How to avoid distractions???

10 Smart Tips to Prevent Distractions and Sharpen Your Focus

How to avoid distractions??

Your ability to stay focused is more than just a worthwhile thing to cultivate--it's a critical factor in your success or failure. Getting things done is imperative, and focus is the key to getting things done.

Here are 10 tips to help you stay focused at work by managing distraction, drawing healthy boundaries, and eliminating opportunities for procrastination:

1. Check up on yourself.

Distractions can be internal as well as external, so start by looking within. If you're all over the place, ask yourself what's really going on. What's the source of your flightiness or anxiety? What do you need to be working on in your life?

2. Pinpoint the cause.

Once you have your internal priorities sorted out, look at more external causes. Is it your office setup? An intrusive co-worker? A lack of skill, ideas, or time for something you need to be doing? Burnout? When you can identify the cause, you can fix the effect.

3. Be prepared.

All successful leaders are great planners; they make lists for every major and minor objective. When a task comes your way, spend some time thinking about how you will accomplish it. Write down every step necessary from start to finish, with a timeline (even if it's a rough one). There is a saying that every 10 minutes you spend on planning saves an hour in execution.

4. Go offline.

Some of the biggest sources of distraction come from email, social media, and cell phones. If you want real focus, take yourself offline until you've accomplished what you need to do.

5. Give yourself a break.

One of the keys to doing great work is to know when to take a break. When you start to feel distracted, take a break, and then reassess and refocus yourself. It doesn't just act as a reward--a short break can help your mind become clearer.

6. Tune it out.

One of the best ways to tune everything out is to tune in to music. When everything around you is distracting, put on your headphones--find something that can serve as background music rather than music that holds your full attention. Music can help you concentrate, and the headphones signal others that you're not available to chat.

7. Break it down.

Especially when distractions are high, make tasks smaller and break down your large projects into smaller tasks to help you concentrate and give you a sense of accomplishment and progress.

8. Clean it up.

What's the state of your office or workspace? If it's dirty, disorganized, or cluttered, invest some time in clearing it out so you can focus.

9. Set a deadline.

If you're working on a complex task, it takes an average of 90 minutes to accomplish anything worthwhile--and about 30 minutes just to get your mind on the task. Once you are in the flow, set a concentrated period of time--and when the time runs out, stop. It's easier to stay focused when you have an end in sight.

10. Become an early bird.

This is a simple thing, but the rewards are great if you can pull it off: Start your workday an hour before everyone else. Use that hour to organize your day and to get started before there are any distractions. Similarly, skip the long office lunches most days and instead give yourself a short break to take a walk or clear your head, with something light and nutritious to keep your blood sugar steady. You're literally giving yourself time and energy.

The distractions that surround us aren't going anywhere, so learning to overcome them is one of the best things you can do for yourself.

Give some of these ideas a try, and let me know if you're feeling more effective and less .

INSPERITYVIEW

4-Step Plan for Your Most Important Asset

If you consider employees your most important asset, you can't afford to overlook this plan.

You took great pains to create your business plan. You developed a strategic vision. But there's one other plan businesses often overlook: a human resources (HR) plan.

An HR plan gets your people ready to execute on your business strategy and goals. It helps you prepare your current staff and anticipate the people you'll need to add in the future. It preps your business for employee turnover and your managers for making future hiring decisions more strategically. A good HR plan should also include a succession plan, so you can limit disruptions to your business should there be a change in management or structure.

Here are four critical steps to creating an effective HR plan for your company.

1. Assess your current workforce

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Your first step in strategic HR planning is identifying your current employees' knowledge, skills and abilities. This includes evaluating your employees' strengths, education levels and additional training or certifications.

But you shouldn't stop there. You should also consider what talents they have beyond their current job descriptions. For example, your data entry employee may also have a knack for building customer relationships. You can pick up on these less obvious talents by getting to know your employees through regular conversations - both formal and informal.

Having a system (like an interactive organizational chart) to capture and archive your employees' information can make keeping track of your employees' talents easier. At the same time, your employees will feel more valued if it's clear that you're making note of their strengths. Performance reviews can also help you determine when employees are willing and able to assume additional responsibilities.

2. Create employee development plans

The top reason employees stay with a company is they feel challenged by their work, according to an Aberdeen report. In fact, 34 percent reported that they are sticking with their current employer because they foresee an opportunity to be part of the future growth of the company.

To make a real impact, your employees' work needs to support the company's growth goals.

You can do this by making an employee development plan for your employees. This will help you create clear direction on how to increase their skills and advance their careers so that your business can forge ahead. Follow these steps to help make sure your employees' development plans are on point. (Learn more about employee development plans here.)

3. Perform a gap analysis

A gap analysis helps you identify what resources your company has and what you'll need in the future. When performing a gap analysis, you'll assess your HR practices and infrastructure to determine where your company is falling short. For example, some of your HR practices may be designed to fit where your company was five years ago, but don't meet your needs today or where you plan to be soon. After a gap analysis, you can improve your current procedures and implement new practices that will better support your business's growth.

When conducting a gap analysis, take a look at your:

• Job descriptions. Do they match the expectations you currently have for your employees and outline all the necessary skills and requirements?
• Employee handbook. Have you reviewed and/or refreshed it in the last two years? Check to see if your policies are still aligned with employment laws. This is especially important if you've expanded into new cities or states where you may be subject to different regulations. When was the last time your employees read the handbook? Consider asking them to re-read it once you make updates.
• Training programs. Are your employees being prepared for their roles in an organized way that still makes sense according to business needs?
• Health benefits. Are you providing what is required by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) while also meeting the needs of your employees?
• Sick days. New paid sick day standards are emerging across the country in a few states and a growing number of cities. Check the  to be sure you're in compliance.
• Business performance. If revenue is climbing, it may make sense to up your contributions to your employees' retirement accounts or award more days of PTO, which will add value to your total rewards package. If revenue is down, consider scaling back on some of those benefits to help stabilize your business.

Review the information you have gathered about your current workforce. Do you have enough people? Do they have the right skills and know-how to help you achieve your business goals?

This information can help you decide what jobs need to be filled and who would be the best fit. From there, you can determine if you can promote from within or if you'll need to recruit new talent as your business grows.

4. Create a succession plan

With business growth comes change. It's inevitable. Whether it's a shift in the executive team or a reorganization of departments, you need to be prepared. A succession plan can help you minimize disruption by identifying critical roles in your business and employees who have the skills to immediately assume these positions, should someone leave.

You may choose to involve employees directly in creating your succession plan. This would mean having conversations with all of your employees to find out what their career goals are, where they see themselves in the future, and what development they feel they need in order to get there.