TV viewing is down. You'd think behavioral types would be cheering, but they know better. We dumped all that time into other screens: our phones and our laptops, mostly. We're giving ourselves a new version of attention-deficit disorder, one of our own device.
A lot of this is stuff we fell into by habit. Here are some ways to balance.
Schedule your correspondence. We read e-mail as a steady drip throughout the day. Stop. Pick two or three 30-minute windows. Also do this:
- Respond definitively. Save the nine-e-mail string and lay out a simple recommendation to get consensus.
- Delete anything older than two weeks, or stuff it into a folder. You're not going to reply.
- Unsubscribe to newsletters you're not reading. You won't start.
- Set your computer and mobile devices to not notify you when mail arrives.
Pick a task. The ability to use multiple open tabs in our web browser is both a useful thing and an opportunity to be distracted over and over. Try this:
- Consider the value of the active web tabs you have open. Do you really want a reminder to revisit Facebook every 12 minutes?
- If you get mail through a tab, close it. Open it only during scheduled check-ins.
- If you read Internet news sites, schedule it. Give yourself a daily limit of 20 to 30 minutes.
Don't answer the phone. If your phone were a debit card, it would be sucking your attention account dry. You do your business on the phone? Great. Set that thing to stun and let calls go to voicemail so you're not at the mercy of other people's whims. Also:
- If you have a really smart phone, set calls from everyone but the people who'd likely call with an emergency to vibrate.
- Practice leaving your phone in the glove box. You know, there was a time when we'd go to the grocery store and not be in touch for the whole 20 minutes.
- Schedule calls for your drives (and, yes, use a hands-free setup).
- When leaving voicemail, be brief. Leave your name and phone number up front, even if the person knows you. Leave the most important info first so people can hang up earlier.
Maintain human contact. When you're with someone in person, work harder at not letting machines like your phone and your laptop distract you. This pays off in huge dividends over time. Letting the phone go to voicemail (which, by the way, used to be the norm) goes far in showing your appreciation for the person in your presence. Do this:
- Shut the lid. Or turn off the monitor. If you have someone in your office for a meeting, make it absolutely a done deal that you won't be distracted by the screen.
- Don't pick up. Few phone calls need to be answered right away. Even "emergencies" can be delayed by eight or nine minutes without a calamity.
- Keep eye contact. The ability to actually be with someone is at a premium. Make it feel that way, and reap the rewards.
Everyone is busy. If you think your busyness is some kind of prestige symbol, think again. Full attention is the new black. You'll appreciate your new ability to focus, your new peace of mind, your new reputation as the person who is so there.
And what will you do with all that time? My guess is that you'll figure out your next move on your way to being much more successful, that's what.
This article was originally published in the December 2010 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: The New Attention Deficit.
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Comments:
Great piece. Love your point that "everyone is busy". Everyone thinks they're busier than the next person. It seems like a competition at times when someone says "I worked 70 hours this week", "Yeah, I know the feeling I worked 80." Nobody cares! Try this: Practice Parkinson's Law. Limit the amount of time you have to work on a task, similar to the advice referenced above. You'll be amazed how much you can get done in a little time.
Great article which would have been even better had I not had to suffer through 22 ads on this page including the 'mid article' bright yellow ad interuption and the 'pop over' annoy me for 15 seconds ad that needed killed just to get back to reading this page. Still great article.
Thanks Chris. We think "time is money" maybe better to think "quiet time is money"! We have lost the art and craft of "musing" as in letting our muses join us to think new thoughts and connect ideas with each other. Shut it down may be the new mantra for 2011. Sylvia Lafair author "Don't Bring It to Work"
Great reminder, came at the perfect time. Working on 2 computers with 4 monitors seems like a great way to "multitask" but it really leaves room for tons of distractions. I will be attempting to use some of the tips here, thanks!
An excellent suite of 4 techniques and points. To bring the topic one level up: all for are means for reducing SWITCH-TASKING (and thus, according to Basex Research, reduce the average 28% of wasted time through switch-tasking) through AGGREGATING time (scheduling correspondence & phone answering), space (reducing browser tabs, for the digital space) and mind (focus on human contact). Sergiu Simmel http://ProductivityForLife.com/P4P Certified Productivity Coach
We forget we are in control of distractions, not the other way around. As for e-mail, phone calls and other online/social media communication tend to it on your schedule. Our brains get drained by interaction, prioritize human contact first.
Chris, you're right on about attention deficit people. My girlfriend can be a great example: talking on the phone, while posting an ad on Ebay and watching the TV. In the end, she posts an incomplete ad, forgot what the TV show was about and only heard half of the story at the phone...
I never talk on the phone and look at a computer monitor at the same time. I realized years ago that I cannot do both well. I schedule my interruptions now which have increased my productivity. Effective multitasking is made up: most people are able to focus on one task at a time. But we all try to multitask and get pulled in million directions accomplishing little. Is it because we always need to be busy? Is it because our brain is always in overdrive? Or is it indeed a new Attention Deficit? I am, for one, scaling down. @lyena
So true! There are so many attention grabbers these days, it is easy to get distracted. Just tweeted this article. Mike Byrnes, President, Byrnes Consulting, LLC http://byrnesconsulting.com/ http://twitter.com/ByrnesConsultin
Chris: Great stuff as always. Agree completely that attention is the new black! Research shows that multi-tasking is worse than smoking Marijuana - True. Hope to see you in person soon. Cheers, @equalman
Not only did I need to be clunked over the head with this terrific, important message, I need to forward it on to about 50 people in my circle who are forever 29% dialed in to our real, human world. Bravo, Chris Brogan.
Totally agree! Great and much needed tips as well as advice! Thanks Chris!
Great advice! I find it is often hard to unplug from such devices. This is especially true for me having just launched a website. It has become so much more important to have certain times when you disconnect.