The brainy way to free your mind - at work and on vacation

Summer is here - do not forget to free your mind during vacation as well. Rest, recharge and enjoy your summer! And don't multitask.

Did you know that multitasking doesn’t work, and that it never has?

When we think we are multitasking, instead of performing one task at a time effectively, we underperform in several tasks at once.

This also applies at home and in worklife.

Everyone fights for our attention in today’s hybrid worklife. Focus improves your brain health while multitasking destroys it.

Our modern environment is often called “the attention economy”. Every time we search the Internet, we have to fight off ads trying to catch our attention. When we pick up our phones to make a work call, we get distracted by news or messages before we actually get on with our task of calling.

5 hacks that strengthen focus

A workplace that cares about employee performance also cares for their brain health. There are many ways to support focus. One way is to make sure technology helps us focus instead of the other way around. Some of this will also be helpful during your spare time and at vacation.

Here are five hacks that can help you strengthen focus in the workplace:

Encourage people to turn off notifications on all devices
Only check email and communication channels a few times a day.
Book focus time and make sure everyone respects it.
Only book meetings with a clear agenda and only invite those who really need to attend.
Take several short breaks during the work day. Get up and move around. Our bodies and brains need physical activity to focus and perform

It’s difficult to pursue a single course of action and be the masters of our own attention today. In this shattered environment, we are supposed to be creative, think, learn and cooperate: perform at work, in other words.

Focus time is necessary for our performance and cognitive functions like organizing and structuring information, planning and evaluating consequences. This is a challenge today. Digital information is “always on” 24/7 and distractions are everywhere. That doesn’t help us focus on one thing at a time the way we should.

Multitasking doesn’t work and it never has. Our working memory has limited capacity. When we think we are multitasking, we are in effect constantly switching between tasks and all that switching comes at a cost: our focus. Instead of performing one task at a time effectively, we underperform in several tasks at once.

Implement this in your everyday life and when you are back at office again.

Learn more:

How to succeed in building a hybrid workplace: balance flexibility and focus

Tech should be helpful, never intrusive

5 headaches at work - and 5 productivity solutions