Monday, 14 February 2011 at 10:11, By Tony Schwartz, Harvard Business Publishing
Something insidious has happened. The same devices that we use to get work accomplished – computers, smart phones, iPads – have become the repository of 1,000 distractions and every imaginable source of immediate gratification.
As we try to work, just a keystroke or two away are Google and YouTube, TV shows and movies, music and video games, and countless websites and iPhone applications. We’re free to indulge our every whim, no matter how trivial.
And the easier it is to indulge our desires, the harder it is to exercise self-control.
So how do we take back control of our attention – and our lives? Here are six simple ways to start:
1. Let your deepest values guide your behavior. What do you truly stand for? Keep those commitments front and center, both as a source of energy and as a direction for your behavior.
2. Slow down. The faster you move, the more likely you are to react rather than reflect. Set aside dedicated times during the day – they can be as short as a minute or two – to check in with yourself.
3. Create ritualised behaviors you do at specific times of the day. For example, begin by doing the most important thing first in the morning, uninterrupted, for 60 to 90 minutes. Make the start time and the stop time inviolable, so you’ll know exactly how long you need to stay the course.
4. Create “precommitments” to minimise temptation. Our capacity for self-control gets depleted every time we exercise it. Turn off your e-mail entirely for a certain amount of time or consider working on a laptop that isn’t hooked up to the Internet.
5. Share your commitments. Tell others what it is you’re intending to do, and ask them to hold you accountable. If you work in an office, get others to make the same commitment with you.
6. Start small. Attention operates like a muscle. Subject it to stress – but not too much – and over time it’ll get stronger. What’s your current limit for focused concentration? Build it up in increments and you’ll see results.
(Tony Schwartz is president and CEO of The Energy Project and the author of “The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working: The Four Forgotten Needs that Energize Great Performance.”)
© 2011 Harvard Business Publishing
Your comments