Day 16: Micro Focus v Deep Focus
November 12, 2024
Today’s Exercise:
What distraction is within your control to remove from your day?
Learning:
Multi-tasking Myth is really task switching. What is the task switching cost?
A University of California, Irvine study showed that frequent interruptions cause people to work faster to compensate for lost time, resulting in elevated stress levels and pressure.
Up to 40% productivity loss from excessive task switching like emails.
Tips to Produce at Peak Levels with Full Concentration
To produce at your peak level you need to work for extended periods with full concentration on a single task free from distraction.
- Batching challenging intellectual work into long, uninterrupted stretches
- Dividing the task into chunks
- Resource: Deep Work by Cal Newport
- Micro breaks: Intentional shifts to restorative stimuli.
- Move around. Take a walk.
- Photos of inspiration (family, vacation spots,
- Moving thought away from self and shifting to the “In service to…” mode
- Turn off all distracting notifications
- Set a timer. Work in 20 minute increments.
- Shift set. Before intellect to intellect, bring it back into the body.
- Email processing time. Schedule it out.
- Schedule deep work in your calendar. Also affectionately known as, GSD time (get $%@# done)
- Tidy your space around you.