Thursday, August 20, 2015

Fight Brain Drain at Work




By Ashley Vickney, Intern, Leonard & Finco Public Relations, Inc.

Working in public relations means that you have to learn how to multi-task. Making the most of every minute is important, and many of us are proud of our ability to do more than one task at a time. However studies show that multi-tasking is bad for our brain, even causing us to lose IQ points.  An avid multi-tasker myself, I’ve started to take steps to concentrate on one task at a time. Here’s how I’m trying to retrain my brain. 

  • Be Aware of What You’re Doing: I check my email and news notifications a little too much. One day this week tally how many times you stop what you’re doing to do something else. If you’re aware of it then you can change it.
  • Train Yourself: Instead of trying to spend an entire hour on one task right away, set a timer for 5 minutes. In that five minutes consciously stop yourself from checking email, social media or your cell phone.  Do this a couple of times, and then try 10 minutes. As you train your brain to concentrate, you’ll be more effective and efficient with your time. 
  • Manage your energy, not your time: I know that writing an article right away in the morning is better for me because I naturally have more energy right away. For others, waiting until later in the day is more effective. 
  • Schedule Time: Try to schedule time for checking your email, phone and social media accounts. It’s easier to concentrate on one task knowing that soon you can check in with the world. 
Soon you’ll notice yourself being more productive and maybe even creating better work! What do you do to make the most of your day?

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