Featured In
Posts Tagged ‘attention management’
Productivity Follows Process
Several months ago I wrote an article about productivity and time management tools (also called PIMs for “personal information managers”), and I ended that by writing, “the process is the missing piece to using any tool successfully.” 
The most important element of using productivity tools successfully is the “how,” or what I call the process. In my prior article, I referred to this in an analogy, which is that having a great set of clubs does not automatically make you a great golfer. Think of adopting a good process in terms of having a good golf swing: it’s how you use the clubs that makes the difference. The better your process, the farther your tools will take you in a given work day, and the more productive you will be.
In my 17 years in the productivity industry, I have created and refined what I call the Empowered Productivity SystemTM. I chose the word “empowered” because I have come to realize that the secret to peak productivity, really to living the life you want, is regaining and maintaining control, specifically over your attention. Controlling your attention means that you decide what gets done in your day, rather than just being swept away by all the external forces constantly demanding your attention. Control is the difference between being proactive and being constantly reactive. Time management is no longer relevant. What matters now is attention management.
As you may recall from my earlier article, there are five components that a good PIM should manage well. These can be all in one tool, such as Microsoft Outlook, or in several tools, as long as they work well together. Following are those five components, and some tips on using them inside the framework of a workflow management process.
Contacts
The Contact section of any tool is primarily a storage place for contact details. Some tasks relate directly to Contacts, such as phone calls or emails, and these should be captured in your Task list. Certain professions, such as sales, may require a more complicated tool, such as a CRM (Customer Relationship Manager), however many people underestimate the Contacts features available in the PIM that they choose.
Notes
The important thing to remember about Notes is that they are for reference material. Reference materials are things that do not currently require action. Notes give you a place to capture ideas, instructions, lists, even project details. But if an item requires action, it belongs on your Task list.
Email
Email is one of the primary culprits of lost productivity among entrepreneurs and professionals. My advice is to set aside one or two times in your day to dispatch your messages. Clear them from your inbox by deleting, filing, or creating a Task rather than letting them accumulate. Hundreds or thousands of messages piled up in your inbox results in unproductive clutter. It’s more efficient to process email in batches a couple of times per day, than to stop what you’re doing to respond to every message when it arrives in your inbox.
Calendar
There is a distinct difference between calendar items and task (to-do list) items. A Calendar is a time-based organization tool. Anything that has a strong relationship to time goes on your Calendar. An example of a strong relationship to time is something that is absolutely happening on a certain day (like a birthday), or happening on a certain day and at a certain time (like a customer meeting). It makes perfect sense to organize these items on a Calendar.
Tasks
You may, however, have many things to do that have a weak relationship to time, meaning that you have some discretion as to when they get done. They may have a due date at some point in the future, or may have no due date at all, but are still important to complete. I find it useful to treat these items as Tasks and put them on a list. Your Task list tells you how to spend your time in between your calendar appointments, and is the driving force that enables you to be proactive instead of always reactive. I suggest that you prioritize your task list by due date, instead of by “A B C” or “High Medium Low.” You can read more about that here.
In order to be your most productive, you need a set of tools that matches the complexity of your life, but you also need a good workflow management process for using those tools effectively. The ideas here are enough to get you started. To learn more about the Empowered Productivity SystemTM for yourself or your team, call me at 424-226-2872 or email questions at regainyourtime dot com. Also connect on Facebook and Twitter.
Thanks for reading!
To Multitask or Not to Multitask…
You may be surprised to learn that there is really no such thing as mentally multitasking. The human brain can only hold one conscious thought at a time. Common use of the word “multi-task” actually has two distinct meanings. The first is physically doing two things at the same time, hopefully neither of which requires too much attention. For example, you may sometimes drive and talk on the phone simultaneously. This may not cause too much problem if the conversation is relatively light, you’re on familiar roads, and the traffic isn’t heavy. However, if the road conditions get difficult, or the conversation gets intense, many people find themselves abandoning one task in order to focus their attention on the other (ever find yourself turning down 
the radio, or telling your caller you have to hang up, when you’re lost, or when the traffic suddenly gets heavy? Also note: using a cell phone while driving, whether it’s hand-held or hands-free, delays a driver’s reactions as much as having a blood alcohol concentration at the legal limit of .08 percent!)
More commonly, we use “multi-task” to describe the behavior of switching our attention rapidly back and forth between two tasks. The thought in our mind can change so fast that it seems like we’re thinking about things simultaneously, but the process is actually called “cognitive switching.”
