One of the biggest reasons why some people have a hard time getting through their work is because they cannot focus on their job. As a freelance writer who works from home, I can attest to the lack of work that gets done with distractions. If my husband tries to talk to me or the TV is up too loud, I literally can’t get anything done. The only way I can is by minimizing the effects of the noises and events around me. The tips below will help you to do the same, whether you’re a pharmacist, a paralegal, or a parole officer. Use these suggestions to keep your work on track every time.
Listen to Music
The only way I am able to keep myself from getting distracted at work is by listening to music to drown out the sound. If you work in an environment that would allow you to do the same, you may want to give it a try. You can use whatever music you want, as long as it gets rid of the sound around you. Sometimes I’ll listen to the soundtrack of a musical, and other times I’ll listen to music I don’t know the lyrics to. It just depends on what I am in the mood for and what I think is going to give me the best chance of working efficiently throughout the day.
If you are going to listen to music at work, try to get earphones that are going to minimize noise from outside. If you have to be able to hear something in order to be able to work, you may want to use one headphone in one ear and leave the other ear open to the world. My headphones actually have memory foam on the outside of them, so they really block out the sounds around me. You can test out a few pairs like this on your own and see what happens.
Set Goals for Yourself
If you set goals to get a certain amount of work done before you take a break or go home for the day, you will naturally focus more. I have to do this all the time, or I will literally double the amount of work that I have to do in a week just because I’m not efficient. Try to come up with logical goals to strive for in a day, and reward yourself when you get through them. My goal is usually to get all of my work finished early at night so I can go to bed early. If I don’t finish on time, I have to stay up until it gets done. Thus I will try to tune out distractions throughout the day to give myself the opportunity to go to bed when I want to. You may want to consider doing the same in your work place.
Tell People You Are Busy
You may be getting a lot of distractions at work because people don’t realize how busy you are. I used to call my mother all the time at work until she told me that I was distracting her. I waited until she got home to call after that. All you have to do is forewarn people about your obligations, and they will hopefully respect what you have to do.
Focus on the work you have before you, and do whatever it takes to get the job done. If you have too many distractions to do this, you need to find a way to tune everything out. With the right concentration and determination, you should be able to get through your work day after day.
I seem to work my best whenever I get into a rhythm with whatever I’m doing. This is the point in the day when my body goes into autopilot, and I just get a ton of work done in a short period of time because I have the system down. If you want to do well as a registered nurse, paralegal, writer, doctor, or anything else, you need to learn how to establish a rhythm all your own. I’m not asking you to start free styling like Eminem in the middle of a shift. I just think you would benefit a lot from learning how to get the hang of things early on in the day. Here are some tips to help you get on beat right when you walk into the office.
Group Similar Tasks Together
One of the easiest ways to get into a rhythm at work is to group similar tasks with one another so that you can continue to bang them out one by one. In freelance writing, that means that you need to write similar articles at the same time or write everything and wait to post it at the end. In your line of work, that may mean something else entirely. Just try to think about tasks that you can do back to back, and you will be able to work much more efficiently that way.
Put the Steps in Order
Rather than doing the same thing in a million different ways, you may want to think about putting the steps into a certain order and following that order every time. For example, I have to write articles, post them, and upload information about them to a spreadsheet. I have a certain set of steps to go through for posting and working on the spreadsheets, and I follow those steps every time I work. Otherwise I end up taking way too much time to do simple tasks, and I get off schedule really quickly. You need to find a pattern to your work and follow it every time. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
Minimize Distractions
You can lose your rhythm really easily when there are people and events around to distract you. I try to listen to music when I work to avoid getting distracted by the TV or noises my husband is randomly making in the background. Right now I’m going through a Glee medley on YouTube, just because I know I won’t be paying attention to it that much. The music can play in the background without distracting me, keeping me focused on the task at hand.
Take the Occasional Break
Sometimes all you need is a break from work to get your mojo back. I have been writing online for so long that I will literally start typing sentences without even thinking about them. Then I look back over them and wonder what the hell I meant by everything I just wrote. That’s when I know it is time to step away from the computer and take a five minute breather. If you know you need the same in your line of work, take a few minutes to run to the bathroom, get a drink, or just shut your eyes for a few moments. Then you can get back on the horse and try again. Just don’t do this too often, or you may actually get fired from your job.
Take all of the tips above into consideration, and you should be able to develop your own rhythm to follow at work. You’ll be on your way to an efficiency award in no time.
One of the easiest ways to work efficiently is through time blocking. This is a process where you group tasks together by likeness and tackle them all at once. I am a writer online, so time blocking or me means writing a set of articles all at once and then posting them at one time. Doing this saves me a ton of time in the long run, and it makes me much more productive at my job. If you have been struggling to stay on schedule lately, you may just need to manage your time blocking a little better. Here are some tips to help you do just that.
Group Similar Tasks Together
The key to time blocking is to put tasks together that naturally go together. If you are becoming a police officer, you may try doing all of your reports at the end of the day, rather than taking time out of the day to write them when they happen. You can patrol for a period of time and then make reports for a period of time. That way your mind is totally focused on the tasks you are doing. Apply this same theory to your career if you want to make the most out of your time.
