Manage your Focus not your Time...for increased productivity

Are you busy or are you productive?

Have you ever experienced a moment where you had been really focused on what you were doing (whether at work or a during a hobby or another activity); where time seemed to stop or move very slowly and yet you were making amazing progress on what you were doing?

This has been defined by psychologist, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, as the ‘Flow’ – a state of high level of productivity where one places all their conscious attention on one thing at a time. Being in the Flow helps in accomplishing tasks faster and more effortless, saving both time and mental energy.

But how do you get into the Flow State? Here are my well tried out tips:

1.????Plan what you will do during your ‘Flow State’ hour. Plan to spend 60 to 90 minutes on one high priority task. This will be your golden hour of productivity and focus. This is when you will be doing mainly predefined work. It helps a lot to have very clear goals. For example, I will identify 10 key people to contact for my new client or I will write 500 words for my journal article/blog.

2.????Schedule it for either first thing early in the morning or late in the evening. This depends on whether you are an early bird or a late owl. The key is to work on a time where all or most distractions are eliminated. I prefer first thing in the morning (i.e. 5:30 am) simply because most people are sleeping (so less emails, phone calls, etc.) and my mind is rested (less cognitive load) so tend to be more productive and can focus more efficiently. Whichever time you choose it is paramount that you establish a consistent time and place, so that you can easily create a habit.

3.????Do intermittent digital fasting to further eliminate distractions. Every time you switch between your task and email you lose invaluable cognitive load and focus. So, switch off email, mobile phone and any other communications platform and make a rule not to check these during your focus area. Also, if listening to music helps put on your headphone (with noise cancelling on) to minimise distractions.

4.????Always ask what’s the next action. To keep the Flow State it is important to maintain an element of challenge on the task(s) you are doing. This drives motivation and helps sharpen focus. Csíkszentmihályi explains that "If challenges are too low, one gets back to flow by increasing them. If challenges are too great, one can return to the flow state by learning new skills." I set a personal challenge of doing each day slightly more than the day before (for instance a few more words writing, one more key contact identified, etc) to keep me challenged. ?

Follow these simple steps, so next time someone asks ‘how are you?’, you can respond ‘I am being productive!’