Most people don't have enough time at work. At least that is what they say if you ask them to name their scarcest resource. However, the truth is that all of us have the same amount of time but reach quite different levels of performance. What we lack is not time, but attention - the ability and personal capacity to spend the right time doing the right things. Julian Birkinshaw, professor at the London Business School, writes about the attention problem in an interesting article on the
"Perhaps the biggest challenge we face as individuals at work, and as leaders, is attention management," explains Birkinshaw. We should learn to decide how to divide our time between our activities in a thorough and disciplined way and then inspire others to do the same.
How to manage your attention
1. If you know you have problems paying attention, you need to start being more strict with yourself and avoid distractions. Do you want to finally finish the report you've been writing all week? Just turn off your cell phone and email. The solution is usually very simple, it only takes some discipline.
2. Learn to process information better. There is so much information available everywhere that you can drown in it. If you are working on a task, start by creating a specific hypothesis or argument. Then only look for information to confirm or disprove your hypothesis. If you are still afraid of not finishing the task on time because you've spent too much time gathering information, set a clear deadline when to stop researching.
3. Do not lose your intuition and emotions. The evidence to support your arguments is important, but you should learn to balance your rational and intuitive thinking.
4. Find some time to clear your mind, for personal meditation. You can do it on the way to work or while doing sports, it's up to you. The aim is to relax and clarify your work priorities.
How to manage the attention of others
1. Realize that we no longer live in the time when most companies lacked capital and people. We have even passed the time when knowledge and information was the scarcest resource. What we lack today is attention - our own attention as well as our team's. It's time to learn how to manage it better.
2. Managers should not say something different every day or every week because there is nothing for employees to focus on. Your people need to know the purpose of your joint effort and hear the important things repeatedly. The more you emphasize one thing, the clearer message you will send to others.
3. If you want to shift your team's attention to something else, you must first know where the focus is going to be. Then you can give them a clear message about what is important.
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