Fed Up with Distractions?

As we enter the 9th week of lockdown here at Team EMG, I’m reflecting on how distractions have changed for those of us working from home. I have found that I don’t have the same distractions – no one is knocking at my door to see if I have a spare 5 minutes and my phone has been a lot quieter than you might expect. But what I am finding distracting is the sheer volume of work that we are trying to do as a company. We thrive on being agile and coming up with new ideas – but these can be distracting from the day-to-day work.

During lockdown, we have launched our COVID-19 website and new digital products, whilst working on a learning experience platform. I’m keeping in touch with clients more often than I usually would, as well as making sure my teams are doing well and recording videos each day for them as I’m not seeing them face-to-face. All this, along with the launch of a separate, stand-alone recruitment company. With all of these additional projects, my volume of emails has rocketed; and many of these emails are time sensitive. Outlook told me this week that I’m checking my emails too often – and when Outlook tells you off for that, you know you’re in trouble!

Be Proactive, not Reactive

 Distraction occurs when these projects induce a reactive, rather than proactive, approach to your day. To stop this happening, I keep going back to my 90-day plan and breaking it down into weekly and monthly steps. I plan out my whole day according to what I need to achieve: every half an hour I know what I am supposed to be doing. This doesn’t mean I don’t get distracted, but when I do, I can always go back to my plan for the day and see what I am supposed to be doing.

‘White space’, as Grant Cardone calls it, is your worst enemy. If you have a lot of white space in your diary, you’re so much more likely to get distracted. If your diary is fully booked from when you start to when you finish your working day, you are less likely to get distracted because you simply don’t have the time to be.

But you can’t forget to include reactive time. When I am in the office, I tend to build in an hour or so a day to be reactive to allow for calls, emails, or visits. If at the end of the day I haven’t used it, I’ve gained an hour of my day back; if I have needed to use it, then I’m assured that I’m not falling behind where I should be. That’s how I try to approach my workday proactively – but it doesn’t always work out like that!

Plan Your Distractions

 Some distractions are healthy – it is good to take a break and refresh the mind every now and then. But, without being too regimented, it can be a good idea to plan your distractions into your day. I am so busy with the day-to-day stuff that I don’t always get a chance to think about the biggest picture stuff. When I do, I start getting distracted. But, if I go for a half hour run in the morning, I have time to consider some of the bigger picture stuff and get those thoughts in before I need to focus in for the day.

WTF: Where’s the Focus?

 A good friend of mine, Steve Clarke, taught me: WTF? (Where’s the Focus?), a way of constantly reminding yourself what you are trying to achieve and why you are trying to achieve it. If you’re getting distracted by thoughts of what you want to achieve, that is not a big issue. If you are getting distracted by the thought of going out for dinner with your mates in 6 months when lockdown is over, so you start looking at restaurants – that is not so useful.

Think of it as having a satnav on your car; if I decide to drive from Essex to Scotland, I can input the address and the satnav will tell me the quickest route. If I don’t, it would be up to me to go any way I fancy. But which is correct? There is no right or wrong – if I needed to be in Scotland for an urgent engagement the next day, I would fire up my satnav. If was on a driving holiday, then I’d take the scenic route. If you keep in mind the focus, then you will achieve your goal. Essentially, make sure the plan you’ve got is the right one, then stick to it.