Tired After Work? Ignoring Your Coworkers Could Help, Study Finds
If your office is anything like mine, people wear multiple hats and are often called away from their primary duties to help with other things.
While working in radio can be a lot of fun, the reality is that most of us frequently get pulled away from things we're working on to put out fires in other departments. According to mental health experts speaking to Business Insider, that might explain why we go home feeling mentally drained and exhausted every day.
KDFW shared the story, and reported that having your focus constantly drawn away from what you're doing can leave you feeling worn out. (Yeah, no duh.) They say that when co-workers interrupt you with questions or to make conversation, it can take around 25 minutes to completely regain your focus.
I can certainly testify to that!
The hilarious thing is that they recommend wearing headphones to block out distractions and convey that you don't want to be disturbed.
First of all, I'd like to see your average office that allows employees to wear headphones. Maybe yours does, but I'm willing to bet most don't.
Second, I work in radio. Everyone here has a pair of headphones on their head or around their neck at all times. When someone wants your attention, they're going to wave, flick lights on and off, blow up your phone, or tap on your headphones until you drop what you're doing.
If you can somehow manage to go a whole day avoiding coworkers and find yourself feeling less tired, great for you. Let us know how it turned out.
Personally, I don't think it's going to happen here. Besides, I find the conversations I have with coworkers often help me get through frustrations and work out issues, either because they can give me some valuable outside perspective or talking through the problem aloud helps me see a solution.
The full Business Insider article offers more tips, including the very zen notion of doing nothing. Now THAT I can get behind! Sometimes just taking a little break can do wonders for your mind and help you do your best work when you get back to it.