About Time
A column by Abigail Barnes
In this latest article, we explore how you can train yourself to have more productive and focused periods of work, so you are getting more done without sacrificing time for you and your family.
Here’s what you need to know: your brain wasn’t designed for emails, Zoom calls, and multiple openbrowser tabs. It evolved to survive predators, forage for food, and focus on one thing at a time. In today’smodern world, that ancient brain is under siege and most of us are losing the battle.
We wear busyness like a badge of honour, trying to multitask our life like a machine. But what we’re actually doing is diluting our attention and undermining our ability to focus, be more productive and deliver our best work.
If you feel overwhelmed and like you’re underperforming, it’s not about needing more time. It’s aboutlearning how to focus. As psychologist Daniel Goleman says: 'Focus is the hidden driver of excellence.' And science agrees.
It’s the number one thing I’ve discovered working with clients, interviewing experts and experimenting with my own high-performance process.
The Neuroscience of Focus
Focus isn’t just about having a good mindset, it’s a biological process, that’s driven by your prefrontalcortex, your brain’s control centre for planning, decision-making, and attention.
Your brain operates in two ways:
• Bottom-up: Fast, reactive, emotional (phone buzz, breaking news, someone shouts you)• Top-down: Slow, conscious, deliberate (where real focus happens)
The problem is, that the bottom-up programme has a stronger and faster response mechanism, making it easier for your attention to be hijacked by notifications, and staying focused on deep work harder.And no, you can’t multitask you way out of it, your brain can’t focus on two complex things at once. Whatyou’re doing is task-switching, and each switch creates 'attention residue' (mental friction that makesyour thinking and productivity slower).
It looks as if you’re not authorised to view this content.
You need to login to your account below to see more.
If you’re not yet subscribed and would like access to all the articles and other resources:
Head here to check out the subscriber options
Subscribers can get:
•
It looks as if you’re not authorised to view this content.
You need to be logged in and have full access to The Subscribers Lounge to see this page.
If you wish to upgrade your subscription, you can do this on your Account page.
If you’re not yet subscribed and would like access to all the articles and other resources:
Head here to check out the subscriber options
Subscribers can get:
• Access to all articles and magazine issues
• The full back issue library of digital magazines
• Full library of talks, webinars and videos
• Networking and virtual coworking opportunities
• Playlists for productivity and focus
• Discounts on courses or events
Find out more when you subscribe
