Welcome to VERCIDA website.
Skip to main contentFollow these simple steps to stay focused at work.
Our working environment hosts a plethora of distractions making it challenging for many employees to stay focused on a task.
High workloads, multitasking, meetings, open plan work environments (that are not suited to all personality types) and not to mention the constant flow of information via email, internet and social media all play a role, leading employees to experience a cycle of anxiety and stress about not fulfilling the daily tasks, monthly outcomes and annual appraisal targets. This then leads to more stress and an increased lack of focus.
Is multi-tasking a myth?
Multi-tasking has long been a celebrated ‘skill’, however, consider this statement by world-renowned neuroscientist and founder of the Centre for Investigating Healthy Minds Richard Davidson.
Speaking in September at an event with the Dalai Lama “Creating a Happier World he said, “Multitasking is a myth. Multitasking is shifting our attention rapidly, it deteriorates the results of what we do and think.”
As creatures of habit, rapidly jumping from one thing to the next can quickly become a habitual way of being and behaving. As a result we can not only feel distracted but we can also begin to experience sustained levels of anxiety and burn out. This in turn can result in a lack of motivation, underperformance, stress, low mood and at worse depression.
How then can we respond to distractions and stay focused?
Our contemporary western culture strains and often overwhelms the brain with more information than it evolved to handle. Some things we can’t control or change directly – like the high work expectations of the job, the office work space or who we have to work with, but how we respond to external situations, events and happenings in terms of our thinking, behaviour and communication is within our control.
Further good news is that in the same way we form habits such as being unfocused and getting distracted by social media, the internet, colleagues or a dynamic work environment, we can undo them and form new ones.
Research on meditation by Cortland Dahl, Antoine Lutz and Richard Davidson at the Centre for Investigating Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin-Madison shows that we can change the brain by transforming the mind. That meditation produces measurable changes in the brain that reflect the brain’s inherent neuroplasticity, the idea that experience and training can alter the structure and function of the brain.
The benefits of becoming more self-aware
To change our habit of being easily distracted and unfocused to one that is focused on the task we need to become self-aware. And self-awareness requires an inner discipline, a willingness to pause and to look, to observe how we do what we do. When we become aware of our habits, we can do something about them.
Becoming self-aware then also requires a willingness to make an effort to change, to make progress, to train our mind to pay attention to one thing at a time.
Try setting an intention at the start of each day
Setting an intention at the beginning of the day can greatly influence how we are and behave throughout the day. For example, when getting up, over breakfast or on our way to work, we can take a moment, breathe, and say to ourselves: “Today, I want to slow down, stay focused and pay attention to one thing at a time.”
It helps raise our awareness to keep on track with how we want to be and behave moment by moment. The more we practice doing one thing at a time, the more likely we will form a new habit, one that allows us to stay focused regardless of what’s going on around us.
Top tips to share with your managers and employees that support the change from being distracted to being focused at work.
What else supports our attention span at work?
In conclusion
To train the mind, to stay focused at work is a discipline. Employees need to take responsibility to increase their self-awareness, to develop and self-manage more effectively. To train the mind, to practice mindfulness, is a tall task for many of us within the business of daily work life. Employers can support their staff by offering mindfulness. The pay-off can be huge for employers as well as employees.
VERCIDA works with over one hundred clients who are committed to creating an inclusive work environment. If you are an employer and interested in working with VERCIDA to promote your diversity and inclusion initiatives and attract the best candidates, please call 02037405973 or email [email protected] for more information.
We are also officially recommended by Disability Confident as a step on achieving Employer status, please click here for more information.
Thank you for registering on VERCIDA - the leading job site for companies that are passionate about diversity and inclusion.
Please proceed to the next step. If you are unable to complete the next stage of application please use the contact form HERE.