🔒How to gain productivity daily

“Attention Management — How to Create Success and Gain Productivity Every Day” by Maura Nevel Thomas (Simple Truths, $16.99).

Think of tasks in which you were in the “flow” (i.e. so engrossed that you worked uninterrupted from start to finish and lost track of time). I’d bet such tasks are few and far between. Why? You’re constantly battling the enemies of flow: interruption, distraction and diversion.

Technology, while making it easy to stay in contact and find information, often leads the mind astray. Reacting to every incoming email, RSS feed, pop ups from apps and push notifications takes time away from tasks at hand. Simply glancing at “incoming” disrupts your train of thought — and reduces your productivity. There are other disrupters, too, like drop-ins and phone calls.

Operating in the flow requires engaging focus by eliminating distractions. How? Think in terms of going off the grid at work. Turn off the pings and rings — except for a “vibrating alarm” on your smartphone set for the time you expect to finish the task. Literally hang a “do not disturb” sign on your workspace entrance. Use noise-cancelling headphones to block out what’s going on around you.

Also, forget about being “always on.” “Pause regularly during the day to quiet your mind.” Walk around — especially outside. Meditate to increase mindfulness; the author suggests using apps like Buddhify, Simple Habit or Headspace to help learn how. If you go to lunch with others, don’t talk about work. Get enough sleep; feeling tired makes it difficult to focus on anything. Exercise.

Managing attention involves knowing your priorities, too. Never let “easy to do” trump “important.”

The bottom line: “How you manage your time is only relevant to the extent that you also devote your attention.”