How to Be a Focused Ninja Recruiter this Year!
Focus. Just shout the world out and get on with the task at hand. It’s hard, isn’t it? Email alerts are popping up on your screen, you’ve got 8 red notifications on facebook, someone just replied to your recruitment post on Twitter, and all you can hear in your open plan office is phones ringing and other recruiters talking! It’s all so distracting.
Some people are great at shutting out the distractions. And when we’re doing something we’re really interested in, we all are. So what is the key to harnessing that focus? How can we be more clear-headed, more strategic, and more productive in 2016?
Here are some great tips on how to focus- spanning work, life, and in between.
-We’ve written recently about goal-setting, so I’ll just take this opportunity to remind you how important it is to break big goals into small achievable goals. This is just as much the case with a day’s work or a project as it is with a major goal. Break it down!
-Limit your social media. This is tricky for recruiters, as you need to access a lot of social media to place job ads and research candidates. As such, set limits on yourself about checking your own social media pages at certain times of day, and when you notice yourself getting sucked into the vortex of social media, shut the page down and move onto something else.
-Stop obsessing over details at work that don’t matter. It’s important to get things right, but often perfectionists spend so much time on things that don’t matter in a significant way to the outcome. Train yourself to recognise those moments where you’re just starting to throw time away on small details, and move onto another task.
-Get your blood pumping. We pass a truly extraordinary amount of our lives sitting in a chair, followed by hours at home sitting on the couch. Humans aren’t designed to live this way, so get out and go for a quick walk or jog to get the blood flowing. Countless studies have proven that you’ll soon find your focus and productivity flows better too.
-Eat better. While we’re on the topic of health, our brains can’t be expected to function properly if they’re not fed the right fuel. The average Briton eats 2.7 pounds of sugar per week, and high sugar diets have been proven to lead to energy slumps and brain-fog. So up the nutrition intake and cut down your sugar in 2016 to find your focus again.
-On the home front, cut out TV where possible and do something productive that makes you feel good about yourself. Think about this: how many hours so far this year have you watched/listened other people’s creations- whether it’s music or movies or whatever else? Ask yourself: when’s the last time you created something? Get back to your passions- draw, write, learn a language, cook a nice meal, have friends over for dinner. Look at the lives of your happiest, most energetic friends- the ones that are always doing something- and spend a bit more time with them. This may seem irrelevant to your career, but happiness and productivity at home funnels into the same results at work.
-If your schedule allows, always try to get a block of focussed work out of the way first thing. By focussed work I mean a task that takes real thinking, rather than just getting bogged down in emails or social media. Getting a block of work or difficult task out of the way at the start of the day, gives you a feeling of success early on that is proven to make you more productive as the day goes on.
Finally, accept that if you work an 8 hour day or more, you are bound to have lulls of productivity. Our brain works this way, normally on a cycle of strong focus, followed by a period of inattention. This varies between people somewhat, but the average is around 50 minutes to an hour, followed by about 15-20 minutes lesser concentration. Start to notice your own cycle of productivity and structure your day around it.
Until next time
Cheryl