Proactively Reactive...
There are so many great suggestions on how we can become less reactive and take control of our day in order to be more productive, balanced, and intentional. What if we decide to use (instead of resist) our addiction to technology in a way that empowers us to be more productive and focused?
A few of my favorite ways to resist the smartphone and stay focused are:
- Schedule time to check email and other notifications. This allows you to decide when you respond rather than jumping at every notification. While this may work well for many people, what about the fast paced salesperson that knows you increase the likelihood of getting a deal by 90% if you are the first to respond or if you respond within the first few minutes to an inbound lead? Or the leader who knows their millennial salespeople feel appreciated and actually respect them more when they respond in a timely manner?
- Do not check email, social media, or anything else on your phone until 8:00AM. This was proven to actually increase your ability to focus throughout the day and does work for me, but it's not for everyone... No matter the benefit, there will always be people who need to increase their ability to focus during the day and cannot get themselves to ignore their phone first thing in the morning. We will feel more anxious and distracted because we have no idea what happened in the last 8 hours!
- Say no. I agree, we do need to say no. The issue here is, many of us are not in a position where we have enough power to say no to everything we deem as not important. Could you imagine a new sales leader declining a calendar invite for another "pointless" internal meeting? No way! These meetings are important to someone in the organization and that person might be involved in deciding who gets the next promotion.
So, rather than resisting being reactive. I like the idea of being, "Proactively Reactive." This is a way of using a weakness and turning it into a strength. Think about it, how do you treat a customer meeting on your Outlook calendar? What do you do when you hear a notification on your iPhone?
Now that we are aware that we all have a severe addiction (like we didn't already know), rather than resisting, how can we use it to be more productive?
- Schedule notifications that will prompt you to stay focused. For example, once you complete your daily to do list, add every item into your calendar and set a reminder for 5 minutes before the appointment. This will alert you that it is time to move to a new task and allow you to do whatever you need to do to prepare before that "appointment" begins. Make sure to block off a realistic amount of time so you can complete the task without giving yourself too much time to procrastinate. During this appointment, put your phone somewhere out of sight, shut down email, and get it done! Remember, you will have another 5-minute break before the next task to make sure the world is still spinning. It is also important to be flexible. If a more important task comes up during one of your to dos, re-arrange your calendar so you can get them both done on time.
- Use your phone to stay organized and more productive. I think we all do this already, but it is worth mentioning again. Apps like Trello, GoodNotes, OneNote, Headspace, Audible... The list goes on and on. All of these are great tools that can help you acquire new information and stay organized. I recently started using Trello and love that you can set a due date for your to do lists. This adds one more productive dopamine hit, in the form of a notification, that reminds you to complete what you started.
- Understand the unproductive dings. Do we really need social media notifications on during the workday? I know many of us use platforms like this to build our business. If this is you, then do what you need to do (but really... even you do not need to know the exact moment that someone likes your post). If you are not promoting a business and are using these tools to stay "connected" than turn off the notifications (at least during the peak production times of the day or when you are spending time with family/friends). Call your followers during breaks instead. This allows you to experience real connection and your brain will actually get a much needed break (which it does not get when you go from staring at your computer screen to staring at your phone screen).
It is always best to do what helps you stay most productive and focused. Recognize what needs to change and begin one new daily action at a time so it can become a habit (this takes anywhere from 15-730 days depending on who you ask). Once you feel like you developed a new habit, move onto the next change you want to make and repeat the steps. I love what Tom Ziglar said, "The quickest way to success is replacing a bad habit with a good one." We cannot simply add new habits, we must replace bad ones with good ones to make them stick.