CONCENTRATION, CORONAVIRUS AND WORK: SOME SITES THAT MAY HELP
One of the difficulties caused by coronavirus is a problem in concentration and focusing. Even people who habitually work from home have increased problems in settling down. Here is a list of links that may help. The advice given may contradict each of other to some extent: choose the one that suits you best.
THE GUIDANCE
Lawyer specific guidance:
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In ‘Top Tips To Change the Wiring On Remote Working‘, Legal Week suggests that lawyers should get disciplined about distractions. The article suggests scheduling in specific times for checking the news to help you from disrupting your flow. It also proposes trying some productivity tools such as workflow managers to help you focus.
General guidance:
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In ‘Coronavirus: How to be productive when you have to work from home’, the Independent explains that working in short bursts can help to maintain concentration levels.
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Fast Company has a post ‘Stay safe but stop obsessing: How to prevent coronavirus from taking over your life’ which gives tips on staying focused and productive during the outbreak. It recommends that the easiest way of maintaining concentration is to stay ‘willfully uninformed’.
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The Muse gives ‘8 Tips for Combating Coronavirus Anxiety When You Still Have to Do Your Job Every Day’ as it is explained that acute stress reduces a person’s ability to pay attention.
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Make It also considers how to concentrate during the outbreak, turning to eight self-made millionaires for advice.
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Forbes offers five simple steps for focusing on your work – these are set a boundary, focus on something else, focus on what you know, focus on the benefits of work and focus on other people.
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Forbes also has a four-point guide for achieving focus in times of crisis. Step one is to get clarity, step two is to understand your role, step three is to eliminate distractions and step four is measure the results.
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Psychology Today’s article ‘How to Concentrate When You’re Working at Home’ offers useful advice including that you should realistically expect your functional capacity to be less than 100 per cent during the pandemic, and to set realistic work goals around this.
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ITV has an article ‘How to stay focused when working from home amid the coronavirus pandemic’. It raises a common point that you should set yourself regular short-term goals.
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In Stylist’s post ‘Why you’re finding it so hard to concentrate right now’, Sarah Romotsky, director of healthcare partnerships at Headspace, gives tips on how to find focus. This includes using mindfulness to focus attention and establishing a routine.