What are your go-to strategies for staying focused and minimizing distractions during work hours?

Here’s my personal list : - Set specific goals - Eliminate phone notifications - Prioritize tasks - Practice mindfulness 👌

For me what has worked best has been organizing the day in three parts. Morning time focused on emails, drafting, and all other "office" style tasks. Afternoon calls and teamwork. Evening for urgencies and focus heavy tasks where one doesn't want to get interrupted no matter what. On top of that trying to convert all message-heavy conversations into quick calls, and moving all emails and chats to a separate screen.

For me definitely making to do lists and putting my phone away to avoid the temptation of checking it and then getting distracted

Minimised notifications Removed superfluous tools Stopped using automations

What works for me: - to-do lists by highest priority - smartphone in another room (when remote) and paused notifications (when in the office) - frequent short breaks and stretches (it helps with blood flow and circulation, thus maintaining longer periods of quality focus + eliminating back and neck pain from sitting for 8h+) - eating daily meals at the same time (it helps with consistent energy levels and focus)

Hey Elif! Love the discussion here. I also swear by setting specific goals and eliminating notifications. Additionally, I find occasional breaks and a tidy workspace can work wonders. Excited for BeforeSunset's new features! 🚀

Block time in G calendar for my priorities in advance!

Great discussion topic, Elif! Personally, as a marketer, I want to be as close in contact with my target market while working. So I tend to work in cafés where most do remote work. I observe them and this informs my marketing campaigns. Worse thing to do as a marketer is to do stuff in a silo and in isolation - or from the perspective of the company. Plus working in public naturally discourages my visiting of youtube or extended use of social media. Everyone wants to look busy and accomplished in a public setting, so I'm using that mentally to work for me.

What works best for me is having a dedicated Whitespace Time: a weekly block of 3-4 hours built into your calendar that’s completely dedicated to the Maker’s Schedule. This will allow you to focus solely on creative problem-solving and proactive projects instead of reactively doing tasks. To learn more about it, you can read this article: https://hubs.li/Q02750tV0

There are 3 things I do in particular that keep me locked in. 1. Set specific goals to be done in X amount of time (25-min block, day, week, etc.). I do this with a 1-2 lists as well as Trello. 2. Use the Pomodoro method or other time-blocking strategies to focus on prioritized tasks. 3. Turn off phone notifications. Being intentional with phone use throughout the day is a big one for me. Looking forward to seeing the new features!

I don't force myself to not be distracted. That in and of itself becomes a distraction. Its natural for your focus to shift, especially if you've been working on something for a few hours. Interestingly, I've had some amazing creative ideas or bursts of motivation while being "distracted." I just go with the flow. It's okay to take a break from what you're doing and allow yourself to be distracted every now and then. Just don't make it a prolonged distraction.

my personal tips are: Paying attention to small details, i stay quit five minutes before start working and practicing mindfulness and gratitude.

Keep a log of your daily accomplishments. It's motivating to see how much you've achieved.

Creating my to-do list, target completion and dependencies on each task. Then headphones on to get started with my day.

Deadlines & listening to music during work.

That is my approach: write down a to do list daily and when I finish one of the tasks on it. Never touch my phone during working time.