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.

I'm with ThreeRing. Going into office despite a 75 min commute each way is what helps me plough through my work actions. If I go in 2 days in the week I find that I've addressed 75% of my workload. Which means on the wfh days I can procrastinate and waffle and keep looking at my home to-do list while doing the remaining 25%.

I use an app to record meeting and it takes a transcript, summarizes the meeting, breaks it down into questions asked, tasks etc. It's called fireflies.ai. I recommend it.

I'm awful at the mo too op. Not productive at all. I hope to get back on track. I use a pomodoro app, to focus for a timed segment. And put off mumsnet / hanging out the washing until the timed breaks. I have a lot of video calls and don't concentrate either. One thing that helps is colouring in! I've got a mindfulness colouring book and some posh pencils the kids don't know about. It gives me something I can do while I am listening.

That’s the point @illiterato is making.

I like the Power Hour suggestion, if I could do even maybe 3 or 4 a day I’d get on top of things very quickly.

I am working tomorrow (unpaid obviously) when it should be a holiday to catch-up and find I need to do this frequently as seem to always leave everything to the last minute.

Really don’t want to have to return to being office based so need a shake up as do know I am very fortunate to be in this position of having a choice.

I am also menopausal ☹️ Don’t like to use that excuse for everything but do seem to have lost all focus work wise over the last couple of years.

Some good tips on this thread, thanks OP for raising your concerns, you are clearly not alone 💐

You need to go into the office ffs if you want to keep your job.

Menopause has killed my ability to concentrate and multi task. I use timers, on a good day I work for 45mins and then have a break on a bad day 15mins segments - but better than no work. I find my work very dull so it’s the only way I can do it. I’m not much more productive when I go to the office as we all just chat! I think the lack of interaction WFH means you just can’t work all day, it’s not what you used to do when we worked in offices full time.

I absolutely cannot wfh. I go into the office its the only thing that works for me.

Try the pomodoro method of working

If you’re struggling to manage yourself, time and, therefore, your work productivity whilst WFH, you need to go back to working from the office as you’re clearly taking the piss!

I mainly WFH in a pressured role and often get annoyed at reading posts on here since the start of the COVID lockdowns from so many pp that have been taking liberties like this doing FA work from home. I work in a role where people suffer if I couldn’t be bothered to do any actual work. Also, colleagues would notice within days, as they require my output in order to effectively carry out their roles. Regardless of the sector I’m in, I just don’t have it in me to behave like that. No shame.

rant warning and not specifically targeted at the OP... but people making armchair diagnoses whenever people working from home get distracted by things like more enjoyable things, kids, house work... It is really unhelpful and wrong to suggest that someone has ADHD - a lifelong, from birth, neurological disorder - just because they exhibit some signs of distractibility and -shock- preferring to spend time doing things they'd rather do than things they'd rather not, like work. Unless the OP has had clear symptoms as a child (evidence is required for a diagnosis) and has specifically mentioned this it's not ADHD. And what about all of the other sides of ADHD like emotional deregulation, addiction, relationship issues, risk taking, skin picking... all the 'unfun' stuff? ADHD a LOT more than being distracted or wanting to do more enjoyable/rewarding things like reading MN instead of working. It's very trendy at the moment and it is really starting to affect me and others with the condition who now cannot get help because, since WFH is very common, self diagnosis and referral has absolutely exploded and to get something like a medication review now needs a year on a waiting list or going private. Just because you have some habits or behaviours shown by those with ADHD doesn't mean you have lifelong neurological disability.

Working from home with the distractions you mention would be hard for anyone!! If you don't have someone watching you or making you accountable for doing things like browsing the internet or doing stuff at home then of course you'll get into have habit of doing these things instead of working. That's completely normal human behaviour and WFH is really hard for some people, but it doesn't bloody mean that they have ADHD!

OP, I think you will find some benefit from some of the tools that are recommended for ADHD like pomodoro and reminders and mirroring/co-working, because they are tools to help with the issues you are describing. But this does not mean you have ADHD. By all means if this is a lifelong struggle for you then please do some research about ALL of the condition, and contact your GP. But it just sounds like you need a bit of discipline and a way of getting those distractions separate from your working life.

If you are getting distracted by your home to-do list, then put it away. Write a work to-do list instead.

Try getting changed into 'office' clothes and see if that makes a difference to how you feel. You need to get your work head on, and having work clothes on might help you with that.

I used to be freelance and I found working at home well nigh impossible. I just didn't have the discipline, so in the end I insisted on going into clients' premises and working there instead.

I could have written this myself.

I Wfh, have a well paid job which I am really good at when I apply myself but am often very bored and procrastinate and spend more time checking my phone.

I've realised I need more pressure to be productive and am changing roles soon which I'm hoping will help!

