Take Control of Your Productivity With an Attention Charter

To stay productive, you need to be distracted less . But you cannot stay within your limits until you define them for yourself. This is where the attention charter comes in.

The only one holding you back from constant distraction is you, so you need to create a reasonable set of rules for yourself. On his blog, Cal Newport recommends filtering out numerous distractions with an Attention Chart:

An Attention Charter is a document that lists common reasons why you allow someone or something to claim your time and attention. For each reason, it then describes under what conditions and in what quantities you will allow this commitment.

For example, you might write that during business hours you will only reply to text messages from a select few people (or from just one person), unless it’s urgent. Or you can write that you are only allowed to check a certain set of websites during business hours and only at certain times of the day. The key is to remove as many distractions as possible while keeping it realistic. When you are done with your charter, place it somewhere so you can see it while you work.

Write an Attention Charter | Cal Newport

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