Here are a few ways we get distracted and get less done …
Social Media. There is no way your lizard brain is disciplined enough to avoid the allure of social media. It is designed to interrupt and then keep your attention. And there is both an ungodly amount of money and intelligent neuroscientists making sure you’re addicted.
Your Inbox. Same as social media. I’ll also add that the world won’t be saved through an email your write or read. Go do more important work. Make something better.
Tabs and Tabs. Also about focus. My friend Aubrey always keeps Tweetdeck as the left most tab. Why? His brain knows where it is so he can find it quickly. I’m a bit different in that my goal is to only keep tabs open that relate to the work I’m doing right now. Everything else is closed. Tech is so fast, I can lose a millisecond to reopen a tab when needed.
Perfect. Avoid over-analyzing everything you do. That doesn’t mean complete poor quality work, but it also doesn’t mean to obsess over perfection. Write what you need to write. Read it over and make the changes. It’s probably good enough to put out into the world now. Perfection is just a way of hiding.
Urgency. Be bold and decide what is most important. Identify the 3-5 “emergencies” that can interrupt you from your priorities. Ignore the rest.
Giving Up. Many leaders give up plans (or obsess over the right plan) before doing any real work. You’re smart. You have smart people around you. Obsess over the plan and inputs. Then trust the process to produce the results you are looking for.
The Wind. If we’re honest, many leaders lack a plan for the day, week, quarter, etc. If you’re wondering what’s most important every day, you’re doing it wrong. You need a system.
The productivity sprint starts on Monday. Leaders who enroll in the workshop will get the exact system I use and have taught to countless other leaders to increase their productivity. Education has been disrupted but your focus doesn’t have to be.
BTW … the process works.
My friend Amy took action on a productivity idea I shared last week. She produced a beautiful, inspiring, and engaging newsletter for her community in just 12-minutes.
See you in the sprint on Monday.
