#GirlBoss: Easy Ways to Improve Motivation and Focus in the Workplace

Career success depends on being able to be the best you can be at all times. With these simple tips you can keep your brain healthy and happy at work.

Whether you’re the CEO of a large company or putting in the necessary grunt work at a fast-growing startup, being on top of your game is crucial. According to a report on workplace sentiment by Forbes magazine, 70 percent of us struggle to feel motivated, with similar numbers reporting that they struggle to stay focused.

Being engaged and inspired is absolutely crucial to obtaining that spark of motivation and drive, but it’s not the whole picture. If you are struggling to stay on the ball and perform to the best of your abilities, there are a number of helpful, scientifically proven ways to give your brain the boost it needs to get back into the zone. Here are some quick, easy, and effective ways to improve your motivation and focus.

Begin your day by breaking down your larger task into a series of smaller ones that can be completed according to a realistic schedule. Make sure that you acknowledge and celebrate the completion of these tasks, no matter how small you might consider them to be.

Stay positive

According to an extensive academic study conducted for the Harvard Business Review, a happy workforce is one of the single most valuable assets that any company could have. General positivity was shown to boost business productivity by an average of 31 percent.

And with happier employees reporting more engagement with their work, a much higher level of focus. Especially, when it came to more abstract, complex tasks. This kind of data can be applied by you if you take steps to stay positive and recognize the value of what you do.

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Combine smaller tasks

Answering emails, filling out paperwork, making the phone calls you have avoided weeks. All of these are routine small tasks that can mount in a way that makes you feel overwhelmed, demotivated, and unproductive.

That’s why the award-winning self-help book Brain Building in Just 12 Weeks recommends combining all of these tasks into a single chunk of time. Then it asks you to work exclusively on these.

Set an entire day in your calendar to burn through those smaller tasks that are pulling you away from the bigger picture. Once you have cleared your desk of these tasks, you will feel accomplished, motivated. You’ll feel as if you have much more free time to work on the things that truly matter.

Make the most of your free time

A recent academic study published by the Scientific American revealed that giving your brain time to rest and recharge after work can dramatically boost productivity levels through the week. With that in mind, it’s worth exploring ways that you can give your brain some much-needed relaxation at the end of the day when you’re away from work.

One way this could be achieved is via a guided meditation game, for example by using the popular Headspace app to clear your head. You could also focus on games that require you to use your memory skills, as a way to keep yourself entertained.

One good example would be simple card games such as blackjack and poker, which have been proven to help improve memory in players. As online Blackjack casino Betway explains, there are many different variants of blackjack that you can quickly and easily play online. Either alone or with another player via a live stream.

A few rounds of blackjack could help give your brain the rest and relaxation that it needs. Another popular option is an internet strategy game such as online chess, which can be played for free via the Free Internet Chess Server (FICS). The key is to find something you enjoy doing when you’re free.

Create a new, healthy habit

Finally, you can boost your energy levels, positivity levels, and motivation levels all in one go by creating and sticking to a new healthy habit. This could be something like getting up early to go for a run. And it is something that hugely successful women such as the Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg and Ariana Huffington cite as critical success factors. Especially when it comes to staying motivated and energised throughout the day.

You could begin reading more regularly, setting yourself a new challenge such as reading 100 pages of a novel every day. Or stick to a healthy meal prep plan to ensure you are getting the brain food you need to stay on top of your game. All of these will bring long-term benefits that could change your career for the better.

Career success depends on being able to be the best you can be at all times. With these simple tips for improving motivation and focus, you can keep your brain healthy and happy in the workplace and beyond.

Picture credits: Pexels

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