Many workplaces use an IM platform to keep team members in touch with one another. Get into the habit of using IM  for small, quick queries only, not for conversations.

Or if you can’t turn off your ringer for whatever reason, shut off the tweet/text/e-mail alerts, especially if you know you jump every time you hear it.

If you know you’ll only need it for a specific bit of research, get it out of the way and then unplug while you do the rest of your work. This will help you avoid the urge to go down a browsing rabbit hole.

Rather than trying to ignore such distractions as strong cooking smells or loud colleagues, get away from the problem. Set yourself up in an empty meeting room to regain your focus. Wear noise-cancelling headphones, or play "white noise," to blank out anything that would otherwise grab your attention.

Always try to have a manageable To-Do List . Having one that's too long can lead to procrastination, as you wonder which task to tackle next. Commit to accomplishing the two most important tasks on your list today, and put the rest on hold until tomorrow.

If you have a frequent disrupter, talk to that person about the problem, as he/she might not even realize that he/she is distracting you.

You're going to need a lot of mental and physical energy to juggle your priorities, manage visitors, and have the discipline to control your use of technology. So, it's vital that you take care of yourself.

Get enough sleep, drink plenty of water, get some fresh air and take a brisk walk during the day – all these will energize you.

Our smartphones have blurred the line between personal and professional communication. We can now receive work emails and phone calls on the same device. As it's hard to enforce rules about what people can look at on their own devices. It's usually more helpful if individuals understand and manage the challenge themselves.

Many of the emails in our inbox are not particularly important. You need to manage those messages so that they don't take you away from important tasks.

• Schedule checking time: Schedule an email check-in for your less productive times, and save your peak hours for high-value work.
• Turn emails into actions – If you need more than a few minutes to read or reply to an email, add it to your Action Program  or To-Do List.
• Use the trash – Don't keep emails forever. Once you've replied to them, put the ones that you don't need in the trash, and archive or file the ones that you want to keep.

Social media offers us new ways of communicating with unprecedented number of people. It can also be a productivity killer, taking our attention away from work tasks and breaking our concentration. Use it responsibly, so that your productivity and focus aren't affected.