Our thoughts become distracted the most when we are stressed or annoyed. You work 50% longer if you continually switch tasks, in comparison to staying on one task from start to finish. On average, we switch applications on our computer 566 times on a typical workday, and check our email 88 times, often averaging 11 times per hour.
Following are a few facts that Chris Bailey, the author of “Hyperfocus: How to be More Productive in a World of Distraction”, has discovered about attention and productivity.
Bailey claims that there is a way to manage your attention, to consciously choose what you want to focus on, rather than automatically going with the flow of all your distractions. That seems very similar to deep work, which I have also written a post about.
In this film clip, Chris Bailey explains how to become more productive in an enjoyable way.
Here is the link to the movie.
But perhaps even more important than all of these tips and tricks: if you keep becoming distracted, you will not be able to remember as much, and that can make you feel as if your life has less meaning. If your thoughts are diverted and divided, you navigate the world around you in a different way than if you focus on the things you find most important and value most. You can also become less creative by continual distractions because less time is left over to think and reflect. And from that, you can simply become more unhappy. To give time to those things you find important is what makes us happy,
How much time do you commit and give to what you find important?
Not enough to your liking? Look at this small step you can take to bring about a change in your life.
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