The Thurston, Pierce, Lewis, and Mason Counties IT Experts

How Distractions Impede Productivity

Did you know that the average worker in the United States gets distracted from their work every 11 minutes? When this happens, it also takes them 25 minutes to refocus on their tasks. This all adds up in the long term, and it can even bleed into the quality of work that does get done. More complicated tasks naturally take even more time to refocus.

Workplaces naturally want to get as much productivity out of their employees as they can reasonably expect, so this turnaround is not particularly great. Therefore, it is in the employer’s best interests to minimize distractions in the workplace. The first step is admitting that distractions are a problem; only after this has happened can you begin to take the next steps toward resolving the problem. There are two different types of distractions: external and internal.

Identifying Internal and External Distractions

Most distractions are bad and counterproductive, but it’s worth understanding the difference between external and internal distractions, as well as how they can influence productivity.

First, let’s define external distractions. These are all over the place in the business environment in the form of emails, phone calls, instant messages, pop-up meetings, etc. These external distractions can all happen when we least expect them, forcing the user to shift focus and away from the task at hand. While external distractions come from external issues, internal distractions are those that the user creates from within themselves, such as mental blocks, an inability to prioritize tasks or weigh options appropriately. It’s like looking at a restaurant menu; too many choices makes the decision difficult, whereas fewer choices expedites the decision-making process.

Some workplaces build-out schedules for employees, so this is not necessarily a perfect comparison, but it is a fair concern to have. In this case, the internal distractions that come from an inability to prioritize tasks are not their fault. If everything is a priority, then nothing is a priority. Employees will be forced to make their own tough calls in these situations, and their thought processes regarding these tough calls might lead to doing tasks out of order or in an inefficient way.

Internal distractions can also manifest themselves in the form of wandering thoughts or planning for future tasks rather than focusing on the current one. When internal and external distractions are combined, even the most dedicated employee might have trouble focusing on their work. It is possible to overcome these distractions, though; it just takes some hard work and best practices.

How to Minimize Distractions

Eliminate Options

If we look at the above scenario with the menu, the problem of having too many options can be mitigated by removing some of them. Eliminating options means that less time is spent on decisions and, therefore, fewer distractions get in the way of making up your mind. One way you can eliminate options is by simply cleaning up your area and eliminating distractions. If you spend a little time doing this, you might be surprised by how much time it actually saves.

Set Limits

A clear goal in mind can help you stay focused on it, but identifying the specific endpoint can have the same effect. Give yourself a set amount of time to work on a task, then transition to the next one. This does a couple of things for productivity. On one hand, it keeps the mind fresh and keeps tasks from growing stale. On the other, if you give yourself a set amount of time to work on a task, chances are that you will spend that amount of time on it. A common saying is that work expands to fit the time scheduled for it, so you might even find yourself ahead of schedule for a change.

Control your Environment

If you can control your environment, you can control your focus. If you struggle with a noisy atmosphere, then you can put some headphones on to keep noise to a minimum. If there is something distracting going on in the office, you can instead take a laptop and work elsewhere in the office. Changing your environment can be empowering and allow you to remove yourself from distracting situations.

If you find yourself struggling with distractions, try using some of these strategies to make the workplace more conducive to productivity. What are some strategies that you might recommend to your peers and colleagues? Let us know in the comments, and be sure to subscribe to our blog.

An IT services provider can effectively take over most, if not all aspects of a business’ IT management. Here are some of the major ways that managed IT services can provide value for your organization.

Remote Monitoring and Management

An IT service provider like PC Technologies can help your business keep its technology in proper working order. Hardware failure might be devastating, but assets like devices can be replaced; the time thrown down the drain as a result of hardware failure cannot. Instead of reacting to hardware failure and other problems related to your IT, our certified technicians can use the latest technology to monitor your infrastructure for telltale signs or oddities that must be addressed. This proactive approach allows us to keep a close watch on your technology so you don’t have to, preventing downtime and keeping you focused on running your business.

Cyber and Network Security

You don’t need us to tell you (or maybe you do) that malware and other hacking attacks are major causes for concern. Security should be top-of-mind for any organization that wants to get anything done. PC Technologies understands the importance of business security, and we want to help you keep your organization safe as can be with the latest security tools and solutions. We can help you implement security measures, develop policies and procedures to augment them, and monitor your network for any signs of threats. You can rest easy knowing that we’ve got you covered.

