Think of how your work flow, activity flow or leisure flow goes. Do you toggle between activity and phone/texting/email? Do you get up a lot and allow yourself to interrupt your work or activity (dog barking, colleague needs you, bathroom, snack break, go to another task, etc.)? Well you’re not alone. People have become so accustom to short attention moments and frequent breaks with the new patterns we have cultivated with the internet. The habits online are transferring to offline.
There’s only one way to increase your attention span—>challenge yourself to endure longer times to focus on the task. Set a goal such as:
I am going to read for 45 minutes before I get up.
I am going to turn off all instant messaging for 1 hour per day. Be sure to schedule it in or it won’t happen.
I will do my work for 45 minutes before taking a break.
I will work on the garden for 1 hour before getting a snack.
Once you have achieved this goal for three times, add 10 minutes.
It is amazing to realize you can increase your attention and yield more time and productivity. Don’t let the world drive you, you drive the world with goal-directed behavior.
This process is called goal-directed behavior and you’ve just learned how to ‘habituate’ the behavior. See previous blogs for how to form a habit.
Start today, take a baby step. What is your goal directed attention behavior today?
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