Every year that goes by, it seems as though our society is getting busier and busier. I hear comments from people in older generations saying that life was never this hectic when they were younger. With all of the advances in technology combined with the demands of family, career and so on, it is no wonder we live in such a “busy” culture.
Although the ongoing growth of technology has great benefits, it is sometimes hard to see how it also has negative implications. Specifically when it comes to time how we manage our time. Most people have advanced cell phones, laptops with internet connection, ipods, ipads, and a whole host of other electronic gadgets. Each one of these items serves a great purpose but also cause an enormous amount of distraction in our lives.
One thing I have been implementing in my life recently, that has been a huge benefit, is removing distractions. When you have a busy work load, the most important thing you can do is give yourself dedicated blocks of time to focus on completing it.
This means you remove interruptions like cell phones, email, browsing news or social media websites, (even traditional interruptions like chatty colleagues) etc… This way, you allow your mind to focus solely on the task at hand. For me, I do a lot of creative work that requires my concentration. I have found that I can accomplish more in one single 90 minute block of focussed work than I can in almost a full day of interrupted work.
I purposely remove myself from my distractions. I disconnect my internet connection, I turn off my phone, I even close any other programs that might be running on my computer. The only thing left for me to do is concentrate on the task at hand.
This can be applied in many situations both work related and otherwise. Any time you choose to remove focus from your main task at hand (i.e. multitasking), you are literally increasing your workload. The time it takes you to go back to your original job and get refocused ends up costing you a lot more time than it would have if you never allowed the interruption to happen.
If you are someone who considers themselves to be a good “multi-tasker”, take some time right to consider how many hours you are costing yourself each week by allowing your focus to move all over the place. It is very likely that you are spending more time than you need to complete many of your important work.
Once you do this analysis, make a commitment to focusing your energy on one major task at a time. You will be amazed at the results.
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