Mental Block at work? How to overcome it?

Stillie

Stillie

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I am at a mental block at work at the worst time ever! Coming near the end of a large project and i cannot get my mind into it and am battling to be productive. I think the issue is that I am having some issues with the car and cannot switch that outta my head and get focused.

If you have had this what did you do to temporarily forget about the problems that are affecting you mentally and just dive into the work?
 
Talk to management, tell them you're struggling to focus as you've got some personal issues that you need to resolve.
 
I found my mental block had a lot to do with the distractions I allowed at work. I use Facebook, whattsap, gmail, gtalk. Everything that I could find except to focus. As soon as I started cancelling out my distractions my work progressed again. Maybe you should find what distracts you and as a method of "cancelling" them out write it down on a piece of paper everytime. Until you find the solution to your problem and write it down. Your mind is set up to keep on reminding you of what is wrong and won't stop focusing on that till you resolve the matter and find the solution.
 
Stillie said:
what benefit will that have?
Click to expand...

when I face crap like this I need to write down exactly what I'm going to do to resolve the issue and keep that list with me.
Then when I find I'm dwelling on it I check the list, make sure that I'm mentally on top of the issues and that there is nothing else I can do right now to get it done.

That helps me put it aside and focus on other things.

This does not work if I actually do not know what to do next tho. If you find you're in that situation then you need to ask for help.
Like YinYang said, its important to communicate with your management or they might come to a bad conclusion on their own.
If you have a decent relationship with your direct manager, have a chat with him, tell him this car situation is on your mind and really worrying you, and ask him his advice. This way you let him know you're dealing with something and youre getting another perspective on the issue.
 
AliCatS said:
I found my mental block had a lot to do with the distractions I allowed at work. I use Facebook, whattsap, gmail, gtalk. Everything that I could find except to focus. As soon as I started cancelling out my distractions my work progressed again. Maybe you should find what distracts you and as a method of "cancelling" them out write it down on a piece of paper everytime. Until you find the solution to your problem and write it down. Your mind is set up to keep on reminding you of what is wrong and won't stop focusing on that till you resolve the matter and find the solution.
Click to expand...

thanks i will try this, but its not really social media or anything thats distracting me when at work, i am working but i am battling to find the solutions to the simplest problems, and only am generally able to find them early the next morning or while im sleeping (facepalm)
 
Stillie said:
what benefit will that have?
Click to expand...
Its an obstacle in you doing your job properly.

As an example, at my work, we're encouraged to bring anything and everything that's prohibiting us from working and being comfortable at the same time. If anything is on our minds we just have a chat with one of the bosses and he'll tell us to go sort it out. At one point my screen was flickering every few minutes, I showed them and they ordered a new, bigger one which I got the same day. :)

I'm just making examples here that most managers are people too.
 
I've experienced something similar. My guess is that its stress. Have you been working quite hard for a few weeks recently? Sometimes when I do a lot of overtime to get a project finished, I start to feel out of it after a few weeks and really have trouble focusing. Do your best to switch off when not at work
 
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I usually just go for a coffee and space out, take a nice long walk or just chill in the sun for a while.
 
Pakka said:
I've experienced something similar. My guess is that its stress. Have you been working quite hard for a few weeks recently? Sometimes when I do a lot of overtime to get a project finished, I start to feel out of it after a few weeks and really have trouble focusing. Do your best to switch of when not at work
Click to expand...

it is coming to crunch time for this project, this could be it....just stressing about the project...
 
One way to cope with it, is a technique described in the book The Four Hour Work Week.

Write down your two highest priority task for the day (only two) and when you get in in the morning, do nothing but finish those two. Close your emails and any other distractions until those are done
 
The end of a big project always sucks theres usually no new challenges and its just a dreary slog to the end.

I typically just set smaller goals for the day and make sure I get those done. For instance one for 10am one for lunchtime and one before I go home. Sometimes you just have to accept that its not fun all the time and just get through it.
 
Pakka said:
One way to cope with it, is a technique described in the book The Four Hour Work Week.

Write down your two highest priority task for the day (only two) and when you get in in the morning, do nothing but finish those two. Close your emails and any other distractions until those are done
Click to expand...

this sounds like an awesome idea!
 
Beachless said:
The end of a big project always sucks theres usually no new challenges and its just a dreary slog to the end.

I typically just set smaller goals for the day and make sure I get those done. For instance one for 10am one for lunchtime and one before I go home. Sometimes you just have to accept that its not fun all the time and just get through it.
Click to expand...

yea i am seeing that... will try this, very similar what Pakka says
 
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