Why Does Your Mind Wander Away while Working?

“When working, focus on your work. When watching a movie, focus on the movie. When reading, focus on the words you are reading.”
– Remez Sasson

Does your mind wander away while at work? What should you do to stop it from wandering and focus it on your work?

Focusing on what you are doing is important because this enables you to do everything more efficiently, faster, and with fewer mistakes.

What do you think about when you are at work? Do you focus your attention on your work or do you daydream while working?

Do you lose your attention and think about the date you have in the evening, the show you are going to see with your wife, or about your next meal?

Most people daydream or let their mind roam where it wants while working. This happens either because they do not like their work or because they cannot control their mind.

If you don’t pay attention to your work, you might make serious mistakes and errors. Sometimes, the error can be fixed, but this takes extra time and energy, and sometimes, the error is irreparable.

Suppose you are a bus or taxi driver, work with machinery in a factory, or are an accountant and don’t focus on what you are doing. This could be dangerous, and you might make serious mistakes.

Why Does Your Mind Wander Away while Working

Here are a few reasons and what to do about them.

1. Do you keep looking at your smartphone at work? This makes you lose attention and probably make mistakes.

Using your smartphone frequently at work is one of the main reasons for the lack of attention at work and for distracting your attention.

What can you do about it?

Put your phone in your pocket, purse or drawer, and don’t look at it for thirty minutes. You might find this difficult to do. However, just do it for at least a week and see what happens. Later, you might try prolonging the time.

You might discover that this does not really work, because you will keep thinking about the calls you are missing and the messages you are not reading. This is natural, because it is like recovering from addiction.

You have to try over and again, and gradually, it would become easier to stop thinking about your phone and using it while at work, and instead, start focusing on your work.

2. Are you unhappy at work? This is another reason why your mind wanders away.

Most of us need to work because we need money. If you can find a job you like that’s fine, but if not, you will need to go on working at your job, even though you do not like it. You can choose to stay unhappy, or accept the situation and make the most of it.

If you are unhappy about your job, you will not focus on what you are doing, would work inefficiently, and probably make errors. This can get you fired.

If you focus on your work, do it efficiently, and try to find ways to be original and stand out at your job, you will probably get a promotion, and might even begin to like your job.

3. Being tired and exhausted and not getting enough sleep at night is another reason for the lack of focus.

This is simple to fix. Get enough sleep, and learn relax your body and mind.

4. Are you hungry or thirsty? Hunger and thirst are another two reasons for lack of attention and thinking about other matters while working.

Again, this is something that easy to fix. Have breakfast before going to work, and eat something while at work. Never say, “I don’t have time to eat.”

5. Lack of the ability to focus your mind makes it difficult to focus on your work and on anything else.

A short attention span is one of the reasons for the inability to focus. This is due to lack of patience and the inability to control the attention.

This can be fixed by practicing concentration exercises.

Being mindful of what you are doing and of your work will improve your concentration and focus.

What Are the Benefits of Focusing on Your Work?

This is quite obvious, however here is a list of benefits.

• You stand out, and you have better chances of being promoted.
• You will get appreciation and respect from your superiors.
• Your customers will like you more.
• You will do fewer mistakes.
• You will finish your work faster and do it more efficiently.
• You save time and energy.
• Focusing on your work improves your focus and your ability to control your attention and your thoughts.

Most people lack the ability to focus their mind on one thought or activity. However, you can teach your mind to focus with the help of concentration exercises. Even just a few minutes a day will make a difference.

“Mindfulness is a way of befriending ourselves and our experience.” – Jon Kabat-Zinn

“The feeling that any task is a nuisance will soon disappear if it is done in mindfulness.” – Thich Nhat Hanh