The world seems more fast-paced than ever. If 2020 has taught me anything, it’s been the value of slowing down. Reflecting. This has been a year where we have been stressed and displaced, worried and searching. While I don’t want to sum up the challenges and lessons from the year in some bullet-point list, I do think it is valuable to share some of the revelations that have occurred to me (and others) over a very different, very trying year.
So much of the narrative for professionals this year has been about productivity. We want to maintain productivity even when work is weird, even when meetings are over Zoom, and even when our office is the kitchen table.
I think this is important to say: your productivity does not reflect to sum of your worth as a human being.
It’s easy to slip into these thoughts in our society, where money and accomplishments are the things we often define ourselves by. We’re so often living with this disease of busyness and warmed by distractions.
That’s why I think we need to talk about attention management.
Time Management Versus Attention Management
We’ve all heard the phrase “time is money.” I would argue that it’s attention where you will find true value. I love this quote from an article about productivity and attention management from The New York Times:
“Attention management is the art of focusing on getting things done for the right reasons, in the right places and at the right moments.” — Adam Grant, NYTimes
Our dedication to time management focuses on “maximizing our time” to get everything (or as much as possible) done. This can lead to unhealthy habits, like overworking, skipping breaks, eating lunch at our desks, and burning out. Attention management, by contrast, is about managing distractions, finding deep focus, and being intentional with everything that you do and spend your time on.
Here are some ways to do it!
4 Ways to Improve Your Attentiveness
1) Stop Trying to Multitask
The science reflects the truth of the matter: multitasking doesn’t work. What we often think of as multitasking is actually doing tasks in rapid succession, switching our attention back and forth between them. This impairs our best thinking and degrades the quality of the work. This habit of dividing our attention hurts our ability to focus and achieve high-level performance. We can be fooled into believing we’re getting more done, but in reality, it is far less effective than focusing on one task at a time, all the way to completion.
2) Refocus Your Priorities
How do you know where to put your attention when a million different things demand it? Start by refocusing your priorities. What do you value? Who do you value? Where do you want to be and how do you want to get there? What, at the end of the day, is truly important to you? Time spent on the things that you value is never time wasted. When you know what you want and what you care about, it is much easier to focus your attention and avoid distraction.
3) Hone Your Habits
Habits can be great. I’ve written before about the benefits of habit-making, particularly when it comes to physical fitness. However, not all habits are good habits. There are things that we do that hinder our ability to manage our attention. Keeping your phone at hand, push notifications on, is one of these bad habits. When you are in the habit of checking your phone each and every time it pings, your attention is bound to break. In the same way, re-examine your habits of checking emails too often, surfing the web during breaks, or using electronics late at night.
4) Identify Where You Stumble
What distractions are you prone to most? It might be something internal, like that impulse to check the news or your Twitter feed throughout the day. It might be that your office or home environment is too chaotic or noisy to facilitate deep concentration. Whatever it may be, identify the things in your life that are most likely to steal your attention from your real work. This will allow you to better recognize and control their influence over your time and attention.
What is the number one thing that distracts you from focusing on what’s really important? Share in the comments.