Kick Reactive Habits to Improve Concentration
You call them “distractions.” Maybe you call them your to-do list. Whatever word you use, they keep you away from what you should be doing right now. These habits demand your reaction and get in the way of real productivity.
Speaking on the Barking Up the Wrong Tree advice blog, Georgetown professor Cal Newport explains how reactive habits demand our attention. When Facebook buzzes to tell you that there is something you need to respond to right now , or when you have something on your mental to-do list that you need to remember to do now , your brain is taking resources away from that. what you should focus on. :
It may seem harmless to take a quick glance at your inbox every ten minutes or so. But this quick check presents a new target for your attention. Worse, if you see messages that you cannot handle at the moment (which happens almost always), you will be forced to return to the main task, and the secondary task will remain incomplete. The state in which almost every knowledge worker spends his day is a terrible state if your goal is to really focus with any intensity. I think that’s the equivalent of what a professional athlete comes to most games with a hangover.
If you want to do better with these reactive tasks, put them where they belong. Close the Facebook tab before the time available for social networking. Stop responding to every email as soon as you receive it (or at least assign this urgency level to only those that are really urgent). The less you respond to other people’s priorities, the more you can focus on your own.
How to Focus: 5 Research-Backed Secrets to Concentration | Bark on the wrong tree