Surely a wind up?

breakthecycle
If you’re struggling to manage yourself, time and, therefore, your work productivity whilst WFH, you need to go back to working from the office as you’re clearly taking the piss!

I agree with this ^. OP has got to be a wind up hasn’t it?
Saying that my DSis works managing a team for a council and she says people are behaving like this, saying they can’t attend online meetings as they are walking their dog, collecting kids from school etc. she has noticed a big drop off in productivity and engagement.

As a person whose job can’t be done from home ( and I probably earn a lot less), it really winds me up when people are so obviously admitting to not working hard, particularly if I am trying to sort something out over the phone. So many customer service interactions are so poor now, people are slow to get back to you, things can’t be sorted out and there is no joined up thinking in some organisations because people are working from home.

mmmpomello
you have said it so well… ADHD is a lifelong condition which affects how you behave, work, motivate, organise, self-regulate from birth. It’s not for people who wfh and have lost their work ethic and become a bit lazy because they prefer doing non work things! Surely if given a choice we’d all find things we’d prefer to do than say write a report, attend a zoom meeting, make a spreadsheet.

I have ADHD - if you had ADHD you would have always been like this affecting most areas of your life to a chronic extent and its fairly crippling. As you are reporting you need to start focusing "again" more than likely it is menopause or just too distracting an environment for you.

Menopause can cause quite similar symptoms as the change in hormones can cause a drop in dopamine. Are you on HRT op or had your levels checked?

I would also try working in the office for a few days and see if it actually helps.

You can get software to block some sites during work hours also.

So when I was wfh I set myself short time periods through the day. I had to focus on x for day 20/30 min then I'd put a wash on (taking 5 minutes) then focus on your for 20/30 min then I'd make a cuppa in 5 minutes. I'd eat lunch at the computer and then spend my lunch hour cleaning. Then go back to it. I also used phone jail, so I set up settings on my phone so I could only use certain apps for certain time periods. I got up and dressed for the day as if I was traveling to work but with lighter makeup and leggings instead of jeans etc. I also spent a bit of time outside during the day when the weather was good, having breakfast instead of commuting which felt like a really positive way to start the day in a good mindset. That helped me and my dh is convinced I have undiagnosed adhd and I do think he's right but don't see the point for me in doing anything about it at this stage. For me it helped break up t things into chunks, meant I wasn't feeling tied to the desk or one piece of work for ages and if I was feeling productive then I worked on and rewarded myself with a longer break later on. I would say keeping a separate space for work is better than sitting in the middle of your housework where you don't have to look at it. I worked in the kitchen so I cleaned it every night before I went to bed so I wouldn't be as distracted by dishes or ironing etc. If it's ultimately not working for you then I agree with those suggesting trying a Co working space. Even a library might be good to try it out.

Many people have lingering neurological symptoms from Covid infections. Brain fog and lack of concentration are very common. but we are not supposed to talk about that because “Covid is just a cold” (no, mate, it’s SARS) and the pandemic is over.

I’m doing a masters at the moment (alongside full time work) and they advised working in 30minute bursts then a 15-20 minute break before another 30 minute burst. In that 30 minutes set an expectation and get your head down knowing you can faff again in 30 minutes. If you’re working well at the 30 minutes you can carry on for a bit longer.

Going into the office once a week to regroup might help you too because as much as you say you prefer wfh, the reality is that you’re not doing this effectively and are taking the piss taking a salary without producing the work.

@Mmmpomello totally agree I really wish they would stop with this every time someone does something mildly similar.

I WFH most days and I talk while I work about what I am doing as I am doing it. I am giving a running monologue to an invisible audience. Sometimes I am a comedian and make funnies. It keeps me focused on work (I'm post-menopausal). "...and then we go to Excel, and we find the right file, no not that one, there it is, and we open this baby up and we enable editing, thinking thinking, and then we go to search...." All. Day. Long.

I learned this when I was younger from another (older) woman who was having trouble focusing.

Also, as I get older, multi-tasking becomes impossible. If I am on a call, I can't be doing anything else. I listen to the words being spoken and repeat them back in my head in real time.

I am quite sure we have surveillance on our laptops, so I want to stay active on my laptop during my work time. I hear others at my job are being called back to the office full time for having low productivity.

I’m the same OP, I just don’t work well from home. It’s not for everyone!

If your office is busy then it will be better for you to go in at least a few days a week.

if you are self employed or are studying, then do what you like, waste your time.
but not if you are employed to do a job.
how can you pull down a wage and not deliver what you have agreed.
when you are working that is what you should be doing, your job.
it's so obvious, yet i can barely believe some of the attitudes on here.
how have you no conscience, to be short-changing your employer and/or clients.
and think of the people who work really hard, all day every day, and get paid a pittance.
some of you should be ashamed of yourselves.

Then you need to go back to the office. Wfh is not working for you and you're taking the piss.