Overcome Carlson’s Law to Become More Productive
To do deep work , you need to focus on one task, and to focus, you need to avoid distractions. This is a fairly intuitive idea and is the basis of Carlson’s Law, named after the Swedish economist Sune Carlson, who determined that intermittent work is always less efficient and takes more time than continuous work. But that doesn’t mean creating a distraction-free zone is easy.
How to Eliminate Distractions When Trying to Focus
Before you start anything, make sure your space is free of distractions—not just physical, but mental as well. Here are some ways to do this:
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Work somewhere with a door and keep it closed so others know you’re busy and don’t distract you.
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Try using earplugs or noise-cancelling headphones to minimize noise.
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Turn on a white noise machine to drown out distractions.
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Use apps , extensions, and software that prevent you from accessing social media or other distracting platforms.
If you don’t think you can work on something without being distracted—for example, if your kids have to come home from school and loudly burst into the room, or there are free bagels in the break room and everyone walks past you to get one—don’t . Carlson’s Law states that the work you do when you’re distracted will be of lower quality than the work you can do when you’re focused. When you’re focused, it takes less time, so you make up for missing work if it can’t be done at the moment.
Manage your time strategically
In addition to blocking out external distractions, you also need to reduce your personal distractions. This means no multitasking. Each task you complete should be one mission. Stop answering emails and work on your project. Don’t make dinner plans while you’re in a meeting. When you do two things, you become distracted, and neither of them will be completed as efficiently as if you did them one at a time.
To do this, you need to follow several rules and recommendations. First, rank your responsibilities in order of importance. Try using the 1-3-5 method to make a to-do list each morning, planning to complete one large task, three medium-sized tasks, and five small tasks. You can use the Eisenhower Matrix to figure out what these nine tasks should be, ordering them by urgency and timeliness using a quadrant.
Once you determine your tasks and the order in which they should be completed, make time for them on your calendar. Even small tasks should have their own ” time slot ” on the calendar. By looking at the calendar, you will see each item separately and know exactly how much time you have for it. This way they won’t collide with each other, you won’t have to multitask, and you’ll be able to focus on each element of the action one by one. Bonus points if you do this on a shared office calendar or a calendar that is visible to people around you so they can easily see when you’re busy without distracting you.