How to Refocus After Finishing a Task

If there’s one thing we can all admit about working from home, it’s that distractions are aplenty. Whether they take the form of your three month old Dachshund puppy wanting to play fetch or an email announcing a sale on your favorite brand of sneakers, it can be hard to focus when working from your home or apartment. This isn’t to say that you need to be focusing 100% of the time — that would be impossible. But with this shift to remote working, there comes an opportunity to be more mindful with how our time is spent and where our focus is placed. 

One area that we’ve noticed can be even trickier is refocusing after you’ve completed a task. Many of us give ourselves 5 or 10 minute breaks once we’ve checked sometime off of our Hive to-do list, but what happens when that break is over? How can you pull yourself off of Instagram or away from your roommate and get back to business? 

Common Roadblocks to Productivity

Before we dive into the specific strategies you can use to refocus, it’s important to understand the various roadblocks to productivity that you might be facing. There are lots of reasons why you might find it hard to plug away at your to-do list, including the following:

Lack of a Schedule

Sometimes, people struggle to refocus after finishing a task because they don’t have a clear plan for their day. If they haven’t made a schedule for themselves, this lack of structure can lead to difficulty knowing what to tackle next, which projects matter most, or, on the flip side, knowing when to take a break.

Some folks who don’t have schedules end up not getting enough work done throughout the day, but others find themselves working for too long without rest and then burning out. Neither of these situations is ideal for long-term productivity and focus.

Poor Sleep

If you’re feeling tired on the job, it’s going to be much harder for you to stay focused on your to-do list and be productive.

You might be able to mask your fatigue with coffee temporarily. Eventually, though, you’ll likely find that pumping yourself full of caffeine isn’t enough to keep your attention trained on the task at hand and you’ll drift off to something that’s less taxing, like online shopping.

Poor sleep can make it harder for you to block out distractions and focus on the things that matter most. If you have a habit of not sleeping well throughout the night, there’s a good chance it’s contributing to your productivity issues in the workplace.

Easy Access to Distractions

These days, we have more potential distractions at our disposal than ever before.

Our smartphones also give us immediate access to social media, shopping, games, and more. There are constant notifications flowing in, too, via email, text, chat, and other platforms that try to keep us abreast of the latest goings-on at work. With all of these distractions, it’s no wonder you’re having trouble refocusing after finishing a task. 

Lack of Priorities

Some people have a hard time moving on to another task after finishing the first one because they don’t have a clear idea of what they should be doing next.

If you fail to prioritize your to-do list and figure out which tasks need to be tackled first, you might end up in an analysis-paralysis position. Basically, when you don’t know which tasks matter most, you might end up not doing anything at all because you’re afraid of making the wrong choice about which of your to-dos to address next.

High Levels of Stress

When stress levels are high, our ability to focus dwindles. If you find that you’re constantly feeling stressed out at work, this could make it harder for you to stay engaged and get things done in a timely manner. 

When you’re stressed out, you might be more easily distracted, or you might find that you make more mistakes and take longer to complete tasks. All of this can also lead to you having trouble refocusing and moving on efficiently to the next item on your list.

How to Stay Focused and Refocus After Finishing a Task

Do any of these issues sound familiar to you? Whether you find your mind wandering after you complete one task because you’re exhausted from a poor night’s sleep or your body is fighting off intense stress, there are plenty of steps you can take to address the problem.

Here are some effective tools to help you refocus, move on to the next task as quickly as possible, and get more done at work:

Set Clear Boundaries

One of the most important things you can do if you find that you struggle to refocus after finishing a task is to create a schedule for yourself.

Set clear boundaries around when you’ll work and when you’ll take breaks. Doing this will make it easier for you to avoid burnout and fatigue throughout the day. As a result, you’ll be able to move on to the next task more quickly and increase your productivity. 

Give yourself specific assignments to tackle during each period of time dedicated to working, too. This will help you to eliminate that analysis-paralysis feeling, take all the guesswork out of the equation, and give yourself a clear idea of what you need to address.

You can utilize Hive to assign yourself tasks for each specific day and plot out your work so you’re never overwhelmed. Hive also makes it easy to collaborate with coworkers on action items or projects, so you’re never tackling something alone.

Prioritize Your To-Do List

It also helps to spend some time each day prioritizing your to-do list. You can do this as you’re creating your schedule so that you know exactly what you need to do and when you need to do it.

Organize the items on your to-do list based on which ones need to be completed first. That way, you’ll know what to turn to after you’ve finished the first item.

