Is your To-Do list growing by the minute?

Do you have a list of things to accomplish for work and a separate list of things that need to be done at home?

Are you having a hard time staying focused at home thinking about the things you need to finish for work, and find your mind wandering while you’re at work, thinking about the things you left undone at home?

How can you narrow your focus during the day, and how do you ensure that your priorities are being handled in a timely manner?

Understanding the Problem

In today’s tech-driven world, ability to focus is at an all-time low. Canadians spend an average of four and a half hours (261 minutes per day) using digital media and that number is only going up over time.

People are inundated with distractions that can show up from all angles at any moment. Constant connectivity is touted as a benefit of modern society but is a detriment to staying focused. Instant access to email, work files and more reduces a person’s ability to focus and recharge during much needed downtime, diving attention between the task at hand and the intrusive notification of “what else must be done”.

As a result, even when a person is at home, they are never really disconnected from their tasks at work.

Trying to focus at work can be equally as challenging. Studies have shown that employees can spend up to 55% of their day in meetings.

With that amount of time taken away from the work day, it is no surprise that more than half the respondents in a recent survey report spending nearly seven hours a week working at home outside of their office hours.

The Result

Employees who are overloadedwith work and home responsibilities report that they regularly lose sleep, have increased stress levels and are largely dissatisfied with their productivity. As a result, they have higher absentee rates due to sick days, which leads to increased stress, which continues the cycle indefinitely.

Unhealthy and stressed employees make more mistakes, are more likely to be unhappy at work and cost their employer more money in the long run.

How to Focus

If you’re trying to help your employees improve your focus at both work and home, here are some suggestions that may help:

Remove distractions. You’re surrounded by distractions both at home and at work. The biggest culprit? Your smart phone. Turn off the phone and place it out of reach while you’re trying to focus. Shut your office door or turn off the tv and determine what you need to get accomplished.Close your email and resist the temptation to “check it really quick” to see if anything important is waiting for you. Your brain gets a rush of warm feelings when you see something new, such as an email alerting you to a sale at your favourite store, a message from your friends or an announcement about an upcoming event. Use checking your email as a reward for finishing the task you’re working on.Organize your tasks. Having a To-Do list is helpful. Having it broken down into chunks of time is essential. Prioritize the most difficult tasks and fill in the rest of the day with easier, less intense tasks.Focus on what is in front of you. As difficult as it may be, force yourself to be engaged with the tasks at hand. When you’re at work, that is your priority. Put your time and attention into completing your job so that you can disconnect from it when you get home. When you’re at home, be fully engaged there. Turn off your email, resist the urge to swing by the office and give your brain a much-needed break.

In the long run, creating boundaries between your work and home life will allow you to be more focused and productive in both areas.

You’ll notice an upswing in your attention span at work after you’ve been recharged and refreshed with time away. When you can focus on work during the day, you’ll be better equipped to give attention to the things you need to complete at home. Is it easy? Not at all. But you’ll thank yourself for the effort when you’re happier, healthier and more relaxed.

Michele Bailey is president and CEO of Blazing Agency and My Big Idea™. These two lines of business work congruently to support her clients’ success.

That statistic lends credibility to the fact that nearly 70% of employees would either accept a new job opportunity if offered or are looking for a new job.

While there are multiple factors that can lead an employee to look elsewhere for work, becoming a more effective listener can help to reduce the amount of employee turnover. Ready to implement a plan emphasizing active listening?

What Does It Mean to Use Active Listening?

Listening is a fundamental function of success. It is not uncommon for someone to complain that someone may hear the words being said while not really listening.

In the workplace, one of the most common complaints by employees is that they aren’t heard. In fact, nearly 40% of employees report not feeling valued or appreciated.

Whether they are sharing strategic plans and ideas to push the company forward, are deliberating a problem that needs to be solved or are sharing personal information that may be affecting their work performance, employees have a lot to say. Can you hear them?

How Can You Demonstrate Active Listening?

1. Turn off your inner dialogue.

It is difficult to concentrate on what other are saying when you are listening to a silent litany of information. One of the most effective ways to ensure that you are actively listening to what others are saying is to focus on what is being said. Feel overwhelmed with the amount of “noise” inside your head? Schedule time for personal reflection, allowing you to easily turn off the inner dialogue when needed.

