Subject: Pay Attention!
Tags: productivity, attention
Text-Type: markdown
Date: Thu Jan 08 14:45:25  2009

Productivity. That ambiguous dream we all seem to be chasing these days. It's
one of these million dollar industries like diet books and pornography.
Something we all _think_ we need.

*But* (ah, you knew there was a 'but', didn't you?), just like those diet books,
you don't need a big complex plan and layout with note cards and special $100
pens to be productive, in the exact same way you don't need nutritional pills and
Weight Watchers frozen dinners and low-carb foods to lose weight.

I'm going to keep running with the weight-loss analogy, because it makes so much
sense here. The best way to lose weight is to change your habits. Stop the
"boredom eating", stop buying Snickers bars and triple cheeseburgers, stop
eating when your full. Well, the best way to "be productive" is to change your
habits as well. Stop changing gears, stop doing thirty things at once, stop
trying to work in front of the TV.

### It's your attention, stupid! ###

All the popular productivity (and weight loss) systems out there have one simple
thing in common. **Just pay attention.** Stop dividing your attention between so
much at once. GTD will tell you to have a "universal capture" system where you
keep all your "to do" items in one central system. Inbox Zero will tell you to
filter your email as much as possible so that you stay on topic when you need to
check on things. Tim Ferris will tell you to simply stop checking email every 20
minutes.

It's all about attention. Have something important to do on your computer? Shut
off your Instant Messenger, close your Browser (or all the other tabs/windows
that aren't work specific), log off of IRC, and just do your work. This applies
to other aspects of life too. Want to clean your apartment? Shut off the TV,
close the laptop, put your cellphone sudoku game away, and just clean.

Now, it may seem like I'm trying to tell you not to have fun. Nothing could be
farther from the truth. What I *am* saying is this: don't try to accomplish
something and "have fun" at the same time. Dividing your attention isn't a
matter of math. If 50% of your attention is on two different tasks, you aren't
going to accomplish 50% of each task. It doesn't work that way. Changing mental
contexts from one task to another wastes a lot of time. 

### How do I apply this in my every day life? ###

This part is easy. Try to cut out everything that could steal your attention
away from your task. Get rid of popup computer based notifiers that will tell
you when you have a new email. Keep your cellphone off or in another room. Shut
off the television. Anything you can think of.

Now, work in short bursts. Let's say your email is important to you and you need
to check it often, for the sake of example. Set a timer. 45 minutes of work,
then when it beeps, do 15 minutes of non-work. Check your email, get a snack,
write a blog entry (heh). This is what I've done in the past.

Doing this takes a lot of discipline. It's the same with weight loss. You just
need to suck it up and do it, or find a reason good enough to keep you on task.

It's really quite simple: Just pay attention.