“How well do you focus and keep focused while at work?”
This is yet another question I have received a few times lately as I’ve been interviewing for jobs. And I think it’s a good question. I think it’s totally normal for most people to occasionally struggle staying on task. I can’t even begin to number the times I was studying or working on my thesis when I got distracted by social media or YouTube.
It is impossible to shut the rest of the world out while you’re busy. This is why making a conscious decision to stay focused at work is so important. To me, it’s all knowing your priorities and sticking to it. And what is my top priority? My family.
Almost everyone who had gone through an interview is well-acquainted with the over-used question, “What is your biggest weakness?” My answer to that question is that I hate being away from my family. Whether is a typical eight or nine-hour work day, to just running a quick errand, I hate being pulled away from my wife and daughters. If it were up to me, I would take them everywhere because my family are my best friends. Every morning I struggle leaving them as I take off for work, and that is not something I anticipate is every going to change.
But thankfully, I’ve managed to harness this struggle into a great strength. There is a saying I like that applies to everything I do: “When you’re at home, be at home.” I interpret that as when I am physically in my house with my family, I need to also be there mentally. I should never bring my work home with me. When I step through that front door, my time belongs to my wife and children.
Likewise, when I am at work, I stay at work. I am being paid to focus and give my very best efforts to my employer. It would be unfair to those I work with to allow myself to get distracted. This principle has also been a blessing because I have found the more focused I stay at work, the more time I get to spend with my family.
I was first introduced to this concept as an undergraduate student at BYU-Idaho. I was taking a conflict management course from Dr. Brent Bean when he explained that, as a student, he stayed on campus every day from 9 am-5 pm, whether he had homework due the next day or not. Practicing this resulted in him getting the best grades of his academic career and having more free time than he ever did before. I did my best to adopt this concept in my studies. What I found was very similar to Dr. Bean’s experience: from 5 pm until I fell asleep, I could do whatever I wanted!
So, how do I focus and stay focused while I’m at work?
I remember that my family is my first priority. They are the reason why I get out of bed every day. And I know the more focused I am at work and the better I perform, the more time I will have to spend with them. Consequently, I consistently produce work of the highest quality and can be trusted by my superiors to meet deadlines and motivate others.
Hayden Coombs 