Get More Done: How Your Brain Keeps You Distracted at Work (And how to fix it)

Let’s set the scene: you’re set to work on the budget submission due at the end of next week. You just need to run some numbers. Your email notification pops up, and you decide to ignore it. You aren’t sure were to start on the budget. Joe from finance sticks his head in to chat about the hockey game. You get back to the budget. Another email pops up – this one is worth reading. You decide to handle it and whip out a quick reply. You get back to the budget. Five minutes in, you decide you need a coffee. By the end of the day, you realize that you accomplished only a fraction of the budget work you planned. You wonder where the day went. You decide to stay late and get more done. You are amazed at how much you can accomplish once everyone else leaves the office.

I used to have days like this all the time. I told myself that it was a result of the large portfolio I managed and the number of staff I looked after. Turns out – that was just a story I was telling myself. Are you the same?

We often think that time management is about things outside our control, that we are “victims” to our circumstances. It turns out, it’s about our brain and the choices that we make multiple times a day. Your brain, amazing organ that it is, has a set of priorities: it wants to protect us, conserve energy and find enjoyment, to name a few. That is why when we sit down to focus on something as taxing as updating or creating a budget, it resists. It requires focus and energy when it would rather be scrolling on Instagram or chatting with Joe. So, it try’s to distract us. It likes when we check the emails that pop up because it gets a hit of dopamine when we do that, which perpetuates the endless cycle of distraction and even addiction.

If you want to improve your time management and get things done faster, then you need to start training your brain. This involves intentionally planning your day and sticking to your plan even when your brain would rather do something else. Start by listing all the tasks you need to get done, prioritize them and then schedule them into your calendar in 2-hour blocks. Within each task block, break down the task into small steps, this is easier for your brain to get behind. Then, the most important part – when that task block comes up on your schedule – turn off the distractions, close your door and get it done. By doing this, you’ll find yourself more productive and less stressed. This stuff sounds simple but it really does work – take it from someone who has been there and now won’t go back!

For more information about how the brain works, check out “Distracted Brain: Causes, Consequences and Solutions”.