Opportunities for distraction have never been so…well, distracting.
We have a dozen social networks that are so engrained in our daily life that we rarely take a breath before diving back into the app.
Walk through an airport, a mall, a grocery store, or even a bar on a Saturday night, and the majority of the people will literally look like they are sucked into their phones.
This is our guide to avoiding distractions and managing your priorities.
If you can learn to manage your attention, managing time will not only take care of itself, you’ll have a massive competitive advantage over most people.
The Attention Currency Paradox
Both deep work— reading, writing and other meaningful activities—and shallow work—like updating your Facebook status—require attention.
Each type of work also has an opportunity cost when it comes to your attention.
Deep work doesn’t cost you very much in terms of lost productivity. In fact it increases your productivity. You’ll notice this is you shut yourself off at work and focus on a project for an hour or so. The project tends to get finished more quickly and the results are usually better.
Shallow work, on the other hand, has a high opportunity cost in terms of lost productivity. When you do shallow work, it’s much more likely to make you distracted for longer periods of time. In fact, right now, I am watching the NBA draft, scrolling twitter and writing this article. If it’s crap, that’s why.
This is the strange paradox of attention. Whatever requires less of your attention costs more in terms of cognitive load, while what requires more costs you less. Think about these distractions in terms of a phone. Yes, this is ironic, but bear with me. As you open more and more apps on your phone, the processor has to work harder and harder to keep up with simple tasks. Your brain is the same way.
The little things we do repeatedly lead to big changes in our lives. All of those little distractions add up to becoming the cognitive equivalent of an athlete who smokes.
Managing your attention is a skill. Like any other skill, it gets developed through practice. So how exactly do you practice managing your attention? Fortunately, everyday life provides many opportunities to do so.
Start your day without devices
Starting your day on the internet damages your ability to do good work. This is why I start the day by reading physical books and writing in a notebook. Nobody changed the world by checking email, so why on earth would you start your day by doing it. I spend the first two hours of every morning feeding our puppies, reading a book or writing my thoughts. No screens. Just brain power.
Focus on your highest value activities
No matter what it is we’re trying to accomplish, whether it’s writing a book, generating revenue for a company, or losing weight, there are only a handful of activities that move the needle. When we neglect these activities, we end up being busy, but we’re not productive. Productivity is not about the amount of time you spend on something. It’s about the quality of the time you spend on something. And the quality of the time is almost entirely determined by one thing: your ability to manage your attention. Professionals manage their attention. Tim Ferriss tackles this subject in his book, the 4-Hour Workweek. If something adds value to your life, make it your number one.
Avoid multitasking and task switching
It’s been said over and over. Multitasking not only diminishes your productivity. It damages your attention span. Unfortunately, most people count on willpower to avoid multitasking. But the environment is always stronger than willpower.
So if you have a dozen tabs open, a bunch of notifications on, and your phone in the room, you’re already working at a self-imposed handicap. You might consider your quick peek at your inbox, Instagram feed or twitter harmless.
Unfortunately, this tends to lead to lower productivity and extend the time needed to complete tasks.
One focused hour of uninterrupted creation will do far more for you than 8 hours of perpetually interrupted work. Think about this the next time you get to work. Can you finish your work in less than eight hours? If so, use that time to do something unique. Send out letters to famous people in your industry. Try starting a website. Exercise. Read.
Embrace downtime
If there’s one thing that we don’t place nearly enough value on, it’s downtime. In fact, most downtime isn’t really downtime because we take a break and check email or social media.
If you go for a walk but are on Twitter the whole time, the value of the walk goes down. If you immerse yourself in nature and feel the need to document that experience on Instagram, the benefits of being in nature diminish.
The unconscious mind is doing a great deal of work during downtime. This is why so many we have so many eureka moments when we’re in the shower or away from our work. I like to read before bed. This lets my mind slowly wind down and I tend to sleep better during the week.
Let your screens go to sleep in the living room.
Plan your days the night before
When you plan your days the night before, you not only increase productivity, you also avoid decision fatigue and preserve your willpower. Not all hours of the day are created equal. Your attention span is going to be highest during certain parts of the day, which is why I always recommend spending the first hour of the day on activities that add meaning and value to your life.
Stay Rational and Prioritize
-B&T