2. Listen more than you speak.

Stephen R. Covey, author of “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”, said it this way: “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.” When it comes to active listening, listening before you speak is a prized skill. In active listening, the “listener” places more emphasis on understanding what is being said than making sure everyone knows their perspective.

Oftentimes, the listener is thinking about what to say once they have a chance to talk, rather than engaging with what is being said. To demonstrate effective listening, concentrate on the information being given to you.

3. Ask insightful questions.

Being engaged with the speaker is a clear indication of active listening. By asking questions that demonstrate your understanding of the topic, you are communicating that you value what the other person is saying.

How Does Active Listening Help Your Employees Be Better?

Active listening can not only improve relations between employees, it can build confidence between employees and employers.

Once employees are convinced that their voice is being heard, they become better communicators. Not only will they share their thoughts and ideas more readily, they will listen to what others have to say. Their listening can cultivate a workplace that is kinder, more team-oriented and more efficient.

Active listening helps develop empathy. By expressing your concern for what your employee is saying, you are communicating that you understand their frustration. As a result, they will encourage other employees to share their thoughts and ideas.

Active listening can help improve employee engagement.

Employees who feel valued and respected at work will develop a sense of loyalty to their employer. This can reduce employee turnover, increase productivity and improve the corporate culture of the workplace.

The adage, “You have two ears and one mouth, so you’ll listen twice as much as you speak,” rings true – for personal and professional relationships.

Ready to build stronger relationships through active listening?

Michele Bailey is president and CEO of Blazing Agency and My Big Idea™. These two lines of business work congruently to support her clients’ success.

Sounds almost too good to be true, doesn’t it? While it may seem like the latest in a string of workplace buzzwords, employee wellness programs are an effective tool that benefits both the employee and the employer.

Workplace wellness has undergone a transformation in the last few decades. Initially, wellness at work focused more on the health and safety of employees on the job.

The push for occupational health and safety led to measures that included improved protections at work to provide hazard-free work environments.

Studies evaluating employee efficiency revealed something interesting: healthy employees are more successful. In recent years, employers began to realize that employees were more productive when they were fully engaged at work.

What Is Employee Wellness?

On average, people spend approximately 90,000 hours on the job. That means people spend more time working than any other activity during their lifetime.

With most of their time being spent at work, employees often struggle to find time to fit healthy activities into their schedule. Once they leave work, employees are occupied with family, community and other responsibilities which can leave little time to focus on their own wellness. Is it any wonder that employee wellness programs can have such a positive effect on the health of individuals?

According to the Government of Canada’s HR Council, employee wellness is “…holistic and takes into consideration the physical, spiritual, environmental, intellectual, emotional, occupational and mental health of employees.”

What Do Wellness Programs Look Like?

Employee wellness programs take on many forms. Some companies offer basic wellness by adding a walking trail around their complex or providing gym memberships to employees.

The most effective wellness programs, however, go a step further and integrate all aspects of employee health.

Need some ideas about what to include in your employee wellness program? We have some suggestions:

Healthy snacks in the break rooms Not every company can provide a full cafeteria to feed employees. However, offering healthy snack options can encourage smart eating during the day. Establishing a common area when employees can mingle during their lunch and break times provide opportunity to cultivate company-wide relationships.

Child care One of the largest stressors many employees have is planning for childcare. While you may not have the capacity to offer full-service day care on-site, would offering childcare assistance be a benefit to your employees? What about sick-child care, which would allow employees to arrange care for a child who may be unable to attend school because of a minor illness?

Helping employees develop their talents

By showing a real interest in your employees developing their skills and potential. This support can often lead to re-energized feeling of success and potential within the employee. This often results in improved productivity, attitude and a general “fire in the belly” to achieve.

Which employee wellness program is right for your company? The needs of your employees will differ from other companies. Ask your employees what their greatest wellness struggles may be, and then consider designing a program to meet their needs. Establish a trial period to evaluate the effectiveness and usefulness of the program. Top-down participation can encourage others to get involved in the wellness program.

Having senior-level executives participate can send the message that employee wellness is a priority for the corporation.

What can you do to improve the employee wellness program at your company?

Michele Bailey is president and CEO of Blazing Agency and My Big Idea™. These two lines of business work congruently to support her clients’ success.