sincere!
Great question.
Bottom line, remove distractions, create a task list with goals to achieve, and time box each effort. Check in on your list after each milestone, and make adjustments as you may find some tasks take a little longer than anticipated. Put your phone on silent, and/or change instant message (IM) statuses to say, "busy - on special assignment", or something equivalent. This might help deter someone from wanting to reach out and say hi.
Sounds simple enough, but you will find you have to adapt to your surroundings and find what works best for you. For example, I work from home quite a bit, but on occasion I need to go into the work-place which, for me, is designed to be an open-floor concept. The open-floor concept means desks have no walls or partitions, meeting rooms are separated with glass, and there are common seating areas where people can congregate. Goes without saying, but there are plenty of distractions being able to see into conference rooms, watch people walk down the hall, or even listen in on a conference call of the person sitting three feet from me, eye-to-eye!
Without the comforts of being isolated at home, what can we do to minimize distractions? Again, find what works for you in your setting, but here's what I do when at the open-floor office: 1) use noise cancelling headphones, and play 'soothing sounds/music' into the ear pieces to minimize the noise around me, 2) sit with my back to the hall and conference rooms, or 3) reserve a conference room to work in if the distractions/noise are too great. The keys are, adapt, improvise, and remember to have a list of what you want to accomplish!
Hope this helps give you some ideas!
Make it a great day!
Great question.
Bottom line, remove distractions, create a task list with goals to achieve, and time box each effort. Check in on your list after each milestone, and make adjustments as you may find some tasks take a little longer than anticipated. Put your phone on silent, and/or change instant message (IM) statuses to say, "busy - on special assignment", or something equivalent. This might help deter someone from wanting to reach out and say hi.
Sounds simple enough, but you will find you have to adapt to your surroundings and find what works best for you. For example, I work from home quite a bit, but on occasion I need to go into the work-place which, for me, is designed to be an open-floor concept. The open-floor concept means desks have no walls or partitions, meeting rooms are separated with glass, and there are common seating areas where people can congregate. Goes without saying, but there are plenty of distractions being able to see into conference rooms, watch people walk down the hall, or even listen in on a conference call of the person sitting three feet from me, eye-to-eye!
Without the comforts of being isolated at home, what can we do to minimize distractions? Again, find what works for you in your setting, but here's what I do when at the open-floor office: 1) use noise cancelling headphones, and play 'soothing sounds/music' into the ear pieces to minimize the noise around me, 2) sit with my back to the hall and conference rooms, or 3) reserve a conference room to work in if the distractions/noise are too great. The keys are, adapt, improvise, and remember to have a list of what you want to accomplish!
Hope this helps give you some ideas!
Make it a great day!
Virginia Rho
Cast Member & Operations Administration
9
Answers
Honolulu, Hawaii
Updated
Virginia’s Answer
This was probably one of the hardest things when I went off to collect (and quite frankly I still struggle with this). I've tried to put together a check-list of all the things I need to do and gradually complete each task, but I think I found it more useful when I used to stick post-it notes all over the creation to give myself motivation - more on a daily basis!
Hannah Szydlo
Senior Associate Scientist
6
Answers
Acton, Massachusetts
Updated