Mike Delgado

It’s easy to get distracted – especially when you’re juggling a lot of projects.

The secret to staying productive is recognizing the moments of distraction and immediately getting back on task.

There’s always an email to read, a text message to send, a Facebook stream to read, etc.

You see, there are distractions all around us – and there are plenty of excuses on why we’re not finishing up a project that has been sitting on our “to do” list.

So how do we fight distractions and stay on task?

Here are four ways …

1. Know what distracts you.
What keeps you distracted? Keep a list of items that trigger distractions for you (e.g. clicking a web browser, visiting Huffington Post, reading email, etc.). Keep this list top of mind so you recognize the trigger that is leading you to distraction. Identifying distractions is key to stopping them.

2. Set daily goals for yourself.
If you want to stay focused on your projects (and reduce procrastination), you need to set goals for yourself with specific time-frames. Not setting specific goals within a certain time-frame is the reason why we end up with items on our “to do” list that we never accomplish. And not having concrete goals makes it easier to get distracted. So set your goals – and accomplish them. No excuses.

3. Zone out everything else.
Once you know what distracts you – and have your set goals – it’s time to get hyper-focused to accomplish your projects. For me, this means putting on ear phones and listening to sounds of the ocean or rain (to block out all external noises). Second, it means turning Outlook off and closing down all windows except for the one program or window I need. Third, it means putting my phone in a drawer so that I don’t see any text messages or know that anyone is calling. The only way to get in the zone to accomplish your goals is to zone out everything else.

4. Recognize the moments you get distracted and get back on task.
Look, you’re going to get distracted no matter how hard you try to stay on task – especially if you work in an office. Your office phone can ring, employees can drop by, etc. Even while writing this article, my Outlook program alerted me to an email that looked interesting enough to start reading it. Within 15 seconds of reading it, I realized the distraction and got back to this article. The key is recognizing the distraction and getting back to work.

How do you fight distractions? How are you staying hyper-focused to finish your work?