Maintain flow

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Sometimes it seems like the workplace is designed to keep you doing anything besides, well...working. If you’re a manager, this is a serious problem because everything at work hinges on your ability to effectively lead your team. Still, distractions abound in most offices, from buzzing phones to watercooler chit-chat to the endless lure of surfing the web. With all this chaos, it’s difficult to achieve the intense state of concentration known as flow, where employees of all levels do their best work.

Flow is a state of mind that occurs when all your conscious thought is focused on what you are doing. Unfortunately, in the modern workplace, flow can be difficult to achieve and maintain. As a result, you are a less productive manager and stay stressed out at work. But by weeding out typical office distractions and interruptions, you can improve your focus, get more done and become a more effective manager.

Even if you’re one of the many managers struggling to maintain focus at work, you can achieve a state of flow — which was first described in detail by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi — by managing or eliminating the distractions that pull you out of concentration.

Flow breakers

Email, email, and more email. Many emails in your inbox are probably not particularly important, and yet you may feel you must look at them when they arrive. Instead, try these tactics:

• Schedule checking time. Turn off the alert that appears on your computer screen when you receive an email, and check and respond to messages at set times instead. This helps you manage your coworkers’, managers’, and customers’ expectations about how and when you will reply to them.
• Choose “low-productivity” times. There are likely certain times of the day when you do your best work, like first thing in the morning or maybe late at night. Schedule email check-ins for your less-productive times and save your peak hours for high-value work.
• Turn emails into actions. If you need more than a few minutes to read an email, add it to your to-do list.

Confusion due to overwhelming workload. Always try to have a manageable to-do list, because having one that’s too long can lead to procrastination, as you wonder which task to tackle next. Each day, commit to accomplishing the two most important tasks on your list, and put the rest on hold until tomorrow.

In our study we found that 79.5 percent of managers view prioritizing tasks effectively as one of the most important planning and time management skills.

Other people. Colleagues visiting your desk can be a big source of distraction, but you’re also a manager who wants to be available for your team members. So, if you don’t want to be disturbed at times when you need to focus on a task, consider either working at home or in a conference room. If you have your own office, close the door and tell your team that you need to be left alone to concentrate for a while.

Shortfalls in your own well-being. It takes a lot of mental and physical energy to juggle your priorities, manage visitors and have the discipline to control your use of technology. So it’s vital that you take care of yourself. Get plenty of sleep and make sure you drink enough water, as dehydration can make you feel tired and impact your thinking. It’s also important to get some fresh air and take a brisk walk during the day — this will energize you. And try to avoid heavy lunches and sugar-laden snacks, as they can lead to a slump in concentration later in the day.

It’s easier than ever to lose track of what you should be doing at work, but you can still take steps to avoid distractions and improve flow. Learning to better manage these “flow breakers” is a valuable skill that can be practiced and sharpened over time. And when you can achieve flow more easily, you will not only become a better manager, but you’ll set a great example for your team as well.

James Manktelow and Julian Birkinshaw are the authors of Mind Tools for Managers: 100 Ways to Be a Better Boss. Birkinshaw is academic director of the Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the London Business School. Manktelow is founder and CEO of MindTools.com. www.mindtools.com/mindtoolsbook