You might like to work with something happening in the background, and that's okay. But you should minimise other distractions. That might mean turning off notifications, staying off social media, or setting an autoresponder to emails.

Multitasking isn't effective—it lowers productivity and can lead to feeling overwhelmed. 

• Focus on one task until it's complete.
• Say no to work that you don't need to do or can be done by someone else.
• Don't keep too many tabs or screens open.

Clients will respect you more when you consistently do a good job, not because you take on too many jobs at once.

Find a productivity technique that works for you. Try the pomodoro technique—set a 25 minute timer, focus only on the one task, then take a 5 minute break.

• Use your lunchbreak to go outside.
• Take your laptop to a coffee shop or library for a change of scenery.

Give yourself permission to make mistakes. When we make mistakes, we learn, and we grow.