After a relaxing, fun weekend, I started this past Monday full of energy, completely ready to plunge headfirst into work. Naively I thought “This week I am actually going to work ahead.” I had so many goals, including organizing my files, planning through the end of the year and more.
And then this happened (ignore the dusty keyboard and focus on my fabulous duct tape skills).
Somehow, I caused pretty serious damage to the portal required to power my laptop.
If I am lucky enough to position the cord and tape it just so, I can power my computer for short increments before it dies. Most often, however, I haven’t been able to power my laptop at all. I work from home, and while our fantastic IT department was very quick to send me a replacement, the whole thing absolutely killed my productivity. Now, I’m feeling behind, hurried and anxious because I’ve lost hours of work.
Both you and I know that setbacks are inevitable, and daily we will have urgent issues and unexpected problems pop up that will completely throw us of off track. It is how we recover that makes the difference between success and failure.
When someone or something kills your productivity, follow these steps (I promise to do the same):
- Breathe and take a moment to put things in perspective. That eases your anxiety so that you can focus on what needs to be done.
- Prioritize. Every task isn’t urgent. Establish a list of the three most critical tasks for you to complete first. If you aren’t sure how to prioritize your work, ask your boss to outline the tasks he or she deems most important, or focus first on those items that other people are waiting on, for example, reports that you need to sign off on.
- Commit to “power hours.” Start with your top priority and focus on it for a full hour. Turn off your phone and email, shut down social media, and concentrate totally on that task. If you finish it within the hour, great. Take a break, and when you return, move on to another task for an hour. If you don’t finish your top priority, still take a break and resume work afterward. Keep that up until you have completed your priorities. Then start the whole process over.
While intense focus like that may not be possible every day, all day, it is critical to getting back on track and striking items off your to-do list.
What is the biggest productivity killer you’ve faced at work? Share your stories and how you recovered in the comments section!
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