What are you focused on - really - what are you focused on?
There is a fallacy that we can multi-task. The reality is we can have a lot of things going on, but we can focus on only one thing. This is part of the issue with "distracted" driving - where people believe they are focused on driving and doing something else. The reality is that their attention is divided. Have you ever been watching something and someone comes to talk to you? You try to keep a focus on what is going one, but with divided attention you begin to miss the details in the different events you are giving divide attention.
When we swap our attention between different things, there is a disruption that occurs. And it takes time for us to regain focus and get to a state of flow. Think of a time you were in a very comfortable position or a time when you were working on a task and were so focused you lost sense of time. Now remember being disrupted, having to leave your comfortable position to tend to a pet, a knock at the door, or think of being pulled our of your state of flow to respond to a non-related, maybe even urgent matter. How long did it take you to get back to your comfortable position or to your state of flow if you were even able to get back to it?
While the exact amount of time it takes to get back to focused attention after being interrupted can vary greatly depending on the individual and the task a, a widely cited study by University of California, Irvine professor Gloria Mark found that it can take an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to return to a task after an interruption. That's a lot of lost focus.
Since interruption and distraction are a part of life, so what can we do about it? We can be intentional about how we manage our time and where we do our work. Perhaps, many of the conversations about return to work, and loss of commute time as work time, also have to do with the loss of deep focus time, which is so valuable. So, knowing all of this, let's be transparent and real with ourselves - and allow ourselves to focus in on things AND allow others around us the guidance and opportunity to focus as well. Nothing wrong with being a multi-tasker and having many talents. However, we may just be able to deliver better quality experiences and products when we give ourselves the gift of focus.
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