To get momentum – stop fractioning your attention

Michelle Gibbings

We live in a world where there’s lots of information, ideas, tasks and activities vying for our attention.

You may be juggling requests from clients and employees, as well as trying to manage expectations from your employer, partners or suppliers.   It’s very easy to get distracted.

Have you ever counted how many times a day you check your emails or social media? When you’re alerted to a new email, SMS or social media item do you quickly switch your focus from your current task to that alert?

We all love to believe that we’re brilliant multi-taskers. However, the sad reality is that we aren’t.

When you multi task your attention is fractioned, and as you switch from one activity to another you lose concentration and ultimately, become less productive.

If you are sitting in a meeting and typing an email (or reading this newsletter) you won’t be fully concentrating on what is being said in the meeting. You may think you are listening, but you won’t hear the entire conversation or fully interpret the information being delivered. This is particularly because so much of what is communicated is transmitted non-verbally.

At the same time, each time you switch from one task to another your brain is activated, and that uses up precious resources.

Our brain isn’t hard wired to handle multiple issues simultaneously or to rapidly switch back and forward between tasks.

David Rock, in his brilliant book “Your Brain at Work” uses the metaphor of the pre-frontal cortex as a stage. The pre-frontal cortex is that part of the brain that handles the executive functions such as thinking and decision making.

Issues arise when there are too many actors on your stage, each trying to play multiple scenes. He notes: “While it is physically possible sometimes to do several mental tasks at once, accuracy and performance drop off quickly”.

Research has shown that a person’s productivity dips as they switch backwards and forwards between competing tasks.

Of course, we all try to multi task because there is an incredible sense of busyness in today’s work environment and there always seems to be so much to do.

When you’re asked ‘how are you?’ does the word busy figure in the answer? For many people the answer would be yes.

When you combine this busyness with the need to get lots done and the ineffective use of multi-tasking, there’s a real danger that we achieve little because our attention is fragmented and unfocused. We keep peddling hard, but we are getting nowhere.

To make progress and enable higher quality work think about how you can apply the best attitude, attention and aptitude to the task at hand.

Attitude is a state of mind that means you are conscious of precisely what you need to get the job done effectively and efficiently. It’s about being prepared to listen and reflect, and being present with the task at hand. This means you should turn off your phone and emails if you want to focus on a complex task and get it done well.

This targeted concentration enables you to ignore the distractions that divert you from making progress.

Attention is about being focused on the task in front of you and giving yourself enough time and space to devote to it. This involves doing work in dedicated chunks of time. It’s best to work in 60 – 90 minute time blocks with a break when you finish a task.

Highly productive people will tell you that they time-box their work day, and set aside the morning for highly complex thinking.

They also ruthlessly manage their schedule to ensure they don’t waste time. They know how to use their brain energy purposefully.

Aptitude is about being really clear on the purpose of the task and having the plan and patience to carry it through.

It’s important to know what you need to pay attention to so you can prioritise your focus. Being clear on why a particular task or project is important to you is helpful as well.

The clearer the purpose the easier it is to maintain your energy when you face roadblocks or obstacles to progress.

So if you feel like you aren’t making enough progress or gathering enough momentum think about what you can do to stop fractioning your attention.

Remember, change happens. Make it work for you.

Michelle Gibbings is a leadership and change expert, who is known for making the complex, simple. She helps people to think more deliberately, act with greater purpose and inspire more value by understanding the art and science of change.