If that doesn’t work, try going to a different part of your office, or even another floor of your building. For example, use headphones or put up a “do not disturb” sign when you need to focus. Set boundaries with others, especially in an open-office setting. As often as possible and especially when you’re working, keep your phone silent and out of sight. This will allow you to engage in more stretches of focused work on tasks and activities that you choose. Remember, it’s there to serve you, not the other way around! Decide to take control by turning off email and “push” notifications which are specifically designed to steal your attention. Practicing attention management means fighting back against the distractions and creating opportunities throughout your day to support your priorities. It’s a deliberate approach that puts you back in control. This is where attention management offers a solution. Your busy environment presents choice after choice every day about what you will attend to - and what your experiences will be. In this frenzied work environment, accomplishing the things that are most meaningful to you doesn’t just happen. But those intentions can quickly get swept away in the rush of demands that characterize our workdays. You could start each day intending to focus on developing your team. Let’s go back to our mentoring and coaching example. There’s a lot more competition for our attention. Today, we have internet-connected phones and other devices that are always with us, delivering a volume of information and communication James couldn’t have imagined. When he published The Principles of Psychology, the telephone was brand-new. But, of course, we live in a world with many more distractions than existed in the 1890s. The fact that James was thinking about this topic in the 19 th century shows that we’ve long wrestled with the conflict between our goals and values and the lure of distractions. So why don’t we just have the experiences we want to have, and create the lives we most want to lead? Why does this painful gulf exist between the selves we aspire to and how we spend our time?
#I never had thoughts that control me full
So if your attention continues getting diverted, and email, meetings, and “firefighting” consume your days, pretty soon weeks or months will have gone by and your life becomes full of the “experiences” you never really intended to have. As James said, your experience is what you attend to. My one-on-ones with team members don’t happen as often as I would like, and the content is too much ‘trees’ and not enough ‘forest.’”Įven if you see yourself as a passionate advocate for coaching and mentoring, you won’t have the impact you’d like if your actions and experiences don’t reflect these values.
I started the year with a coaching plan for my team, but it’s fallen by the wayside amid everything else that is going on.
This is how I make a difference, and it’s what gives me satisfaction at work.”īut later in our conversation, I hear how their days actually go: “I spend a big chunk of my time on email and putting out fires. The most important thing I can do as a leader is support them and encourage their growth. The leaders I work with tell me, “I believe in the power of mentoring and coaching my team members.
It’s about taking back control over your time and your priorities. The ultimate result is the ability to create a life of choice, around things that are important to you. Rather than allowing distractions to derail you, you choose where you direct your attention at any given moment, based on an understanding of your priorities and goals.īetter attention management leads to improved productivity, but it’s about much more than checking things off a to-do list. It is the ability to recognize when your attention is being stolen (or has the potential to be stolen) and to instead keep it focused on the activities you choose. It’s about being intentional instead of reactive. To be consistently productive and manage stress better, we must strengthen our skill in attention management.Īttention management is the practice of controlling distractions, being present in the moment, finding flow, and maximizing focus, so that you can unleash your genius. Today, in a world where so many experiences are blended together - where we can work from home (or a train or a plane or a beach), watch our kids on a nanny-cam from work, and distraction is always just a thumb-swipe away - has that ever been more true? Attention Management Or said another way: you must control your attention to control your life. Your attention determines the experiences you have, and the experiences you have determine the life you live. In his book The Principles of Psychology, Vol.1, William James wrote a simple statement that’s packed with meaning: “My experience is what I agree to attend to.” One of the best insights on what true productivity means in the 21 st century dates back to 1890.
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