You know how maddening it can be. You attempt to sign into an application and the system forces you to jump through a couple of hoops to prove you’re you. You search for an item to purchase and then are presented with endless offers for that item for the next several weeks, even though you bought the item that first day. A co-worker asks for “just a second” of your time and 20 minutes later you’re struggling to regain focus on the project at hand. And all this during one hour of one day. Sadly, this is repeated over and over throughout every week. When you mention it to those on your team, they nod their heads because they’re dealing with the same thing.
It is easy to just assume that this is your fate and the fate of those around you. But it does not have to be that way. If you observe the colleagues in your workplace and others with whom you interact, chances are you will discover one or more people who do not seem to get so bogged down with these issues that steal time and focus. You may wonder, “How do they get away without all these distractions?!” I can show you because I have been studying this issue for a long time. But here’s the thing. There is no grand plan they follow. They don’t have a secret formula. They don’t have some special insight.
What they have done instead is become keenly aware of all the micro-decisions within today’s work environment and elsewhere that can rob them of the sugar energy that powers their focus. Then they have developed a set of routines to deal with the most common of these in the moment when they occur. Or they take a few minutes to figure out how to eliminate the distraction going forward. You can do the same thing and teach those around you to do so as well. Here’s how:
Begin and keep a running list of all these little nuisances for a few days. Just grab a piece of paper and keep it next to where you work. If you move around a lot, keep it in your pocket. When one of these distractions happens or occurs to you, jot it down. DO NOT build this list on your smart phone, tablet or laptop! The time it takes to open the app, find the list, jot it down and click save kind of defeats the purpose.
Once you have done this for a few days, set aside no more than 30 minutes of focused time and review all the items on the list. Each will probably fall into one of two categories – tech or people. The tech items might include pop-ups, spam or unwanted emails and texts, junk surveys, and, of course endless suggested videos, products and promotions you have to navigate every time you’re online. The people category will include “got a second” questions, impromptu meetings, reply-all message loops, meetings you really don’t need to attend, and committees where your presence is superfluous. After all, isn’t it better to ask one person to draft the memo, report, or project and have those affected comment than to have six people sitting around a table or on Zoom for an hour deciding what should be included?
Next, dedicate another 15-30 minutes to address one to three of the tech items. Then research how to stop them from distracting you. I have found that artificial intelligence is making this process so much easier than it was even a few months ago. Then implement these solutions. Then dedicate another 15-30 minutes to research and resolve another couple of tech distractions the next week or so. Rinse and repeat.
Another option is to allot 10 minutes in a team meeting for people to share the solutions they have discovered for managing or eliminating tech distractions. Once again, identify a specific block of time. If you simply open the floor for ideas, it may dissolve into a chat. Ask each person with a solution to confine their explanation to 60 seconds. If it’s a little complicated, ask them to send everyone a link to the necessary instructions.
Next, consider the people distractions. Once again dedicate a block of 30 minutes and address one or two of these challenges. While I don’t have time to go into the details for solving them here, I’ve listed more than 20 in my book, Overcoming Overwhelm. There is a link to purchase it in the description below. You might even buy a copy for each person on your team and block 10-15 minutes during a few upcoming meetings to share the tactics they think are most helpful. I recommend numbers 21, 26, 33, 46, and 52 to people all the time.
But let me give you just one that works for me all the time, so you don’t feel like you’ve watched this video and walked away with nothing specific. Here’s the tactic – “I have another commitment.” This phrase has gotten me out of countless meetings and conversations over the years. It’s kind of my secret weapon. If I’m in a meeting that’s wasting my time, I lean over to the person next to me and whisper. “I’m sorry. I have another commitment.” That person will nod, acknowledging what I said, and I will get up and slip out. If someone asks where I went, that person will say, “Oh, he had another commitment.” But here’s the thing – NO ONE ever asks what the other commitment is! If you’re in a virtual meeting, you can do the same thing by typing those words into the comments and then disappear.
If you’re in a one-on-one conversation that appears to be going nowhere, you can say the same thing. If the other person is droning on and on, put your finger up and they will stop talking. Then say, “I’m sorry. I have another commitment,” and they will let you off the hook. Once again, they never ask, “What’s the other commitment?”
This is just one of the more than 100 practical tactics in Overcoming Overwhelm. Again, click on the link below and begin to leverage your time. In fact, buy a copy for everyone on your team, so they all recapture their time energy and focus. And don’t forget to subscribe to this channel and ring the bell so you be alerted when I publish more ideas just like these.