Out of Focus

If you can finish reading this entire article without distractions, you'll be an exception to the rule… it will require about 10 minutes of focused attention.

PART 1 - Individual Focus

I’ve been trying to write this article for weeks, no, months… does anyone know the difference between a groundhog and a woodchuck?.... But somehow, I keep getting distracted. Every time I get ready to write, something “more pressing” grabs my attention.?

It typically goes something like this… it's 11am. I have knocked out a couple early meetings and am starting into 90 minutes of “heads down time” that I have dutifully blocked on my calendar. After spending the first 30 minutes responding to “urgent” emails and Slack messages, I finally start writing. I minimize my applications and center my attention on the document I am writing in. After about 20 minutes, I find a way to tune everything else out and get into the zone. Words and ideas are pouring out of me. Typing away in my Google doc, coming up with what are undoubtedly some of the first completely unique ideas in human history when… I notice the Google Chrome notification telling me about the new article in Fast Company about the art of being distracted. So I innocently click on that and then start reading (because, you know, research). Two minutes into the article I see an ad for a product I have been wanting to check out… which reminds me that I never replied to that consultant about their competing product that I needed to respond to. So I quickly (while no one is looking), open my email browser to type an email to that consultant, but guess what, I don’t even make it there… there are three more urgent emails I notice first, which lead to two more Slack responses and next thing you know… my 90 minutes is up and I’m two minutes late for my next scheduled meeting; then what follows is the rest of my day with planned and unplanned events, which runs into the next day and before I know it, there I am two weeks later (because all my “heads down time” slots had to be scheduled over), trying to make any sense of the partial sentences I began to draft in that wonderful but fleeting state of flow I fell out of so very long ago.

For those of you who can relate…I’ve got a solution. It’s radically simple. It’s elegantly simple. It’s just one, red, button.

A red button on my laptop with big embossed letters that spell “FOCUS”.

When I push it, the one application I am using comes to the front and everything else fades to the back. I want it to be militant. No exceptions. All notifications are silenced. All access to any other applications are denied until I am done with focusing on that one solitary task.

Some other thoughts on the subject

Here’s a great post from my friend Andrew at Density about something fun he is trying to help his team focus.

Here are two great posts by the brilliant Cal Newport . First is a really insightful piece about disruption and distraction . The second is about beautiful custom wood computers built to do just one thing… no red button required.

PART 2 - Focusing On Others

I’m on a Zoom call with a group of folks. Meeting is going well. Engagement is good between a few folks, but there are others who are there who seem to be paying attention, but who also aren’t engaging. They may be looking ahead. They may be nodding. They may even be verbally acknowledging with the well timed MmmmHmmm. One of my favorite things to do to find out is that person is truly being present or if they are deep into multi-tasking land with little awareness of what is happening on the call…. Since people most usually will perk up and come to attention if you say their name, I do something more subtle. I will start talking about the topic at hand, but I will sneak in random words to see donut if they are really cheetah listening to what is being said. More times than not, I could likely do this for a couple of minutes before their subconscious ever alerts them. This was a problem when we were all in conference rooms together, but it’s far more pervasive in a remote meeting culture (too many meetings, too much work, not enough time and no option but to multitask) and unfortunately, it's only going to get worse.?

We already have technology to track your eyes and make it look like you are looking forward toward your laptop screen even when you are not.?

We are now getting technology to allow you to recreate your face such that you aren’t actually on camera, but your likeness is, so that you never have a bad hair day or get called out for looking like you were out too late last night.?

We can also recreate our voices. So that you don’t even have to talk.?

You see where I am going here… we are months away… if not already at the point where people can virtually “attend” meetings without ever actually being in front of their laptop to attend the video call…

Technology is improving and expanding at an exponentially faster rate than at any other time in human history. It is making our lives easier and better in innumerable ways.?

But it is also often designed to get our attention, at all costs. It is in its very nature, worth more money, the more time we spend using it. Specifically, work related technologies are ironically making it harder and harder for us to focus on the task at hand. And almost impossible to assign all of our mental capacity to diving deep into one, single, solitary task at one time. Their interest in making things easier and more convenient for us are often actually the very same thing standing between us and our ability to fully engage with other human beings in a deep and meaningful way.?

Four easily implemented strategies you can try today:

• Device free meetings (cart outside the door, with notepads and pens)
• Walking 1 on 1’s (use an AI assistant if you must take notes, works in person or remote on phones)
• Technology Free Rooms (just take out the equipment)
• Sit more than arms length away from your keyboard (to resist the temptation to do other tasks during the meeting)

Part 3 - Let’s focus on a path forward

There is a parallel between our individual inability to focus on a specific task, our collective lack of ability to focus on one another and the reality that our industry is still focusing on solving the wrong problem. We should not be focused on the amount of time people spend sitting at their desks in the office. It’s effectively a meaningless metric of success.?

Instead, we should be focused on:?

Delivering a more meaningful in person experience. One that gives individuals the ability to focus and gives teams the ability to bond, grow, plan and imagine together. Effective teams are the key to successful organizations.?

Empowering managers to lead distributed teams. In order for individuals to align on how to come together, managers must understand and then be able to articulate the value of “in person”.?

Finding the value(s) of being “in person” for work. This solutions are unique to every company and likely to almost every individual, but it’s the most important factor to the success of the future of the workplace.

Creating meaningful experiences in places people want to be. Use the spaces you already have. Reconsider the programming and design. Don’t let any long held beliefs or preconceptions hold you back. The time to learn is now.?

Experiment.?

Fail fast.?

Be bold.?

The workplace of tomorrow should hardly resemble the one we all know.?

Focus, on that.?

Let’s all push that red button so that we can focus on creating a better future for work and place.

If you have any successful strategies you have implemented to help yourself, your team or your organization focus more effectively, please share it here!