Big On Ideas But Low On Focus? Here Are 5 Organizing Hacks To Stay On Track

Many of you would have trouble staying focused at work. It could be a variety of reasons: distracting environment, health issues, mental anxiety… the list is endless. You may be extremely creative and bursting with ideas, but you may lack the motivation or energy to getting around and doing it.

These issues – although undesirable – are faced by many at their workplace. One of the first things you should do to prove yourself and be in top form at work is to organize yourself. This article details five organizing hacks that you can follow at your workplace to be focused, energetic, and productive.

5 Tips To Stay Focused And Organized At Work

Create A Routine

The simplest step towards being more organized is to have a routine. Plan out everything you should do from the moment you enter your office to the time you leave, and even after work if you want. Not only does this make you feel more in control of your tasks, but maintaining a routine can also improve your mental health and reduce stress.

A routine makes you aware of everything that you must do, and you can accommodate necessary tasks like eating, sleeping, and taking a breather. Use an app or software to help you to make a routine and set reminders. Perhaps your company has a universal app to organize organizational tasks.

A routine is a framework on which your day is built. This is different from having checklists, which are mostly work-specific tasks.

Keep Your Workspace Clean

Your workspace – whether it is a cubicle, cabin or just a desk – is where you will be spending most of your time during office hours, so you must keep it clean and organized. A cluttered desk with papers and stationery all over the place can be a very irritating sight first thing in the morning. Arranging things in their proper places, from essential files to erasers, can keep you much more relaxed because you know where everything is.

Keep an inventory list, and discard anything you haven’t used in the last 3-4 months. Never mix up paperwork, especially those related to client work.

At the same time, you must keep your virtual workspace clean; whether it is your laptop or an office desktop, keep all the files in proper and appropriately-named folders. Regularly clean your device to delete unnecessary files. If the device has a lot of secure information, protect it with a password or some other encryption method.

Organize Your Thoughts And Ideas

Often, you find yourself having great ideas, but you are not able to convert the thoughts into action. The thoughts just come and go, and you don’t put in the effort to analyze them further. This is why you must make it a point to structure your ideas as well.

This could be as simple as a pocket diary for whenever you’re ready to jot down points as and when they strike you. But how do you let others know what you’ve been thinking? How do you properly do a feasibility check, plan a timeline, and so on?

Idea management software is one tool that helps you do this. A useful software application helps you collect ideas and data, make a project timeline, plan strategies, track progress, and communicate and collaborate with colleagues. Apart from these, the software is intelligent enough to aid with a lot of things that you would otherwise have to do on your own, like making presentation templates, prototyping and budgeting the project.

Don’t Use To-Do Lists

At first glance, this seems like a counter-intuitive point. Everyone has to-do lists! Even you surely feel like having a list makes you more organized.

This isn’t entirely false, but there are better ways of going about it. To-do lists often focus on short-term goals, and hence, tend to include things of lesser priorities as well. People often mix up professional and personal tasks: you shouldn’t have “Meeting at 4 PM” and “Date at 8 PM” on the same list.

In the professional space, you should try more sophisticated methods to keep track of tasks, like the 411 worksheet. This is a template for making weekly, monthly and annual success lists. Setting milestones for your work and projects (by working backwards from the final goal) keeps you more organized and productive than setting daily tasks.

Communicate Effectively

Being bombarded with phone calls, emails, letters, and meetings can be stressful. An information overdose through all these communication channels can make you lose track and forget the very things that are being told. This is why effective communication is essential between you and your colleagues and clients.

Sync calendar apps with your emails to automatically set reminders. Use filters in emails to keep only the important ones in your inbox, and set aside fixed times to check them (unless something is urgent). This will let you focus more on one thing at a time instead of being distracted by the notifications throughout the day.

As discussed before, innovation management solutions provide a user-friendly platform for your teammates to discuss work goals and store information in a single place. Organize meetings only if necessary and in whatever meetings you do attend, devote your full attention and take notes of what’s being discussed.

Become More Productive Today!

The techniques mentioned here are simple yet extremely useful for you to have a better day at work. Suddenly, you will find that your work is not as hectic as it was, you are not as stressed as you were, and you are starting to enjoy your work much more! This is a good sign that you have achieved the focus you were searching for.

Apart from changes in the workplace, some other behavioral changes can also help you focus better. Meditation, proper rest, allowing your mind to relax, and taking a break are all ways of countering stress at work, which, in turn, make you more efficient. Maintaining a healthy physical and mental life and a proper working style gives you the best results personally and professionally.