Do you feel like you need to increase your productivity?
Do you procrastinate? Or have trouble focusing on tasks?
Do you feel like your attention span is shorter than it used to be?
How about your patience?
In the 21st century, distractions are everywhere.
But the battle against those distractions may be even more difficult for those of us who don’t work a typical nine to five job.
Freelancers have the ultimate freedom – we work when we want to.
The trouble for some of us is, when we lack accountability from a regular job, we tend to struggle with exercising the discipline we need in order to get our work done. We live stressed out and “busy,” but we accomplish very little.
Is this just a part of what we signed up for?
Maura Thomas doesn’t think so.
Maura is an award winning international speaker and the author of two books – Personal Productivity Secrets and Work Without Walls.
She’s devoted her career to teaching individuals and companies how to be productive, manage their attention, and achieve work/life balance with her Empowered Productivity ™ System.
Susan Rook D’Ettore, host of The No Pants Show, had the privilege of interviewing Maura in Oct. 2018, on some of her famous productivity methods.
Here are her thoughts on managing attention, increasing your productivity accomplishing more, and living a life of richer meaning:
Time Isn’t The Problem
We all love to say that we don’t have enough time.
If only there were more hours in a day – then we could do it all.
But as Maura points out, “Time clearly isn’t our problem. We all have the same amount of hours in the day. All of the greatest people have had the same 24 hours.”
Our problem, in this century, is distraction.
Your Most Valuable Resource Is Your Ability To Focus
Do you ever feel like everyone and everything is competing for your attention?
Maura explains that our attention is actually our most valuable commodity – and every marketer on the planet knows this.
In fact, the technology we use is actually created with the intent to steal our attention.
“The metrics of success for a web page is how long you stay on it,” Maura explains.
Think about push notifications on your phone, or the way you can scroll endlessly on Facebook.
“There’s no stopping point and it’s designed that way.”
And while technology in itself is not evil, we must recognize that our only defense against these time stealing tactics, is to exercise control over where we put our focus.
Multitasking Isn’t Real
Some of us like to brag about our ability to do multiple things at once.
“I can put on mascara and drive.”
“I can talk on the phone and cook dinner.”
“I can work and babysit my nephew.”
In the interview, Maura explains that while our body can technically do two things at once, studies show our brains can’t.
We are actually switching our attention back and forth between the two tasks constantly.
Think about this! When neither task is getting our complete focus, how can we give our best to either?
When we “multitask,” we are not being as productive or as effective or as present as we could be.
And there’s actually a cost to this switching.
As we get older, regaining our place takes longer and we lose time because we can’t switch tasks as effectively.
The result is that the quality of our work becomes lower.
Single Step Activities Accomplish The Most
Organizing by category is better than organizing by time.
Managing our attention, rather than our time, is actually what allows us to use our full brain capacity and “unleash our genius,” as Maura says.
Distraction is always going to be there, but the way to avoid multitasking is to improve your focus muscle – and that takes good, old fashioned practice.
To exercise this muscle, Maura recommends planning out single step activities you can do in one sitting.
Thirty minute tasks are a good place to start, as most of us have trouble sitting and doing one thing for much longer than that.
The key is to be sure that you can complete whatever task you are choosing in that time frame. If you can’t, break your large task into smaller increments.
And, above all else, be sure that those thirty-minute tasks have your complete attention.
Studies show that just having your smart phone in your presence lowers your cognitive capacity.
Put your phone away.
Lock the door.
Sit down and work on one thing for 30 uninterrupted minutes and see how much you can actually accomplish.
Electronics Are Your Ally
In the interview, Maura explains why she recommends electronic tools over paper lists.
When you jot down to-do lists on paper, the sole purpose of that list is for your brain to tell you, “Don’t forget this.”
As a result, your brain constantly interrupts you all day long, reminding you not to forget every last thing on that list.
You then run around scattered and distracted because you are continually thinking about every task that you have to get done, and rarely are you able to put your full focus on just the task at hand.
Part of Maura’s process is using an electronic tool with built in reminders so that as soon as your task is noted, you no longer have to remember it.
The truth is, you only have so much mental room and your brain power is significantly lowered when it is scattered in multiple directions.
By using this kind of tool, you’re able to let each task go in between writing it down and doing it.
As a result, the work you are doing holds your complete focus and you can complete things effectively and efficiently.
Method > Tools
There is a formula for productivity just like there’s a formula for sports.
Maura uses Tiger Woods’ golf game as an analogy.
It’s safe to say, that Tiger is probably particular about which clubs he prefers to use.
And perhaps his golf game won’t be as good if someone switches out his clubs.
However, if I go out and buy the same clubs that Tiger Woods uses and I think I’m going to be able to play a professional game of golf, I’ll be sadly mistaken.
The tools Tiger uses are important.
But his method is far more valuable than his clubs.
Maura’s advice to us is to use a combination of methodology and tools.
While both are important, having an adequate gadget or day planner or app, with no proper method for utilizing it, is useless.
Your Attention Controls Your Life
Attention, like time and money, is finite.
When you feel busy, but like you’ve gotten nothing done, it’s likely because you’ve had your attention stolen from you in some way.
You can only be productive when you’re proactive and not reactive to everything and everyone around you.
Maura says that when we look back on our lives and say, regretfully, “I thought I would have done that by now,” it’s a result of having our attention stolen from our life.
Things got in the way.
We got pulled along for a ride we didn’t intend to be on.
We lost control.
If we can really understand that our life is defined by what we give our attention to, we won’t continue to live the same way.
This revelation will change how you work.
It will change how you interact with your loved ones.
It will make your moments richer.
Attend to things with intentionality.
Block your tasks and gain control of your focus.
Design each day with purpose.
You can live a life of distraction and reaction or you can live a life of choice.
You have full control.
Maura’s Productivity Method’s Recap:
- Time Isn’t The Problem: We all have the same 24 hours in a day!
- Your Most Valuable Resource Is Your Ability To Focus: Take focus back from the attention thieves in your life.
- Multitasking Isn’t Real: Your body can do two things at once, but your brain can’t.
- Single Step Activities Accomplish The Most: Blocking off manageable tasks is the surest way to be productive.
- Electronics Are Your Ally: Use the resources you have to give your brain a break.
- Method > Tools: A well mastered formula for productivity is more important than fancy gadgets or apps.
- Your Attention Controls Your Life: At the end of the day, where you choose to put your focus determines your quality of life. Choose wisely!
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