Have you found yourself during work hours staring into space, your mind is constantly distracted, either daydreaming or thinking about external things, and despite your attempts to bring your mind and refocus on your work to finish the accumulated tasks, you find yourself distracted again and without even noticing.

This mental wandering during work hours results in feelings of frustration, inability to complete and delay in the deadlines for delivering tasks, and this is caused by many factors, including psychological or physical, and factors related to work and its conditions.

In order to know how to deal with mental wandering, you must first identify some of its causes:

Off thoughts and feelings

Fear of failure, anxiety, lack of confidence, and other crippling thoughts like “I don’t know how I’m going to do this, I’m not going to get this job done” distract you, make you lose focus, and cause you to run away from facing what you have to do and procrastinate.

backlog of tasks

Dealing with a lot of information and tasks at once, especially when starting a new job, may make you feel lost and not know where to start, and your mind immediately pushes you away from these complex tasks and you find yourself wandering.

sleep deprivation

According to Forbes, sleep deprivation is one of the most common reasons employees find it difficult to focus at work.

Lack of sleep causes mental confusion, difficulty managing daily tasks, and irritability.

Malnutrition

A diet lacking in important nutrients is one reason why it's so difficult to focus that you may not be aware of.

Bad work environment

Circumstances greatly affect your concentration. If you are not comfortable in your office, your thoughts will become focused on the feelings of discomfort and discomfort you are experiencing, and you will not be able to pay attention to your work.
Fatigue in modern times
Ambient conditions greatly affect your concentration (Shutterstock)
How do you restore your distracted focus?

Wash your face with cold water

Try to make a quick visit to the bathroom and wash your face with cold water, it can help you regain control of your mind and focus.

turn off notifications

So that you can control your focus for a while, try as much as possible to avoid all distractions.

You can put your phone away if you don't need it to get your work done, or at least you can turn off the unimportant stream of notifications until you're done with your work.

Take a few minutes of silence

Just a few minutes of sitting in silence and focusing with your breath will help you pay attention, and return to your work calmer and less irritable and tense.

You can set the phone to remind you during the day to take minutes to breathe deeply, calm your feelings and thoughts, and take action to rejuvenate.

Notice your sleep patterns

Getting enough sleep is one of the best ways to maintain focus.

Try to keep a set bedtime and wake up times, avoid foods and drinks that keep you awake, and keep your room dark, quiet, and cool enough to prepare you for sleep. You can use reading to help you fall asleep faster.
Getting enough sleep is one of the best ways to maintain focus (pixels)

Move

Take breaks to do simple activity during work hours. You can walk around the block or go get your favorite drink, or do any easy and short physical activity, such as stretching the muscles in your neck, shoulders, arms and legs.

Watch your food

Try to maintain a healthy diet that contains more natural nutrients, and among the options that may help you improve your brain performance: vegetables, fruits and nuts, and try to limit yourself to only one or two cups of coffee a day.

Prepare yourself for work

The American Entrepreneur website reported that preparing yourself with specific habits before starting work helps you boost your confidence and abilities, reduce your sense of stress, clear your mind and bring your focus to the present.

And try not to make these habits complicated, it is enough to be as simple as arranging your office, or hearing something you love, or preparing your favorite drink and enjoying it before starting work.

This routine helps you transition into work mode, and prepares your body and mind for it.

rank chaos

Make it a pre-work routine. You can bring a notebook and write down all the tasks that occupy your mind, then prioritize them, and start with the important ones.

With each task, focus only on what you're doing, and when you remember any other task - even if it's something outside of work - write it down to clear your mind.

Set a time to complete each task

Setting a deadline for assignments helps you feel responsible, motivates you to reach your goals, and reduces the likelihood of procrastination.

And try to be as specific as possible, break the tasks into small steps that can be time controlled, make each step an expiration date, and be realistic when setting the time periods so that you do not fail and feel like a failure.