I need to start knuckling down & paying more attention at work. How do I do this ?

[kermitspants]

I WAH everyday. Fairly senior. I feel like I've scrapped through my last few reviews. I need to start producing more, paying more attention & just getting my head down.

How do I do this ?

Im part of a large department. I never listen in whole-of-department meetings. I seem to have somehow lost this skill (menopause?). Anything is more interesting than work whole WAH. I would rather cut the class with a pair of scissors! I can't change jobs, that is not an option.

What's distracting you? What are you doing instead of work?

What does your day look like at home when you are WFH? Do you find it very hard to sit down at 9am and get started? Do you get distracted by housework or other things? How are you with deadlines, do you find it easy to plan and start your work or do you leave things to the last minute and the point at which you realise you’ll soon get into deep shit if you don’t do whatever the task is?

How about trying out going to a co-working space?

I could work in an office. We have use of one. But I like WAH as I don't have to waste time getting ready (it takes me ages and I find it a right faff & it zaps my energy). WAH gives me a calmer, easier morning routine for sorting DC for school. I'm a cleaning addict. I could clean/tidy/sort my house all day, everyday. This is some of my distraction. The house is clean but there could always be improvements. I get distracted by my home to- do list. This is currently x3 pages long. I review the list throughout the day. I add to it or remove anything no longer needed. I go on MN a lot during the day. I research things to continously make my house/life smarter or more comfortable. I then get into rabbit holes on the Internet. I seem to have lost my ability to focus for work. I leave deadlines to the last minute. Somedays I can't even get started. I'm not overloaded with work yet I feel overwhelmed.

If I start procrastinating and the work is building up, I put on some good uplifting music and have a "power hour"!
An hour seems like a reasonable amount of time to commit myself to when I'm struggling but more often than not, I'll get on a roll and will carry on smashing through my work after the hour is up.
Regular power hours is what helps me get through my working days...

If you find you are easily distracted and your mind wanders it would be worth you looking at the ADHD adult self screening tool and booking in with the GP.

Delete your Mumsnet account

Could you list your work tasks, your home tasks and for every 2-3 work tasks you tick off, you can then do a quick home task?

And schedule your day, so 9am to 11am project one, 11am to 1pm project 2, 1pm to 2pm lunch and house task etc etc.

I love WFH for the opportunity to be able to stick a wash on, or run the hoover round (although lately work has been so busy I haven't even had time for that!) Let alone the delight of not wearing make up and having to wear decent clothes. But I do enjoy the office for the change of scenery.

I can be a bit like this and honestly, what helps me is going and working from the office. At first I thought it was a faff but actually I knuckle down better and feel that my day has been more productive. I also like the drive back from the office to home (but I only have a 20 minute commute...if I lived further away I'd find it a less attractive option.)

As someone who wfh 3 days a week I genuinely find your op baffling. Don't you feel guilty about taking the piss out of your employers and your large salary? In words I never thought I would utter on this site - get a grip. And earn your salary! How can you have got so high up the ladder and not understand how to manage your time?

agree with LindorDC above.
or is OP a wind-up ?

I don't want to take the pee.i want to work, I want to do well. I want to deliver above & beyond. I do work, but just not to my full potential atm. I need help to do this

What help? Work your contracted hours without doing housework or going on MN. It isn't rocket surgery.

As I anticipated 😊 …. You are highly distracted when you need to do things that don’t interest you, but you can hyperfocus on things that do. You leave things until just before the last minute. Some days you work zero hours at all even though you promise yourself that tomorrow will be different. You find it very difficult to get ready and it takes up a lot of time. Exactly the same as me, every little bit: recently diagnosed with inattentive ADHD.

Since lockdown I went through several phases of bad concentration at home. Going to the office a few days a week really helps even on the WFH days.

Where is your home workspace is it separate from rest of house?

To add - I tried this for the first time last week and it was revolutionary. I got 6.5 hours of work done and actually said “is this what normal people feel like?” to one of the people working with me. It’s called ‘body doubling’ and it works well for those with inattentive ADHD.

Keep a master list but each evening before you log off, write tomorrow's list. Make sure you only write one home task for every 4 work tasks.

Have you always worked from home? If not, how did you manage when office based? If you just got on with it in an office, that’s the answer. Go back to an office, or a space that isn’t home, then the distractions will be fewer.

OMG, Yes, totally. This is v v interesting. I'm off to Google more about it. Ty

When I had a life and WFH I'd start the day by checking my messages and putting together a to-do list. Then I'd go for a run. Sitting down at my desk at 9 I was energised, I'd had time to metabolise how to tackle the day and I could motor through the morning getting the tough/boring stuff done. Maybe a pre-work walk might help? Is there a point to the department meeting?? If not could you get involved or ask for it to be better focused, for the agenda to be circulated in advance etc (you're probably not alone in finding it dull). WFH can be a really good way to get things done but it isn't for everyone.

@Lennia

I feel like this ever since I had a baby almost 6 years ago. It’s like my brain never went back to normal after ‘baby brain’. I used to be able to focus all day long and now I am so easily distracted. I don’t even WFH. I know I couldn’t do this as I just wouldn’t work so I go to the office every day and try my hardest to concentrate. I find portioning my day out helps and making little deals with myself like ‘I can’t go and make a cuppa until I’ve done XYZ’. I will just finish that before I nip to the loo. It’s just one long internal monologue of bargaining!

I’m in the same boat. I’ve recently moved jobs and I just feel so uninterested and disconnected. Last week I had a call I had to go on for a course (thankfully was able to have video off) but I found focussing so hard. I have a rocker chair, I had something to fiddle with and chewed gum but I found it so hard to focus but I’ve been like this since I was young it just seems to be getting worse, so you’re not alone.

How concentrated on your Home To-Do list would you be if you didn't have a wage coming in?

I'd use that motivation, stop faffing about during working hours, use a separate work space for work hours, get dressed in relatively work like clothes and take a coffee to that space when you start work and do some bloody work. Take a 11 and 3pm break, and a proper lunch and stop spaffing your work time doing cleaning.

I was diagnosed with ADHD a year ago. I have started working in the office 4 days per week. It's transformed my productivity.