During the summer months, it can often be difficult to stay focused. Let’s be honest, when the sun’s shining outside and friends and colleagues are on holiday, the last place you really want to be is sitting in an office. So what can you do to ensure you’re staying motivated and keeping on top of your work? Here are my five top tips:
1. Set yourself small targets
We all have deadlines to meet, but if they’re a few weeks in advance you may find yourself becoming distracted and thinking that you have more time than you actually do. It’s very easy to drift away from big goals and then find that they creep up unexpectedly. However, if you set yourself small, achievable targets each day – perhaps even with a reward system that works for you – this will help you to focus.
2. Introduce a new emphasis
Every month, it’s a good idea to be introducing a new emphasis to your business or role. This may be a new target market, or a different way to operate, for example. By doing this you will have something different to work towards to keep your motivation levels up.
3. Learn from mistakes
We’re all human, so we all make mistakes and have bad days at work, but the key thing is how you react to them. The important point is to be able to bounce back afterwards and learn from where you went wrong. If you dwell on errors that you’ve made, the chances are you’ll only make more.
4. Get competitive
Everyone has a competitive streak in them somewhere and a challenge with a colleague can be a great way to focus your mind on a task. This works even better if there’s a reward at the end of it, but keep it friendly so that it doesn’t cause friction in the office.
5. Have fun
I’d argue that the most important factor when it comes to staying motivated is to take breaks and enjoy yourself. No matter how busy your workload, it’s always important to find the right balance. I find that I’m always much more productive if I’ve been doing something that I enjoy. For me, this might be going to the gym or playing football and, while the weather’s still nice, we need to make the most of it!