Prioritize the Tasks
Once you have groups of tasks all put together, you need to prioritize them. This will ensure that the most important tasks get done first and the less important tasks are left until later. I usually group my projects based on the time I received them, unless a client tells me that one is more important than another. Then I make the adjustments necessary to keep everything on track.
Monitor the Clock
If you monitor the amount of time you are taking to do certain tasks, you can make sure that you stay on schedule. I can write about 100 words every two minutes, so I try to compare the clock to my word count to see if I am writing quickly enough. If I’m off a minute or two, I try to speed up my typing to accommodate for the missing moments. This usually gets me back on track and helps me finish my work really early. When I finish writing my articles, I go back and add any links I left room for. This is all part of my time blocking.
Block Hours, Days, and Weeks
You don’t just have to block on a short term basis. You could block whole projects if you wanted to. For instance, I usually have a block of work to do in the morning and a block of work to do in the afternoon. The morning work is the same from week to week, but the afternoon work is all based on the project I am doing at the time. I will spend a few days or a week on one project and then move on to the next one. That way my clients get what they need and I can stay on schedule.
Time blocking is one of the best ways to stay efficient at your work. Whether you are applying for scholarships, studying for classes, picking up projects at work, or all of the above, you can benefit from block scheduling. Test it out for yourself and see what kind of difference it makes in your life. You may be surprised by how much time you actually have left over in a day. No need to thank me for that. I got the memo
When you are out and about in public, it may seem to be severely contradictory to laugh out loud. Although thousands of LOLs are traded via texting and instant messaging every day, some people find it uncomfortable to do that very thing in front of others for real.
Giggling and laughing out loud are both very contagious. Sometimes, someone needs a hard strong laugh. Not only does it make you feel better, but it can relieve stress, stop a headache, and exercises those tummy muscles that seem to get the better of us. As your spare tire jiggles away, remember that laughing is burning excess calories from that specialty coffee or hardcore greasy lunch you had earlier.
Whether you are having a great convo about fashion updates, such as “Is she really wearing that?” or letting off some steam about your boss, you can bet that somewhere in there you will get a chuckle… a smile… even a smirk. Talking to a friend who is down and out can make you down and out. When necessary, make light of the conversation, or situation. Talk to them in a light hearted tone. Make them smile.
Smile at strangers and children. Within reason, and if your smile isn’t creepy, you won’t receive negative feedback from others. There is a rule that many companies live by. This is called the ten foot rule. What happens is when someone is within ten feet of you, smile at them. If they return the smile, you have succeeded.
Exchange medicine secrets in a great and humorous manner. Explain to your friends how you feel lately that you can open your own pharmacy just by having open heart surgery. There they are, and the good stuff is in the back. Regardless of how you do it, find time to giggle while you can.
You will definitely thank yourself later for the good laugh. Your sides may hurt and your jaw may try to lock in place, but in the end, you feel great all over. This is the medical cure that cannot be found in a single doctor’s office. It really is true, laughter is the best medicine.
What do you call art? Is it the beauty of the world around you? Or is it the magnificent and very antique paintings and statues in the gallery?
Any of the many female tattoo artists will tell you that art is what you perceive it as. These women work day and night to get the art done that you see on men and women alike. And their honest opinion? If you don’t like it, don’t look at it.
The pretty inky stuff that these women use is FDA approved. They are licensed, they are trained, and they know what they are doing. Anyone of them that tells you they are and can’t prove it, find another parlor. Obviously, they don’t need your time that bad. They don’t need your business, and you don’t need them.
Look for signs of cleanliness. Sometimes, parlors can be absolutely disgusting and would be the kind that you wouldn’t bring a dog you hate into. Others? bring a fork and spoon. I guarantee that you can eat off the toilet seats and never even think about catching anything. You could probably lick your food off the floor and it be cleaner than when the marketer packaged it.
Your design is permanent. But the really totally awesome thing is now many of the artists are doing temporary tats. This could be anything from the lick and stick inkies to airbrush designs. It gives you, the art wearer, an idea of what it will look like without causing permanent damage to the skin and blood flow. Removal of the permanent tats require laser surgery, intense care of the area, and a definite commitment to have it taken off.
AKA: Make sure that is indeed what you want. That name could haunt you for the rest of your life, afterlife, children’s lives, grandchildren’s lives… you get the idea.
For great ideas, you can search or even draw them up yourself. Some of these artists are absolutely amazing with a colored pencil. Some them make you think that coloring is all they studied in kindergarten and why didn’t we get really cool grades for drawing way back then. No matter what your design is, ask before being printed. Your artist of choice, the creme’ de la creme, the peachiest of them all, may refer you to someone else who can better handle what you are looking for.
Watch out for that art! It may be offensive to someone, but if you have it done, make sure it is what you want. It’s your body. Create it the way you want.
as long as it gets rid of the sound around you. Sometimes I’ll listen to the soundtrack of a musical, and other times I’ll listen to music I don’t know the lyrics to. It just depends on what I am in the mood for and what I think is going to give me the best chance of working efficiently throughout the day. 