Studies have shown that either physically multi-tasking, or cognitive switching (mental “multi-tasking”) both increases the amount of time it takes to do a task, and also decreases the quality with which that task is done.
A study published by the American Psychological Association concluded that the ability to switch between tasks, which they term, “mental flexibility” generally peaks in the 20s and then decreases with age. The extent to which it decreases depends upon the type of tasks being performed. However, the findings of this study indicate that mental flexibility decreases an average of 30.9% from a person in their 40s to a person in their 70s.
For example, this could explain John McCain’s admitted “computer illiteracy” during the 2008 elections. Fluent use of a computer requires the ability to rapidly switch focus between the task the computer is needed for (sending an email, for example) and the task of operating the computer. Those who are not well-versed in computer use would find it difficult to do both of these things together.
Given all this, you may think that my advice to you would be to “never multitask.” Actually, I’m a big fan of multitasking. The key is the same as my primary belief: control your attention, control your life. As long as I have chosen when to multitask, instead of doing it out of habit. For example, I think it’s fine to combine tasks that don’t require too much mental energy, such as catching up with a girlfriend by phone while I empty the dishwasher or fold the laundry. Neither of these things require much concentration and the consequences of distraction are minor (I might have to ask my friend to repeat something, or put the dishes in the wrong cabinet.) If I am driving down the highway and I answer the phone, out of habit, simply because it rings, I did not decide. I inadvertently relinquished control over the situation.
Do you skim your email while you’re on the phone, simply because it’s in front of you? Do you leave your email client open, with messages automatically downloading, all day, even while you’re trying to do other things? These are examples of sabotaging your own attention, rather than supporting it. You’ve created a situation where multitasking is the likely result, despite the fact that you intended to focus. You did not decide. You relinquished control.
If studies prove that multitasking causes you to take longer and perform worse, yet you find yourself routinely multitasking, this probably means that what you are putting out into the world is really only a fraction of your true talents, skills, and abilities. Now it’s up to you to decide if that’s ok with you or not.
I think multitasking has it’s time and place: the time and place you choose to engage in it. Other times, I suggest you choose to indulge your focus. You never know what kind of amazing things might happen!
Thanks for reading!
Why “Time Management” is No Longer Relevant
Search engines, billions of websites, targeted advertisement and easy access to digital content provide us with myriad ways of taking care of our most complex informational and entertainment needs. What is now scarce, and therefore valuable, is the user’s attention, which explains the intense efforts made to obtain it through focused advertising, pop-ups, short videos embedded in news portals and, most disheartening, spam.
-from THE ECONOMICS OF ATTENTION: MAXIMIZING USER VALUE IN INFORMATION-RICH ENVIRONMENTS
Managing your time used to be the same thing as managing your attention. If you designated some time to attend to something, it was more likely that thing would get done. This was back before the digital revolution so thoroughly changed the way information is generated and shared. In other words, before there were so many distractions. Now, the world is constantly available at our fingertips, with the plethora of radio, television, internet, scrolling marquees, skywriting & advertising, not to mention new ways to instantly communicate, and handheld digital devices that are becoming more and more omnipresent. Allocating time to something no longer means that it will receive your attention, and without attention, your time is somewhat irrelevant. Attention creates action, produces quality and facilitates productivity. Attention also has a dramatic impact on your life. What you give your attention to, is what determines your experiences.
Think about it…there are entire cultures built around subjects that probably don’t even register with you. Don’t you know people who are involved in things you know nothing about? Perhaps its monster trucks, or vampires, or science fiction, or quantum physics. There are people whose lives revolve around subjects that are barely a blip on your radar. Those people give their attention to those topics, and therefore have experiences around them. And you do the same. So, as William James noted, “your experience is what you choose to attend to.” And all of those experiences eventually add up to your life. But if most of the time, you don’t “agree” to give your attention; you are just constantly distracted and reacting to all of those things that are vying for your attention, then maybe you do not have as much control over your life as you might like.
