They say the law of attraction is to blame for when more workload lands on your desk at a time when you are already up to your neck with it. But no matter how you blame the universe and the energies punishing your life, your work will not diminish by itself if you don’t act on it.
While we don’t refute the law of attraction, you might want to go through this list of what could be materially obstructing your progress with work. This list might be the universe’s way of guiding you back in the right direction.
Technical glitches
Stop suffering your lagging or crashing programs. Check your network provider. If you’re the only one experiencing that problem, then it’s most likely your unit is the problem. Just like how we need to get physical checkups at least once a year, your gadgets also need to get checked regularly especially as they can’t heal broken parts on their own.
Set a schedule with a tech support team so that you could prepare ahead. Meaning, any major work should be done by that time. Or if you have several laptops and computers, you could have them checked alternately so you don’t have to stop working.
Health issues
No matter how hard you want to work, you don’t have the stamina for it. You want to finish everything before you sign off for the day, but you couldn’t stay alert beyond 3 pm. Get a checkup. Anemia could cause a lack of energy. Diabetes also makes you drowsy most of the time. It’s difficult to think when you have the flu. But before you consult a medical professional, do a self-review. Do you get enough sleep? Do you eat properly? Maybe it’s just a lack of rest or you don’t get enough nutrition that’s why you don’t have enough energy to last you a day.
Hunger is also a very common reason why you can’t focus on your work. You might still be adjusting to a new diet. For example, people who start with the ketogenic diet would find it difficult in the first few days of eliminating carbohydrates from their system. After all, carbohydrates are your primary source of energy and your body does not immediately achieve ketosis. If you are bent on following that diet, try to start it over the weekend. Better yet, do it on a long holiday so that at least when you go back to work you have somehow adjusted to your new nutritional intake.
Insidious stress
You may not be aware of it because some stressors can be very subtle. For example, a regularly occurring event at your office, say you see your boss scolding one colleague or another every day. Even if you are not the one being scolded, your fear might be disrupting your peace of mind. You might think it’s tolerable because you’re not the one being scolded. But the regular feeling you get when you think you might be the next one being shouted at can damage you.
A telltale sign that you are stressed is that you had become irritable and distracted. So if you find yourself faced with work because you can’t seem to finish a task without your mind wandering every half-minute or so, think about what is stressing you. You can get a professional counselor if you’re confused.
Distracting environment
A distracting environment could greatly affect your productivity because it ruins your concentration. It could be noise from construction work right next to your office. It could be vehicles and traffic noise if you are near a busy road. Or it could even be the incessant chatter of your workmates.
You can’t do anything about the location of your office so ask your management if they could put a noise-canceling machine in your office. If not, ask for permission to use an earplug. Make sure you put up a sign on your desk stating that you have earplugs on so your office mates need to tap you to get your attention. Gently ask your colleagues to lower down their voices so the others in the space could concentrate on their work. Negotiate with management for ways you could cope with office noise.
Clutter could also distract you so try to clean up your space before you start work. If you can’t put them away, at least put them in order.
Several things could cause us to lose focus on our work. Once we are distracted, it is sometimes very difficult to get back into our previous mindset. If you can’t regain your focus immediately, take a break, and refresh your brain. What is important is you don’t shy away from what is in front of you. Don’t blame the gods that you are drowning in work. Be thankful that at this time you still have work.
