Living in this hectic world, have we ever felt overdrawn? With a heavy workload on my back, the more I get distracted. Whether it's swiping through social **, chatting with colleagues, or browsing some short ** aimlessly...When it's time to get off work, when you show off your fruitful results, you only see a small pile. Even though the day goes by and you don't really get much substantive work done, you feel exhausted.
This may surprise you, but here's what I'm telling you: this kind of "wasted time" at work can be even more tiring than real work!
First, let's analyze the "why?" ”：
1.The cost of distraction: physical and mental suffering.
Balancing work and play, your physical and mental state can be pushed to an unprecedented level of tension. In fact, "distraction" is actually quite an "artistic" performance - you need to be in a seemingly relaxed posture and watch out for sudden "landmines" at every turn. Whether it's a sudden spot check from your boss or a sudden follow-up visit from a colleague, this mental "trepidation" can cause your muscles to become tense and your body to stiffen. Staring at computer screens and mobile phones for long periods of time can also cause eye strain and may even lead to vision loss.
Consider this "picture": you think you are stealing time, but in fact time has stolen you. You'll find that time passes faster in "distractions". You have to sacrifice your time off to offset unfinished work in the hope of making up for the "loss" of those "distractions". In this way, your eyes, neck, waist, and even every muscle in your body are paying for your "distraction", and it seems reasonable to say that you are tired.
2.Work and play at the same time: you may be depleting yourself.
Work is not just for making a living, but also for realizing personal value, in order to obtain the joy of achieving goals, and by improving self-efficacy. If you're always "distracted" at work, you may feel guilty because you know you're underperforming at work. Then when you see your colleagues who are immersed in their work, productive, and energetic, you will feel self-blame, disappointment, and stress. It's a state of exhaustion.
Roy F. Baumester, a well-known psychologistBaumeister's "self-depletion theory" states that every time you experience choices, entanglements, anxiety, distractions, etc., it will take a toll on your mental energy, which will lead to a decrease in execution and perseverance. This state of depletion affects our emotional, motivational, and cognitive processes, and ultimately our performance and performance of future tasks.
Therefore, the behavior of "distraction" will consume a lot of psychological energy, including resisting the attraction of work, the pressure of concentration, etc., which makes people lack enough energy in subsequent work, and naturally feel more tired.
3.Work and play at the same time: the cognitive burden of distraction.
For the brain, you're having fun while you're working, just like an Olympic high jumper is doing something else while you're preparing for a high jump, and this frequent scheduling of tasks can distract you and make it difficult to concentrate on your current job. This also increases the cognitive load.
The brain needs to spend more time and energy processing and integrating information between different tasks, which makes you feel less efficient and productive, and you may even feel that your ability is not enough. When multiple people in a team are "distracted", this atmosphere of inefficiency can spread further, leading to a vicious cycle for the entire team.
4.Achieving "flow" at work: rejuvenating and feeling full.
Maybe you've had the experience of being so engrossed in your work that you forgot about the passage of time, let alone "get distracted". When it's time to leave work, you feel full and satisfied. This state is known as "flow". In a state of "flow", people are able to exert their maximum creativity, and get a high degree of excitement and satisfaction.
People who are "distracted" at work are unable to enter this state because the difficulty of the work does not match their abilities, or the work content is boring, or there are many trivial tasks, or there are not enough incentives, etc. As a result, it is difficult for them to devote themselves to their work. "Distraction" does not give us the experience of "flow", because browsing and chatting on social ** does not require much thought and skill. Therefore, this lack of "flow" activity may increase our sense of boredom and lack of value, making us feel more tired and weak.
5.How do you feel relaxed and productive at work?
Let me tell you the secret:
1. Plan your time – learn to really rest.
Set clear limits for your work and rest. For example, you can try this model: concentrate on work every 25 minutes, then take a 5-minute break. During breaks, you should allow yourself to be truly relaxed, not distracted. You can choose activities such as walking outdoors, closing your eyes, and tidying up your plants.
2. Decompose tasks - improve the sense of control of work.
When you're stressed out by a large number of work tasks, "distraction" may become your "safe behavior," which allows you to briefly divert your focus and reduce your stress levels. However, this does not solve the problem at the root. You can try to break down a large project or task into several smaller tasks and complete them one by one. This will give you more control over your work schedule and increase your productivity.
3. Set goals and rewards to boost your enthusiasm.
Set clear goals for your work and reward yourself appropriately when you do it. This creates a positive work cycle that boosts your productivity.
For the company, the enthusiasm of employees is the key driving force to drive the company's development. Career planning can be designed to help employees determine their own development path, so that they can find the purpose and meaning of their work; Through technical training, improve the professional skills of employees, help employees find their joy in work, and enhance work efficiency.
For each of us in the workplace, perhaps we should think more about how to combine our daily work with our own characteristics, strengths and interests, so as to better face workplace pressure and achieve personal growth and fulfillment.