Do you invite, allow, or initiate an interruptive environment while you're working? Imagine, create and test ways to minimize the number of "got-a-minute" type interruptions you handle daily.
Just the other day, I was in the middle of responding to an email from a client and by the second paragraph of text I was really on a roll. The content was new - I was responding to a request I'd never seen before - and I was completely present, in the moment of ideation and action. And then,
"Hey Jason..." I heard from someone in the office.
In that instant, I was taken out of focus, literally my fingers stopped typing, and it took everything I had to turn around and address a "quick" interruption. Psychologically (and biologically?) we are prone to respond to the latest, the loudest, the brightest and the newest input around. Consider this "Productivity Experiment:"
For the next 24 hours, keep track of every and any thing that pulls your focus from what you were about to do. Yes, this is going to be a LOT of work. Over the time to write this post on the airplane, I have gotten up out of my seat one time, asked to have my glass of water refilled, looked out the window to see another jet flying off our right side, and thumbed through my journal looking for a quote to add to this mini-article. Speaking from experience of doing this with dozens of clients over the years, when you identify your distractions, it's going to make it easy/obvious to pick the things to change.
How can you enhance the amount of time you spend in focus on your important projects?
Set Solid Goals
*Open you calendar to a date at least 3 months in the future. Add an "all day event" where you list 5-10 of your current (bigger) projects and the progress you anticipate having made by that time. When you arrive 90 days from now, evaluate how your intention and actions met!
By spending a moment now focusing on where you'll be then, you may make different decisions about the things you do and/or don't focus on.
Acknowledge Accomplishment
*Every day, at the end of each day, for the next three days write one significant accomplishment for that day. At the end of the three days, study the progress you're making in the short term. Make a mental note of which interruptions came up to help you get your work done, and which (if any) distracted you, and pulled you out of productivity. One client, after studying their habits AND preferences, completely changed the work environment by initiating two "formal" interruptions daily. He and one key staff member sit down at 10:30am and 3:30pm. Anything that comes up throughout the day that is NOT a crisis gets put on the discussion list for their two "meetings." (Each meeting lasts 10-15 minutes.)
Work "Smarter...Together"
* Keep a running inventory of the resources you need (information, tools, structured time, etc) and review them weekly. Plan to maximize just ONE of those resources in the short term by asking a colleague, mentor, boss or coach for ideas and advice. Do this strategically, at your weekly meeting, or the off-site scheduled sometime in the near future. Over several years of performance-based executive coaching sessions, I have seen many positive benefits of blending ideas that are practical/time-sensitive in nature together with the technology, systems or tools to make those habits stick.
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