Introduction
You really should make an effort to train your team to focus. This will maximize their productivity during the workday.
The fast pace of the modern world makes it very easy to become distracted. There is often so much going on that workers become unfocussed and careless trying to get it all done at once. That decreases their ability to focus and to stay on task throughout its duration. You can retrain your team to focus and concentrate to handle extended periods of time dedicated to one singular thing.
The good news is that this is totally achievable, it will just take some work on your end and on theirs.
How can you train your team to focus?
Two simple ways…
- Practicing focus for a significant amount of time and 2) minimizing time spent on electronics are two of the most effective ways to do that.
Practicing Focus
Because the brain is a muscle, you can teach your team to actually train their brains to work at an optimal level.
I’m not kidding.
Practice makes perfect is the key concept here, as the activity of repetition can help make focusing easier in the future. Remind team members not to neglect short breaks, though, as their attention spans are only capable of so much concentration.
Focal Techniques
This practice is comparable to an exercise routine. You usually have a set amount of time and reps for each activity, and your focus is set on the routine for its entire duration. Practicing focal techniques is similar:
- Every task needs an allotted amount of time
- Within each task there are certain amounts of effort required
- Frequency and repetition of these activities causes muscle memory, even in the brain
Practicing Focus
Practicing focus also teaches your team how to reach a state of “flow”, which is equivalent to being “in the zone”. This is the optimal state for focus and productivity because they are completely immersed in the task at hand. It is easier to tune out the world when their whole mind is focused on something in the present.
Minimizing Electronic Time
The technological advances that we have today are beneficial, but also wreak havoc on our attention spans. Single-mindedness is necessary for focus. Phones, email, the web, and TV train our brains to process frequent bursts of short-term information rather than focusing on one particular thing.
Specific Methods of Reprogramming Minds
A few ways you can use to train your team to focus despite electronics are to:
- Set a specific time to use their phone
- Silence their phone or put it on Do Not Disturb when working
- Keep devices out of sight and out of reach when they are working
- Have them limit YouTube, digital games, TV time, etc. to after your work is finished for the day
Even just these small adjustments can do impressive things to train your team to focus.
Conclusion
It might take some time and effort on their part, but the bottom line is that it is possible to train their brain to improve focus. Making changes to their routine, such as setting aside time to practice focusing or limiting technology usage, can be very effective tools to maximize their efficiency and ability to concentrate.
So those are a couple of simple ways to train your team to focus and get more done and get more satisfaction from their work.