How to Stay Focused at Work During Stressful Times: 5 Practical Tips
April is Stress Awareness Month, which coincides not-so-coincidentally with tax season. Trying to organize everything outside of work hours can be frantic and cause your thoughts to drift elsewhere.
Staying focused when the world feels like a tornado spinning around you is difficult, but it is also necessary if you don’t want the added stress of fumbling the ball at work. Stress can affect productivity, make you late for meetings, reduce the quality of your work, and affect your relationships with co-workers. Luckily, there are strategies for staying ahead of it.
1. Divide and Conquer
When dealing with things at home, sharing the load eases the stress on everyone. If you’re working on a big project like filing taxes, consider hiring a professional to manage it or break down the process into smaller tasks. For people with pretty straightforward taxes, there are several free or low-cost options available.
If you are dealing with an elderly parent or young child who needs care, the same principle of divide and conquer will help you feel less stressed. In cases like this, most tasks can end up falling on the spouse who makes less money or works from home. Ensure they are supported by using chore apps or hiring help for tasks like cleaning where funds are available.
2. Reduce Stress Outside of Work Hours
Unenjoyable activities can drain your energy and happiness. Recognizing and cutting out these time-consuming habits that are eating up your bandwidth is crucial. Don’t sacrifice things you love, such as going to the gym or meeting up with friends, which contribute positively to your well-being. Instead, focus on eliminating activities you do out of habit or obligation, which may increase your stress levels.
Consider evaluating your routine and identifying any unproductive tasks that no longer serve you. By consciously choosing to spend your time on fulfilling activities, you create space for joy and relaxation. Make a list of activities you enjoy and prioritize; this way, you can break free from unnecessary commitments and focus on what truly matters to you.
3. Tackle Work-Related Stress
Gallup’s 2024 State of the Global Workplace reported that 49% of North American workers reported work-related stress. While most jobs will be stressful occasionally, they shouldn’t be a constant source of stress. Depression and anxiety are products of stress, and the World Health Organization reported that over $1 trillion is lost in productivity from people who are depressed or anxious.
Some things that you can do to combat stress at work include:
- Talk to your supervisor to strategize ways to reduce your stress
- Use AI solutions and tools to automate low-level tasks
- Tackle interpersonal conflicts through HR and/or your manager
- Use data to drive your workplace decisions versus relying solely on how you’re feeling
Companies that want to combat this potential lost productivity can do the following for their employees:
- Increase mental health benefits
- Allow staff breaks for things like working out, therapy, or something else enjoyable in the middle of the day
- Take measures to eliminate workplace bullying
4. Practice “Tough Love” Time Management
If you work from home, you’ve probably already mastered the art of saying “no” to things asked of you because you are perceived as having the time to do them. This can include being expected to care for children, handle household repairs, or take on a bigger chore load.
If you’re dealing with a more considerable demand on your time, such as taking care of an elderly parent or being expected to run errands for a sick family member, circle back to the divide-and-conquer strategy. Establish strict boundaries around your work time, including working behind a locked door or in a co-working space to decrease constant non-work demands.
For people easily distracted by screens, several tech solutions lock you out of everything except what you should be working on. Take advantage of your phone’s ability to block unknown callers and mute texts during work hours. This will still allow you to get emergency calls from family or friends without distractions.
Establishing firm boundaries around work may not make you popular with the people needing your help, but once they learn to change their behavior, you will be better able to get your work done.
5. Schedule Regular Check-Ins With Your Supervisor
Regular check-ins are always a good idea but are a must if you’re having a particularly stressful time. Your manager can help you find solutions to problems you’re facing at work when you may need some extra brainpower, and monitoring solutions like Prodoscore can give both of you insights on when your productivity is dipping and where there are opportunities to improve it.
Sometimes, we just can’t change the forces making our lives stressful. When it happens, the best strategy is to lean on others and set rigid boundaries around your work hours. People always want to help someone through it, and they’ll perceive you more positively if you ask for help.
Do you want to know if your productivity is dipping and how to improve it? Prodoscore is the employee productivity monitoring solution that offers active coaching, full transparency, and insights into how you can improve.
