Five Tips for Focusing More Effectively--An Intrapersonal Skill

 
Issue 37: June 17, 2004

To our readers:

Many of the greatest leaders in business have a singular ability to focus. "The driver of success is a leader who has the ability to focus . . . the more you focus, the more successful you can be," said Michael Ruettgers, Executive Chairman of Hopkinton, Massachusetts-based EMC and member of a panel of leaders brought together by InfoWorld to discuss the education of e-business leaders.

With few exceptions, focus is all about the present--the present task, conversation, project. Even focusing on a vision for the future requires that you concentrate on that vision in the present. Failing to focus, thinking about other things while working on a project, is like looking back at where you've been while walking forward. You are likely to run into a wall or other obstruction, and either not get where you're going or arrive somewhat damaged.

Multitasking is another barrier to focusing completely. It's common to hear people talk proudly of their ability to work on several things at once. A spate of recent studies, however, has shown the value of multitasking is a myth. For instance, "a 2001 study conducted at the University of Michigan shows that 20 to 40 percent of a worker's productivity is eaten up by 'task-switching,' the time it takes to mentally re-engage when shifting from one task to another" (Julie Hill, The Multitasking Myth, October 2003, Presentations magazine).

Whether you're dealing with day-to-day tasks, one-time projects, or a vision for your corporation, an ability to focus will enable you to accomplish your objective more quickly, more creatively, and more expertly. In case you haven't yet mastered the ability to focus, here are some tips:






Five Tips for Focusing More Effectively:

1. Prepare yourself to focus by laying the ground rules as you begin a task.

Begin each task by instructing yourself to focus. Lay the ground rules for yourself regarding what may and what may not take your attention from your task. Telephone rings? Someone knocks on your door or enters your cubicle? You remember something you should have done but haven't? Some possible ground rules: You decide to let your voice mail take your calls for the next 30 minutes; you put a sign on your door that says "Project in progress. I'll be available at 2:00;" you keep your eyes on your task/project rather than looking up when someone walks by your office or desk; you silence the chime on incoming e-mail. You can come up with ground rules that best serve you.

2. Just say "No" to guerilla thoughts.

Don't succumb to "guerilla thoughts"--those thoughts that run in and out of your mind as you work on a task, e.g. you remember a call you have to make, you think of a point to make in a presentation, you realize it's time to get your oil changed. If you let these thoughts distract you, you'll "wake up" ten minutes later and realize you've made no progress on finalizing the proposal you're working on. Now it takes a few more minutes to get back to where you were. So why not just go with guerilla thoughts anyway, since they can be important themselves? Because you are likely to find at the end of a very busy day that you have stopped and started many different projects without finishing any of them to your satisfaction. If you fear you'll lose an important thought if you don't attend to it immediately, jot it down quickly on a piece of paper you keep at hand for just that purpose. Now is not the time to flesh it out, now is the time to concentrate on the task you've assigned yourself.







3. Set aside blocks of time for particular projects and tasks.

Give yourself an uninterrupted length of time to work on a particular project, whether it's creating the agenda for a meeting or researching a subject for a report. You can also use blocks of time as a tool for focusing on ongoing tasks, e.g. every day from 8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. you'll look at the big picture and think creatively; from 10:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. you'll answer e-mails, etc. Don't schedule every minute of every day in this way, just enough of each day to accomplish what you want to.

4. Tell yourself to focus on the task at hand even when you are under pressure to meet many deadlines or to make up for past failures.

You can learn to put aside anxious feelings long enough to focus on accomplishing the one task or project you're working on at the moment. Don't stew about what you're not doing while you're doing something else. Focus on the task at hand, just as a champion golfer focuses on the current shot in spite of having lost a few hundered thousand dollars on the final putt in a previous tournament.

5. Use a timer to free yourself of the need to watch the time.

Determine the amount of time you want to spend on a task and set a timer. This enables you to focus completely on the task without worrying about missing an appointment or failing to get to another task on your list. When the timer goes off you can decide whether to move on to another project or stick with the one at hand. You need only a few seconds to think about your response before giving it. The other person will wait for you. There's nothing wrong with a little silence between that person's words and yours.