So do you want to have more impact? To do that, you can’t be wasting your precious time and energy on things that don’t matter, that have no impact.
Productivity only matters in the context of what you ultimately want to achieve. Being productive in the service of your most important goals and your impact matters.
It’s awfully easy to get bogged down in busy work, those items that will ‘only take a minute’, and 2 hours later, sometimes at the end of an entire day, you haven’t done anything substantial.
Sounds familiar?
Here’s the secret to avoiding unproductive days like that. First, a bit of context.
Focus is a high level of concentration that is most effective in solving problems, paying attention to other people in meetings and conversations, and in the creative process., among other things. When focus is interrupted by a distraction, such as a floating onscreen notification, the option to “ take a quick look ” at something you’ve come up with, or a real person knocking on your door, your ability to concentrating is compromised.
Research has shown that it actually takes 10 minutes to get back to the same level of focus.. Some sources say 15 minutes. Meanwhile, your productivity has dropped and you’re spending energy and time getting back on track.
Due to this effect, even if we go with the lowest estimate, if you are interrupted three times an hour, which is not unusual for most people, you have lost 30 minutes of concentration. This is what that means. Half of your time is wasted to any distraction you allowed in your world.
That’s a big problem. You can spend hours on a project, and you really only have half of the available cash time that you have invested. Or even less, if you have more than three distractions.
Your energy and attention are precious and come with time and effort.
Would you like to get back that time and effort, essentially double your productivity?
You can. How? Eliminate distractions.
Log in to your devices and stop on-screen and audible notifications.
Turn off your phone or place it in another room, out of sight and hearing.
Close the door and tell people not to interrupt.
Use the tools you need, including those that prevent you from visiting distracting platforms like Facebook.
Those are helpful tips, but it’s often not as easy as eliminating distractions. Reducing or eliminating distractions requires you to commit to what is important to you. To overcome your fear that you will actually make it – what will that mean for you and your business? Who do you have to be to live the new reality? – you have to compromise.
The decision to commit is critical to stopping distractions.
Distractions keep you from concentrating on what is most important to you. Even if you feel like you can’t stop all distractions, commit to stopping most of them and you will see an increase in what you can accomplish. You will be happier, less tired, and more satisfied at the end of the day.
Of course, there are many ways you can increase your productivity, but this one packs a punch.
Reduce your distractions, and you’ll have a lot more energy and time to do those things that will allow your profits and impact to skyrocket.
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