Are you as work focussed as you think you are?

And is it a problem if you’re not?

By reading this article you must be curious as to what our view on the topic is. There are numerous articles out there highlighting the top distractions of the workplace and what you can do to tackle them; and to be honest with you, this is just another one of those articles, but we looked long and hard (in one our distracted moments) and asked ourselves; is it always a problem if we get a bit ‘distracted’?.

What is getting distracted?

The Oxford dictionary description states ‘a thing that prevents someone from concentrating on something else’

If you break that down further in terms of work, you tend to say something is distracting you from working. So what is work focused and what is the measure of your work - is it only an output? As a Web Development team, our output is quite quantifiable in terms of how much code we provide and the systems we produce during our working day. If we aren’t working on code, then surely, we are being distracted? However, as a Team Leader I have a lot of organising, project managing and general research to do. How do I define this as a measure as to how successful my time has been to decide what is classified as a distraction? Is having to look at the development of the team a distraction from the actual management of the here and now? Is asking my team how a project is going and having to break away to help write emails and plan time a distraction from my own planned task? In theory, yes but that is my job and my role and my output is not always a tangible object.

Anything that pulls you from task could be a distraction, such as:

• Going to the toilet
• Making a brew
• Asking a colleague how they are
• Joining a discussion of other colleagues because you can provide insight
• Helping a colleague who is stuck on something

How work focussed are you?

Just because our working days are 7.5 hours doesn’t mean we will output 7.5 hours of coding. It's just not realistic. To stop everyone going to the toilet until dinner time would make us into a inhumane regime and to deprive my colleague Bryde of coffee to save those 5 to 10 minutes of brew time would be counterproductive, as her mood would affect her productivity. Talking to our colleagues about our lives can be positive for mental wellness and creates a positive workplace rather than one of dread. But do we know how much of our day is made up of this and is it detrimental to our output?

What would happen if we got one of those clock in clock out systems going, like a chess clock? To a degree as a team we already do this as we account our time spent on each customer, but would we be shocked to see the actual time in the day that was solid on a task? For us, I think not as our schedules not only allow for distraction, but we might also be accused of encouraging it.

THIS Webteam Distraction plan

Each of these distraction articles gives top tips and methods to reduce your distractions; remove your self from environments that are noisy, use headphones as a deterrent, stop checking your emails or remove your phones. Our approach is a little less rule-driven and a little more about how we structure our schedules.

1. We have 2 days in the office, 3 days working from home
   Split in the favour of the productive environment (for some not all) and allowing for time of integration and collaboration of the team. We know that we talk to each other on the two days we are in, so the days at home become more focussed and on topic. The days we are in also become the days we offer support and have meetings so we aren’t breaking away all the time.
2. We work a day pattern that suits us
   Some of us start at 7:30am some don’t start until 9am. That choice allows us to work the pattern that provides our optimum output. If you’re an early riser you don’t want to waste a few hours of your mental agility and wait until 9am to crack on. Likewise if you like sleep being forced to rise early can render the first few hours pointless.
3. When we schedule our work, we allow for an hour or so distraction
   Because of the demand on service for us we need to plan in when we can begin build work and how it will flow through the availability of teams. Each stage of a process is roughly scoped with time accounted and slotted into a diary allowing time for distraction and contingency each day. These plans can never be exact as you never know what problems you might face but this allows time for things going over as well as allowing time for brew runs and toilet dashing.
4. We have those plans or rules in place for those busy times
   Sometimes all things being considered we will be swamped and really need to remove those distractions. We don’t overuse these approaches, but they are there when we need them such as popping in the headphones to remove the pull of joining into a conversation or setting an out of office on our emails to give us that guilt-free time to focus on the topic at hand. Any urgent requests can still come via phone.

We are often commented on by other members of the company for our lively approach in the workplace and how we bring about a different mood to the office (positive obviously). I think our approach to embracing distraction as part of our day allows us to remain on topic when needed and not feel guilty for the small pleasures of the day; a chat with a colleague and that pick me up brew.

Published by Rebecca Wootton on 23.06.2020

Becky is our Team Leader and Web Developer. She has been working within the Webteam since July 2011 and her role includes managing and supporting the whole team and developing the infrastructure of websites and ensuring sustainability. Becky also has Level 3 qualification in Education and Training, Level 2 qualification in Customer Service, PRINCE2 Foundation and Management Studies certificate.