Time-Management Skills to Regain your Focus (what works and what doesn’t)
In recent years, more and more studies have found an alarming reduction in people’s attention spans. Whilst children seem to be the most affected, the phenomenon can be observed in every age group. As a coach for women around 50, I can confirm that both I and my clients know this issue, too.
I’d like to dig a little deeper into the facets of attention and then suggest things you can do to get back your focus. These are techniques I’ve tried with neurotypical, neurodiverse, single-passion folks, multi-passionates/scanners and everything in between. They work; you only need to put them in practice.
Focus is half the battle, because it’s been proven over and over that multi-taskers don’t actually get more done, they’re just more likely to simultaneously do several things poorly and risk burnout. Effective time-management is different, and at the root of it all lies focus.
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Who this is for
Everyone. Whilst some groups are more affected by this than others, this phenomenon is fairly universal. At least, it’s universal for people using the internet, and the fact that you’re reading this article proves that you do. It goes beyond the internet though, as you’ll see in the next section.
Neuro-diverse folks. In my age group, nobody was checked for or diagnosed with things like ADHD when we were kids. There are, however, many of us who are affected, and unfortunately, we’re even more susceptible to the distractions of our brave new (digital) world.
Multi-passionates. There’s a fairly large overlap between multi-passionates and neuro-diverse people, but not every multi-passionate is ND. Some are simply interested in multiple things and could never pick just one passion to focus on. These varied interests make them prone to distractions by nature.
Why attention spans have been decreasing
The study linked above (you’ll find the link again at the end of this article) found “that shorter attention cycles are mainly driven by increasing information flows, represented as content production and consumption rates”. In plain English, it’s the flood of information we’re confronted with. What used to be confined to news programmes on TV and newspapers, is now a constant bombardment online.
Our attention is finite. As more and more enticing content competes for this limited “real-estate”, we’re lured into consuming more in an ever-shorter time. The most extreme form of this is social media with its bite-sized snippets of information in an endless feed bombarding our brains. Is it any wonder that our attention has become short-lived and fractured?
You can no longer escape this phenomenon though, even if you’re not on social media. Online content has been so successful in snatching up and keeping our attention that other media have followed suit. If you watch TV these days, you can observe the same phenomenon of fast-moving, ever-changing content designed to engage your emotions and prevent you from switching channels.
All this, according to the experts, has our attention spans decreasing continuously. The result is a poorer quality of our work and needing more time to get the same amount of work done. That’s the opposite of time-management skills. It also puts stress on our bodies, exhausts our mental capabilities and makes us feel vaguely out of control, like we’re in the Matrix and unable to do anything about it.
Time-management skills that reclaim your focus
Common advice regarding time-management skills is to “disable notifications on your phone” and “go offline and work for two hours in deep focus”. There are various reasons why these might not be doable for you, and so in the following, I’m pairing them with realistic steps that actually work. Practiced consistently, they’ll make a significant difference to your productivity and the time you have left for yourself and your passions.
Unrealistic: “Do two hours of deep-focus work”
Who on earth has the luxury of two uninterrupted hours in a row? Seriously, anyone? In most jobs, you’re required to keep the office communication tool open so your manager (or anyone else) can reach out to you. And you may actually need to monitor your emails. In addition, if you have ADHD, two hours is a ludicrously long time and entirely off-putting.
Try instead: One hour. That’s doable, and no calamities will happen if an email or message remains unanswered (heck, most meetings take at least this long). Decide in advance what you’ll work on and have any resources handy. Then close all other browser tabs and your email program. Put your phone on Do Not Disturb. Set an alarm for one hour from now and start working.
Unrealistic: “Disable phone notifications”
Actually, disabling notifications on your phone is good advice, but on its own, it’ll lead to problems. If your friends and family aren’t aware, they might actually get anxious if you suddenly stop reacting to their messages. Knowing this will have you compulsively diving for your phone even more often than you used to when you had it beeping at you.
Try instead: Inform your friends and family that you’ll reply to messages a couple times a day but not immediately. Also tell them that if it’s important or an emergency, they should call you. The funny thing is that nobody ever does, because people hate to talk on the phone these days. Also, rarely is anything truly urgent; we’ve just got used to instant responses. You can undo this. Less than 30 years ago, we used to simply not be available whenever we left the house, and we survived!
Unrealistic: “Leave social media”
Most of us have family, old work colleages and childhood friends on social that we wouldn’t otherwise still be in touch with. It’s hard to shove all that aside, and many aren’t prepared to do this. It might cut you off from social groups, hobbies/passions and sports clubs if you were to delete all your social accounts.
Try instead: Reduce your social media platforms to one or two. I’ve stopped using Facebook privately (in other words, I still run my Wild Spirits Coaching page, but I no longer post on my timeline and have unfriended most of my contacts) and I’ve deleted my Instagram account. Fewer platforms mean fewer distractions; it’s that simple.
Focus is a precious thing and we shouldn’t just give it up without a fight. It’s what those time-management skills are all about. What makes all this much easier is the stuff I work on with my clients: a focus shift onto whatever lights you up, knowing your purpose and aligning your life to it. Would you like to discuss how this can work for you? Book a free chat with me at the bottom of my program page and we’ll talk.
Literature:
- Accelerating Dynamics of Collective Attention (study), https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-09311-w
- Hari, Johann, Stolen Focus (book)