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Engineers have a difficult job that requires making difficult decisions and solving problems. The work is quite detailed, where you need a high concentration level. Unfortunately, it can be challenging to have a high concentration in a busy environment. Most engineers are forced to shuffle between things that reduce focus.
In general, boosting concentration for engineers is related to blocking as much as distractions as possible, such as phones, emails and other people. While also implementing some healthy habits such as sleep and exercise. However, it is quite challenging to implement such habits as engineers work in teams and are quite busy, forcing engineers to multitask and ultimately reduce concentration.
The following are 5 habits that can help engineers bring their A-game to work.
1- Reduce the noise
Engineers are used to working in open offices where it makes it easy to communicate and discuss things, it might help us be productive, but it can also hurt us if we need to concentrate. However, you will be surprised how much work you can do when no one knocks on your door every few minutes. You can do this easily by telling your colleagues to not disturb you for a few hours or by writing “do not disturb” on your door.
On the other hand, phones and emails are other major distractions. It can be difficult not to ignore the noise our phones make when we get a text or the notification that pops on our screen when we get an email. This is why putting your phone on silent and turning off notifications can significantly help us work more without being obligated to answer and check the message.
To help manage your emails effectively to improve concentration, read: 10 Tips To Use Outlook More Productively And Work Smart.
2- Stop doing everything all at once
A big misconception is that multitasking is a good skill. For engineers, we take multitasking to a whole new level. That we even put “excellent at multitasking” on our resume. The truth is multitasking is an easy path to making errors, spending more time doing simple tasks and potentially reducing productivity.
Humans can not multitask as much as we regard ourselves to be. When we multitask, our concentration levels drop significantly. Imagine writing a technical report, but you stop to read whenever you receive an email. If the report takes you one hour to do with no distractions, but you received five emails in that hour. This report will probably take close to two hours to complete if you read every email you get.
Multitasking is a problem that we think is a solution. We have made a test that proves how difficult it is to multitask and keep concentration high, which you can check here: Why We Cannot Multitask? Take a Multitasking Test.
3- Enforce tech-free meetings
There is always that one person in a meeting that can not help but look at their phone every few seconds. In big meetings, it is usually two to three people. Now, if enough people start to check their phones while someone is speaking, people lose focus, they lose the point the speaker is trying to make and most likely do not make any valid contribution to the meeting. Suddenly, you think, why are we even having a meeting if everyone is on their phone?
Most might have a valid reason to look at their phone; it might be related to work. Still, there is no respect anymore for the speaker and the meeting agenda. Engineers collaborate and work together, making the meeting a critical part of our work. In meetings, we need to enforce some rules that all phones must be kept silent and away from the table, such as bags, pockets, or outside the meeting room. This makes it harder to look at our phones when in a meeting.
Also, only use laptops if they have relevant information for the meeting. Usually, two laptops are okay, one for presenting slides and one for taking meeting minutes. This way, we can ensure that everyone can collaborate instead of hiding behind computer screens. Usually, taking notes with pen and paper is more effective than anything else. Those rules can bring down a one-hour meeting to 45 minutes or less.
4- Have a clean desk
How is this related to concentration, you might ask? Well, it has everything to do with concentration. If your desk is a pile of drawings, reports and papers full of rubbish and dust, how can you even begin to concentrate in the middle of this chaos? Well, my experience shows that is usually impossible. Sadly many engineers are used to working with unorganised, dirty desks. Making it very difficult to find something, yet even concentrate.
This has a subconscious effect on your behaviour. An organised and clean desk puts the mind at ease and makes it easy to concentrate on your screen instead of getting distracted by the mess you left. Moreover, it has a positive side effect on improving productivity. It is easy to find a report or a paper if everything is filled and organised.
5- Mind your wellbeing
The above habits are external and environmental distractions that you can reduce by implementing a few hacks. However, your wellbeing is strictly related to you personally. It is hard to concentrate on your work for 8 hours if you did not sleep well the night before. Getting tired and having back pain from sitting on your computer all day is related to a lack of exercise. This requires fundamental changes in your habits.
I found that taking a break to do something that has nothing to do with work can help clean your thoughts and sharpen your concentration. For example, going for an afternoon walk after lunch or exercising midday can significantly improve concentration by clearing your thoughts and reducing stress.
While every engineer’s experience is different, we can not deny that doing activities outside engineering can sharpen our concentration. Finding it hard to believe? Try to do something exciting this weekend, such as hiking or riding a bike and see how much destressing from work improves your concentration.
