3 Most Common Distractions at Work & How to Deal with Them

Whether you work from home or at an office, some issues could jeopardize your job performance, decreasing your productivity. One of those issues is getting distracted while working since that keeps you from finishing your tasks when you should. It's essential to eliminate distractions at work, but that's no easy task.

Regardless of if it's your cellphone or office gossip, you can do many things to keep those situations from distracting you and decreasing your productivity. We want to help you do the best job you can, so dive into this page to learn the most common distractions at work and how to deal with them!

How Do Work Distractions Impact Work Productivity?

As we mentioned before, work distractions significantly jeopardize work productivity and the overall job quality of office workers, so they need to avoid them if they want their work performance to improve. However, it's easier said than done, so you may need some help to do that properly.

Sometimes it's difficult to notice the impact that distractions have on our work performance, but several reports reveal how they threaten our productivity. One of those reports is the Udemy 2018 Workplace Distraction Report, which showed how detrimental this issue is.

According to the Udemy's survey, 54% of office workers feel they are not performing as well as they should, while 50% state they are significantly less productive due to office distractions. However, there are also positive results since the survey showed the benefits of reducing distractions at work.

The Udemy's survey revealed that 70% of workers agree that training helps them feel more focused and block office distractions. Regardless of that, 66% of them haven't talked to their managers about their struggles with office distractions, decreasing work productivity.

What Are the Most Common Distractions at Work? How Can I Deal with Them?

You need to identify your distractions before addressing them, so it's essential to analyze your current situation to detect the problems you need to get rid of when working. However, it's no easy task to notice those issues, so the best you can do is ask someone for advice to guide you on how to ease your stress.

We want you to do the best job you can, so here is a list of the most common distractions at work and how to address them correctly:

Using Your Cellphone

Both office and remote workers waste tons of time on social media and cellphone apps, delaying their tasks and procrastinating their assignments. That is a severe issue since most people don't consider their cell phones a distraction while they use them, so you need to do something to avoid distraction from communication apps.  

Even if you use your phone when you have a break, you could get distracted while using it and lose track of time, so you shouldn’t even use it in your breaks.

Solution

The best you can do to address this problem is to keep your cellphone away from your workplace. That doesn't apply when you work with your phone or need to take an important call, but you can still stop using social media apps or cellphone games.

That could seem like an easy solution, but you need to make an effort to do it correctly since it's difficult to not use your phone if you are used to checking your notifications often.

Office Gossip

Sometimes the distraction doesn't come from your cellphone or an item in your workstation but from external agents that distract you from doing your job. One of those external agents could be a chatty co-worker that keeps talking to you about office gossips or arguments between other team members.

You must establish a friendly relationship with your co-workers to improve teamwork and team productivity. The problem with that is that if you don't have a good relationship with them, you can be the center of many issues and misunderstandings. However, it's essential to find a sweet spot where you can be friends with them while not letting them distract you from working.

Solution

Try talking to them about how they jeopardize your work performance and productivity when they distract you, asking them to stop. If that doesn't work, try working with headphones on since that could make them understand that you don't want to talk to anyone at the moment.

Background Noise

If you work close to a noisy street or your co-workers make a lot of noise while working, you could feel overwhelmed by all that noise, which makes it more difficult for you to focus. Some people are more prone to get distracted by background noise than others, but everyone should make an effort to avoid that issue.

Solution

There are several things you can do to solve that problem, some of them being more effective than others. The easiest solution you can take is getting noise-reducing headphones, they are more expensive than traditional headphones, but they are worth it.

You could also recommend your supervisor invest in noise-canceling walls that block noises from outside of the building, helping you focus on what you need to do.

Other solutions

You could invest in other things that help you stay more comfortable while working, boosting your productivity and improving your work performance. One of the most effective things you can do is designing a productive desk setup with a modern ergonomic chair that supports your back and promotes your back health.

Conclusion

As you could see, distractions at work can determine if you do a decent job or not, so it's crucial to keep an eye on that matter. Whether it's an external agent or you need to do something to reduce digital distraction, it's in your hands to overcome that issue and improve your productivity. Investing in a good ergonomic chair is highly beneficial for you, so we recommend you to follow that tip and the others in this article to prevent those issues from happening!