Our world is full of distractions that make giving your full attention to what’s in front of you is no easy task. So many shiny objects are right at our fingertips, beeping, buzzing, flashing for our attention.
Think about any of the black holes that captivate you… endless google searches, Instagram pics, Pinterest, your news feed…with all these distractions around us, we have to work hard to focus on what’s in front of us because there is so much vying for our attention. Of the 86,400 seconds you have in every day, how much time and energy are you wasting with things that have no ROI?
How do you take your attention and your power back from energy drains during those times where you need to stay focused and productive? How can you maintain your focus for purposeful productivity? Purposeful Productivity in world of distraction requires discipline and planning.
When your attention is required, there are ways to mitigate distraction. Begin with the end in mind. Ask yourself, at the end of this day, how do I want to feel and what do I want to have accomplished? What has to occur in this day for me to feel that way? Giving your precious attention to what you need to get done and what you want to get done can all happen if you use your time wisely.
Here are 5 tips for being purposely productive:
An App – Pomodoro, a timer for keeping you effectively on task.
A Plan – Prioritizing using the Eisenhower Matrix made popular by Steven Covey.
A Human – Get an accountability partner to keep you faithful to what’s important.
A Ritual – Creating a ritual to use your first 90 min. of the day for the most important things to do.
A Purpose – Is what I am about to use my time for, aligned with what’s most important to the /goals/objectives/endgame I am working with.
There are times when something grabs your attention and it’s actually important for you to make time to peek at what’s there. Something that grabs your attention, that you are fascinated with, creates enthusiasm, or brings you joy is often worth your time. These meaningful attention grabbers offer you clues about what you value. Those clues are worth following and worth creating time for. Add those to your calendar to ensure they don’t get cast aside because they aren’t urgent.
Using your day to your advantage, taking care of what’s important, delegating what isn’t, allotting time to explore and appropriately giving your attention to what’s interesting will allow you to experience more freedom and joy while still getting your “to do’s” done.