Have you ever stared blankly at a spreadsheet for so long, you see grid lines when you close your eyes? Do you tend to have eight or more windows open on your laptop at any given time, switching to a new window every 45 seconds? If you have trouble focusing during a long day on the job, perhaps you should take a mental break. Don't worry about feeling like a slacker relative to your co-worker in the next cubicle. Even though she seems to be so engrossed by her work and dedicated to following her client's audit trail to the pot of gold at the end, don't be fooled. She's more than likely doodling away or checking her Facebook account. The average adult attention span is 3 to 5 times their age. So I shouldn't really expect to focus on one task longer than an hour and a half to two hours at the most.
Consider scheduling some small breaks for yourself throughout the day. Perhaps every three hours, plan a trip to the break room for a cup of coffee, tea, or water. Take time to focus on your breathing. Close your eyes for just a minute and take some slow, deep breaths. If you have to make a personal call, use that as your breather, and step out into the office lobby or walk down the street and get some exercise while you chat. Even walking up and down the stairs will help get some blood flowing, enabling you to return to your cubicle alert and ready for another two hour power session of ticking and tying work papers. Kicking that mid-afternoon fatigue is always the toughest part of my day, so if I have to run an errand, I try to schedule it in the late afternoon.
Don't let your clients or teammates pressure you into sustaining 16 hours of uninterrupted face time at work each day. Taking periodic breaks will help you to refocus and be more efficient and effective in tackling your daily to-do's.
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