Lately I've been lamenting my loss of focus - I've gotten so good at doing twenty things at once that I really struggle to slow down and just do one thing at a time.

In my post on multitasking I mentioned that for most assistants 'unitasking' (only working on one thing at a time) is great in theory, but almost impossible in practice. Our roles generally require us to be bombarded with tasks and information, usually all of which must be dealt with concurrently. So how do you still the cacophony of interruptions and focus on just one urgent task?

The most common suggestion for retaining focus is to minimise the distractions of email and telephone. Wouldn't it be lovely to be able to take the phone off the hook and shut down Outlook for the day? Well, yes, but sadly most of us are paid to keep a constant watch over our bosses emails and phone calls so that they can enjoy the benefits of fewer distractions, so if we're going to do this it can only be for short periods. A good idea is to do this when you know you won't be called upon to update your boss - for example if they are going into a 2 hour workshop it's a pretty safe bet that you can spend the first hour and a half of that time 'offline' and then spend the final 30 minutes catching up on whats going on with their emails and phone calls so you're ready to update them at the end of their meeting.


This leads into another great suggestion of knowing what times you work best. For example I am best at involved and complicated tasks first thing in the morning, tasks involving other people prior to lunch and for an hour or so after lunch I'm best at sticking to routine tasks like filing. Knowing this helps me make sure I use my best focusing time (the morning) to work on the tasks requiring the most focus instead of trying to muddle through them in my post-lunch haze. Dave Cheong suggests time boxing on his blog:


Instead of working at something till it is done, try working on it for a limited period, say 30 mins. By that time, the task is either completed or you allocate another time slot, perhaps in another day, to pick it up again. This way, you keep your work fresh and engaging throughout the entire working day.

I think this idea is particularly relevant to assistants as its very rare that our schedules will allow us to sit and work on the same task for long periods of time. Another important tool to help with focus is to take regular breaks...seems counter intuitive doesn't it, but taking regular breaks can actually help improve your focus.

Some sites I've found with interesting suggestions for improving focus and time management are:

• http://blisstree.com/live/5-tips-to-help-you-focus-at-work-155/
• http://www.davecheong.com/2006/08/14/18-ways-to-stay-focused-at-work/
• http://www.davecheong.com/2006/06/21/11-ways-of-staying-focused/
• http://zenhabits.net/16-ways-to-keep-a-razor-sharp-focus-at-work/
  http://selfevolution.net/how_to_focus.html
• http://lifedev.net/2008/03/10-ways-historys-finest-kept-focused-at-work/