Tool Procurement and Deployment

The IT technician is much more than the occasional office visitor who stops by to resolve computer problems. While this makes up a good portion of what we do, our technicians understand that IT bleeds into every other facet of your organization. This includes the procurement of new technology solutions and the support required to make the most of them. We’ll make sure that any new tech deployment is successful. From design to implementation to support, you can count on PC Technologies to help make sure any additions to your IT infrastructure are carried out in a competent and professional manner.

As you can see, the right IT solutions can improve your organization’s productivity and efficiency in spades. Don’t wait any longer to get started with managed services; give PC Technologies a call today at 360-491-2227.

How Much Worse Has Ransomware Gotten?

Let’s look at this somewhat casually. 

Ransomware was never something to be trifled with. However, compared to the attacks we’re seeing today, the attacks of the past seem to be small potatoes at their worst. Having your business’ data encrypted is bad. However, crippled supply chains and interrupted national infrastructures (as we’ve seen in the recent attacks on JBS SA and Colonial Pipeline) are undoubtedly worse.

The dangers that such ransomware attacks pose cannot be understated, and no business is truly safe. The White House recently said as much in their warning to companies in regards to their cybersecurity preparations.

This is Why the US Justice Department is Speaking Out

Understandably concerned about the ramifications such threats could easily pose to national security, the Department of Justice has joined with the White House to draw a line in the sand. As their way of responding to what they accurately described as a “growing threat,” investigations into ransomware cases will now be handled similarly to how terrorism cases are… all stops taken out in terms of what tools are used.

Other Governing Bodies are Following Suit

Likewise, in response to the JBS hack and the potential economic ramifications it will likely cause, the US Congress is now considering the lack of federal oversight into the cybersecurity protections implemented by meat processors. Such oversight could help to create a more unified strategy to help prevent and mitigate these kinds of attacks and their widespread impacts.

Ransomware Threats are Also Getting Worse

In addition to many ransomware attacks being waged on bigger, higher-value targets, the strategies involved across the board are evolving. Just consider the ideal progression of a ransomware attack from the attacker’s perspective.

1. Use ransomware to encrypt a targeted system
2. Threaten to delete all contents of a targeted system if a ransom isn’t paid
3. Profit

Understanding this, the consensus amongst security-minded businesses was that keeping an isolated backup was the perfect failsafe against such an attack. After all, with the backup to fall back on, the encrypted data could be deleted and replaced with relatively minor cost to the business. This is one of the many, many reasons we always recommend a business to keep a backup squirreled away.

 Unfortunately, as will always be the case with cybercriminals, these practices encouraged them to adapt their processes. Lately, more and more attacks are following a slightly different method than what we’ve been seeing:

1. Steal data from a system, using ransomware to encrypt it after the data has been harvested
2. Threaten to delete all contents of a targeted system if a ransom isn’t paid
3. Profit
4. Threaten to leak or sell the stolen data unless a second ransom is paid
5. Profit again

This double-whammy approach to ransomware first came onto the scene in late 2019, and has exploded since. One recent survey found that 77 percent of ransomware attacks now come with threats to leak data if a ransom isn’t paid. This same survey also revealed that such attacks are increasingly directed against SMBs, who have considerably fewer resources than enterprise-level targets.

So, if keeping a backup no longer helps to squash the entire threat, what can a company do?

How a Business Can Resist Ransomware

First, it will help to understand how the majority of modern ransomware attacks begin. About half are enabled by a cybercriminal’s ability to compromise remote desktop software (through stolen or guessed access credentials, or through an unpatched vulnerability). This means that any organization can more effectively prevent ransomware by reinforcing its password security and user management.

By implementing password requirements that better align to best practices and then reinforcing them through two-factor authentication measures, your business can help eliminate much of the risk of an insecure password. Supplementing these measures with a password management platform can make it that much simpler for your users to utilize sufficiently secure identity authentication, benefitting your organization considerably.

Finally, it helps to invest in a dark web monitoring service, as this can help you identify if any of the passwords or data that your organization relies on has been compromised and exfiltrated. While it won’t help to undo any damage that has already been done as a result, this knowledge can help you identify your weak points and resolve them.

While we wish we could say that this is the last time that a cyberattack method will ever get progressively worse, we simply can’t, so we all need to do whatever we can to stop them. That’s where PC Technologies and our services come in. Learn more about what you need us to do by calling 360-491-2227.