Attention Management « thinkproductive.co.uk

Graham Allcott

It’s considered cool to be an early adopter. One glimpse at the line of people camped outside the Apple store when they introduce a new version of the iPad or iPhone is proof that people like to be the first to get their hands on new gadgets.

However, it is certainly not smart to be an early adopter.

Let the crowd figure stuff out, then spend time asking them for their informed opinions (which they’ll be delighted to give, seeing as their aim in being an early adopter is so they get to talk about it to anyone who’ll listen!), before deciding to buy.

The same is true of online software. There are thousands of new sites out there purporting to be the next Facebook or LinkedIn that will revolutionise your life. Some of these things might turn out to do just that, but many of them will be consigned to history in a matter of months.

Many people are excited or flattered to spend time being amongst the exclusive first few geeks to check out the latest Google product or new tool. Not only is there a very high chance these things will fail to ‘stick’ and that everyone will move onto something else very soon, but at that stage, the software is still full of bugs precisely because it hasn’t had enough user feedback, so it will also be more difficult to use in the early stages.

Patience is a virtue.

You don’t need to look cool. And even if you really want to look cool, no one really cares if you do. On your deathbed, no one will ask you what you owned or what software you used and they certainly won’t ask you whether you were amongst the first to have it.

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No Comments » Tags: apps, Attention, Attention Management, early adopter, focus, tools
Posted in Productivity, Time Management

Do Not Disturb – stop being distracted in the office

Graham Allcott

When we’re doing team building training, one of the issues that often arises is “distraction”. Here’s how we do things at Think Productive HQ.

Elena is one of the stars of the Think Productive office, and is on many projects our main linchpin between our client, our Productivity Ninja delivering the workshop and our administrative support.

As such, she gets a lot of questions from the rest of us in the office, all of which interrupt her flow. If she’s in need of some proactive attention time she has a small china kitten that she places on the desk. Everyone else in the office, including me as her boss, knows that when we see the kitten it’s a sign that she needs proactive attention time. We save up our questions or ideas for later and she stays focussed.

I have seen other similar versions of this during my work coaching productivity at people’s real desks. I’ve seen homemade plastic signs, whiteboards, hats, police style tape on the back of a chair – (“Stay back, there’s nothing here to see”) – and many other variations.

Perhaps the simplest and most effective is a big pair of headphones. As well as having the extra practical function that you can drown out the office hubbub with music (which some people love to work to, whilst others find difficult to concentrate with), it’s also a real barrier to you hearing the bits of the conversation or questions aimed at you. If you are interrupted whilst wearing headphones, it’s kind of obvious to the person interrupting you that they’re breaking your flow.

What are your “do not disturb” signs?

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No Comments » Tags: Attention Management, distractions, disturb
Posted in Productivity, Team Productivity, Time Management

How to Avoid Distractions (like a Ninja)

Graham Allcott

When we’re doing team building training, one of the issues that often arises is “distraction”. Here’s how we do things at Think Productive HQ.

Elena is one of the stars of the Think Productive office, and is on many projects our main linchpin between our client, our Productivity Ninja delivering the workshop and our administrative support.

Image by pellesten

What are your “do not disturb” signs?

Like this? Try these

Improve your office morale – sign up for our Team Building Training

5 tips to survive working from home thinkproductive.co.uk

5 Ways to Stop Being Distracted thinkproductive.co.uk

Top 10 Distraction Stoppers Lifehacker

Minimizing Distractions - MindTools.com

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2 Comments » Tags: #llikeaninja, Attention Management, distractions, disturb, how to, like a ninja
Posted in How To, Productivity, Team Productivity, Time Management

Be Productive Like a Boss (and a worker)

Graham Allcott

At our time management workshops, we meet people who are struggling to get their tasks done.

They’re not managing their attention wisely, because they’re not recognising that their job involves 2 types of work.

In this post, Think Productive founder Graham Allcott explains how some insight into your working can go a long way.

Illustrated character demonstrating boss and worker productivity thinking

In any knowledge work job, you’re really playing two different ‘roles’ at once: you’re simultaneously the ‘boss’ and the ‘worker’.

You’re responsible for:

> Deciding what your work is (‘boss-mode’);
> Doing the work (‘worker-mode’);
> Dealing with new information inputs (worker-mode) and reacting to them to decide whether to change your priorities as a result (boss-mode).

This creates an immediate conflict and serious potential for indecision about which role should have your attention at different times of the day: do you spend more time in boss-mode (thinking and analysing your work, ensuring its success, planning your next steps) or in worker-mode (putting cherries on cakes, in whatever form that takes in your current job)?

Craving Change

Naturally, the grass is always greener: the time you spend in boss-mode may remind you of all the things that you need to be doing, and you quickly become worried that you’re not spending every possible minute on these tasks so you crave the chance to get back into the trenches and get things done.

Yet, whilst you’re trying to crank through the next things on your to-do list, your mind is distracted and filled with all the other potential things you need to be doing and you make mental notes about all the new projects that need some precious thinking time.

Stress

Since most people do not have specific definitions or boundaries around what is boss-mode and what is worker-mode for them, they get stressed about whether they’ve made good decisions and often procrastinate as a result – not having good boundaries or habits here means never finishing boss-mode thinking and never being quite sure when in ‘doing’ (worker) mode that you’re actually doing the right stuff.

Many people describe their work style as ‘flitting’ from one thing to another – this is classic indecision about where your attention should truly be and a lot of giving in to interruptions of new information inputs, like new emails or phone calls.

Meet your new best friend in the battle against stress and information overload: attention management.

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Find out more about attention management

7 Tips to Manage and Use Your Attention Wisely - Life Optimizer

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