Do you ever feel like there are just not enough hours in the day? Are you at the office for long hours, every day and still seem be way behind all the time? Perhaps the problem is not your workload but rather the approach you are taking to overcome it. I’m talking about the difference between being at work and actually working.

It’s very easy to confuse time you spend at the office or working with actual productive time. The former are the hours and minutes you spend at the office or, if you work from home, the time you spend staring at the laptop screen. That should not be confused with productive time which is the time spent doing actual work. Although the internet, our smart phones and tablets have given us so much, they have also given us the gift of distraction – it’s SO easy to just click on link or a shortcut and blow away some precious time looking at a vaguely interesting article or some unfortunate but hilarious pictures (here you go…. can you resist that link!?!).

Some of today’s tools unwittingly enable distraction and procrastination which negatively affects productivity and ultimately, costs you time!

I’m pretty sure you (like me) would simply respond to the above by stating you will not allow yourself to be distracted. You will be laser focused on your task list (you have one, right?) and you have the self control to not let yourself click on such frivolous links as above or check the sports news?

Did you know though that research has proven our self control – our precious will-power – actually decreases the more we use it. In other words, the more we practice self control, the less self control we actually have. It’s a limited resource. A 2007 study by Florida State University and Texas A&M, titled “Self-Control Relies on Glucose as a Limited Energy Source: Willpower Is More Than a Metaphor” stated;

Self-control seems to rely on a limited energy or strength, such that engaging in a single act of self-control impairs subsequent attempts at self-control, as if some sort of energy had been used up during the initial act.

In other words, resistance will only get you so far. Several other studies have been conducted and all of them confirm the above. Here’s that link again from above in case you want it. So what can we do to avoid distraction?

In essence, we are programmed to take the “path of least resistance”. For example,  is it easier to work on your report or to check on the latest entertainment gossip? It’s probably easier to click on the shortcut in your browser. So rather than attempting to make working on the report easier, we need to make the unwanted behaviors harder to do. Some tips to help, and this is by no means a complete list so feel free to do what works for you, include;

• Bury your Desktop / Start Menu Shortcuts
  By putting your shortcuts to your favourite time wasting browser / app / game into a folder, within a folder, within a folder, within a folder (you get the idea!!!) it makes it more difficult to just launch it making it less likely you’re going to turn to it during the day. This works equally well for favourites within a browser as it does for application shortcuts.
• Disable cookies / auto-complete forms on your browser
  Having to sign into a site and navigate through it to find your favorite teams news, stock quote, whatever is more difficult than having the site remember you and your preferences. Again, introducing this minor hindrance does have a positive impact on your usage and makes you more productive during the day
  
• Turn off Mobile Data / Wi-Fi on your Phone
  Having your phone inform you of a new Facebook message or getting a stock alert is the perfect excuse to down tools and waste a few moments on something non-essential. During the workday, why not switch off the data capability on your phone and get some peace from it. It may even save you some money!!!

While these things will help, it’s important that you use this wisely – the intention is not that you do the above and simply work more! The idea is this will help you to get more done, in less time to give you more time to do some of the important stuff – getting to know colleagues, building your network at the office and spending time with your friends (having a beer?). The time we spend away from the office helps to reduce our stress levels, which helps our ability to overcome problems and be productive. In fact, research has shown that our ability to overcome stress is directly related to our social relationships! It’s important to have a social support structure so spending time with folks is important – don’t forget it.

If you’re more productive in the office, then you should be able to carve out more time away from the desk and achieve a more balanced day where you don’t spend your time tied to the desk and hopefully, get on top of that workload.