You can also leave work feeling accomplished at the end of the day, knowing that you’ve addressed the most important tasks. Even if you didn’t get everything done, you’ll at least feel confident that the things that matter most have been handled.

In Hive, you can mark your most pressing tasks as urgent, which helps highlight them on your to-do list. You can also categorize by project, which can help you sift through which projects and tasks are most pressing so you can focus your energy there.

Minimize Distractions

If there are tons of distractions in your workspace (aka home), refocusing after finishing a task will be much harder. Assess your surroundings and identify the distractions that cause the most problems for you. Is it the notifications popping up on your computer screen? Are your roommates regular sales calls pulling you away from your work?

Once you’ve figured out what’s distracting you, you can take steps to eliminate the issue. For example, can you mute notifications on your computer and give yourself dedicated times for checking email or text messages? Can you wear noise-canceling headphones?

Practice Mindfulness

When you practice mindfulness on a regular basis, it’s easier for you to stay present and resist distractions. This, in turn, will help you move on to your next task more easily.

There are lots of guided meditations that you can access through apps or online to help yourself get better at being mindful. You don’t need additional tools to practice, though. You can simply set a timer on your phone or computer, close your eyes, and focus on your breath until the timer goes off.

Your mind will wander as you do this, especially in the beginning. When it happens, just remind yourself to return to your breath. It’s okay to get distracted. The key is to refocus your attention on one thing (in this case, your breath) as soon as possible.

We’re big fans of Simple Habit here at Hive, too, and we even cultivated a specific Hive & Simple Habit playlist for your listening pleasure.

Check-in with Yourself

Along with your mindfulness sessions, it’s important to hold regular check-ins with yourself. After you’ve finished focusing on your breath, take a second to see how you’re doing. Are you tired? Hungry? Thirsty?

If you’re not taking care of your health on a basic level by addressing these things, you’re going to be more prone to distractions and have a harder time being productive. Regular check-ins will help you make sure your basic needs are taken care of so that you can be a healthier and more effective worker. 

Use Technology

It’s true that technology can be a major source of distraction for lots of people. You can use it to your advantage, though. There are lots of apps and online tools that can help you to focus and make sure you’re re-engaging as quickly as possible between tasks.

For example, you might want to try using a website blocker that prevents you from accessing social media or online shopping sites during certain hours. Utilizing a tool like Hive for you and your team can also help streamline approval processes, enhance communication, and serve as a centralized all-in-one hub for the tools you use, limiting the time you spend flipping between apps.

Give Yourself Deadlines

When you’re creating your schedule, make sure you’re also assigning yourself deadlines for various tasks and projects in a tool like Hive. 

This is helpful even if you’re working on projects that already have designated deadlines. By breaking your projects up into smaller tasks and assigning deadlines for each of those smaller tasks, you can maintain your focus and avoid procrastination.

This will help you to stay motivated and make it easier for you to refocus, too. You’ll get to enjoy a quick burst of dopamine when to check off one part of the project and will feel more eager to move on to the next one — Hive makes it easy to check tasks off quickly and view all completed or upcoming tasks in a project.

Organize Your Environment

Finally, take the time to organize your environment. Whether your work in a more traditional office or at home, you deserve to have a clean, clutter-free workspace.

Clutter can be a major source of stress for a lot of people. It creates a feeling of chaos and could be contributing to your difficulty staying focused and re-engaging after finishing certain tasks.

Try to only keep items on your desk that you need to do your job. Don’t let it turn into a coffee cup graveyard or a pile of old papers and sticky notes. 

One strategy that can help with this is scheduling a daily tidy-up period. Every day, dedicate 5-10 minutes to cleaning up your workspace.

This ensures that you start the next workday with a clean, organized desk. It will also save you from potential issues that could prevent you from moving on to the next task as quickly as possible. For example, you’ll no longer have to worry about wasting valuable work time trying to clean the area or locate an important item that you’ve misplaced.

Improve Your Focus Today

Difficulty focusing is a common issue for a lot of people. If you find that your attention drifts throughout the day and that you’re not getting as much done as you’d like, you’re not alone.

The good news is that there are lots of effective strategies you can use to combat this problem, refocus, and maximize your productivity. Keep the tips listed above in mind and you’ll have a much easier time re-engaging after finishing each task on your to-do list.

Try a two week free trial of Hive to power and streamline your overall productivity, and keep yourself focused throughout the day.