So perhaps it’s time to reconsider the way you manage the details of your life. For most people, their primary tool is a calendar. A calendar is a time-based tool. Allocating your time on a calendar can help, but maybe it’s time to change your thinking. Consider a productivity system that will enable you to view, and therefore better manage, all of those details necessary to service your life. This is a better way of allocating your attention to them, and keeping them in your focus, making it more likely that they will get done. You can only manage things when you can see them, and you can’t see them when they are inside your head. If you can view your workload (or, more importantly, your whole life-load) in a meaningful way, and not just as random entries in your calendar, then those details are more likely to capture your attention, despite all the distractions. If they get your attention, it’s more likely that you will take action around them. Any good personal productivity system (of course I suggest my Empowered Productivity System, but you may already have a process that works well for you) has a comprehensive task management tool. I’m working on compiling a list with reviews, so be sure to check back. But in the meantime, here is a place to start.
For more beautiful photos from Shawn P. Thomas, check out his Flickr stream. Thanks for reading!
I Won! Would You Read This Business Book?
Well, the votes are in and thanks to all the wonderful support from my friends, clients, and colleagues, my book proposal was selected as the winner in the Business Book Pitchfest, sponsored by Networlding and Crowdspring. I am truly humbled by the support and grateful to every person who voted for me. I’m excited to put my work together in a book, and about the opportunities for new partners, customers, and directions that a published book could bring.
I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me, and first is deciding to self-publish (with a small boutique publisher) or pitch to an agent or a large publishing house. I look forward to learning about the publishing industry, and if you have any insight for me, I would be very grateful for you to share your wisdom with me. Please contact me directly at maura at regainyourtime dot com.
A short description of the book-in-process is below, and I’d also love to hear from you if you have specific challenges or areas of interest related to this topic, that you would like to see addressed in the book. Would you read this?
Book-in-Process: Control Your Attention, Control Your Life: Succeeding in the Attention Age
Summary:
Change is upon us. Technology is evolving faster than ever before, and the sheer volume of information to manage is staggering. Digital Convergence is changing the way we communicate and learn. Although technology evolves very quickly, our brains evolve very slowly, and the rapid advance in technology over the last 40 years is shaping that evolution. It is literally rewiring our brains. The old ideas of multitasking and time management in the “Information Age” are being replaced by new ideas of focus and the Attention Age. The secret of productivity, of getting things done, of living the life we want now comes down to the ability to manage our attention. This goes way beyond time management, and it’s much more complicated than a calendar and an address book, or even the latest gadget or app. It requires greater knowledge of how our brains work, an understanding of the demands on our attention, and a rich, but uncomplicated, arsenal of behaviors, techniques, and technology. This book will contain step-by-step instructions to learn to control attention by effectively managing the details of a busy life (commitments, communication, and information), discussing not only a behavioral methodology but also incorporating paper, PC, Mac, handheld, and cloud-based solutions.
I’d love to hear from you. Thanks for reading, and for voting!
What Martial Arts Teaches Me About Productivity and Control
I have the honor and the privilege of being a student of the Shoshin Ryu School of martial arts. I’ve recently returned from the annual Nationals conference, this year in Boise, Idaho, where students and sensei from the dojo all over the country gather for 4 days of intense training. It’s so inspiring and I always return with so much to reflect on.
One of the lessons, from Curry Sensei of the Alaska Dojo was “Eliminating Chosa” which was about refining your movements to remove wasted effort. It reminded me that efficiency is useful regardless of the application. In martial arts, conserving your energy by eliminating chosa can provide you with the extra burst you need to win a fight or escape an attacker. Throughout your day, how many times do you switch tasks, right in the middle, because something else called your attention? Switching between tasks greatly increases the time it takes to complete any task and also decreases the quality of your output, just like wasted movement in martial arts. Perhaps in your work day, the consequences aren’t as dire, but you still need more effort and get less done.
Another lesson was from Soucy Sensei of the Connecticut Dojo and he reminded us that if you understand the way that your joints and limbs move, where they are strong and where they are weak, you can control them and use that control to gain the advantage in a match or a self-defense situation. I believe his words were, “control or be controlled.” This is so true not only in martial arts, but it also reminded me of the value of controlling your attention. There are so many things competing for our attention, trying to take our attention from us, that if we don’t exert control, we are at risk of spending all of our time just blowing in the wind of reaction, too infrequently being purposeful and making choices about how we spend our time (more on that here). Just like in martial arts, if you can only react and defend, you can never take control of the situation.
Nationals reminded me that my practice with Shoshin Ryu is not only about sport or self-defense, but also about personal growth and discipline…an exercise for the mind and spirit as well as for the body. I am so grateful to all the Shoshin Ryu teachers and students for allowing me to participate and helping me to advance my art.
Thank you for reading!