Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Your alarm clock goes off to signal the start of a brand new day. It’s going to be a great day! You check your phone as notifications start filling your lock screen. Ooooo, someone tagged you in a Facebook post! Someone commented on your Instagram photo. You check all of those and start getting ready for work.

“Where are my keys? Do I have everything that I need before I leave home?” Check and check. You make your way to the office and on the way you receive a voicemail and three text messages. You park, check your text messages and voicemail and make a note to call him or her back later that morning.

You walk into the office and greet your co-workers as they talk about recent events in the news or how their night was. A notification from LinkedIn pops up on your phone that you have InMail. You check it right away and respond. Okay, now it’s time to get to work. You open up your work e-mail to what seems like a million new e-mails that made their way to you either last night or this morning. The little red light on your work phone is blinking with multiple messages, and you have new paperwork on your desk that needs your attention ASAP.

Are you overwhelmed yet? Although many of us appreciate the technology we have and how easy it is to get in touch with someone, our high-tech world also comes with non-stop distractions. We need to retrain our brains to work on set schedules instead of spontaneously. Here are some great suggestions on how to keep yourself focused and your mind sharp throughout the day:

Make a calming playlist to listen to at work.

  • Many people find classical or ambient music to be a calming tool that allows them to focus on the task at hand.

Commit to a task and do it.

  • Put your phone and all other distractions away and commit to finishing the task before looking at anything else.

Take breaks throughout the day.

  • Your mind can only work for so long until it needs a break. Taking short 10- minute breaks to get up and walk around can help keep you focused on your work throughout the day.

Turn your push notifications off.

  • Many times, these are what distract us the most each day. Check your app notifications after work.