So do you want to have more impact? To do that, you can’t be wasting your valuable time and energy on things that don’t matter, that have no impact.

Productivity only matters in the context of what you ultimately want to achieve. Being productive in service of your larger goals and your impact matters.

It’s frighteningly easy to get bogged down in heavy lifting, those items that ‘will only take a minute’, and 2 hours later, sometimes at the end of a whole day, you haven’t done anything of substance.

Sounds familiar?

Here’s the secret to avoiding unproductive days like that. First, a bit of context.

Focus is a high level of concentration that is most effective in problem solving, paying attention to other people in meetings and conversations, and in the creative process., among other things. When focus is interrupted by a distraction, such as a floating on-screen notification, the option to ‘just take a quick look’ at something that has occurred to you, or a real person knocking on your door, your ability to focus is impaired. committed.

Research has shown that it actually takes 10 minutes to return to the same level of concentration.. Some sources say 15 minutes. Meanwhile, your productivity has dropped and you’re spending energy and time to get back on track.

Because of this effect, even if we go with the lowest estimate, if you are interrupted three times an hour, which is not unusual for most people, you will have lost 30 minutes of concentration. This is what that means. half your time is wasted To whatever distraction you allowed in your world.

That is a big problem. You can spend hours on a project, and you really only have half as much effective time available to you as you’ve spent. Or less, if you have more than three distractions.

Your energy and attention are precious and are earned with time and effort.

Would you like to recapture that time and effort, essentially doubling your productivity?

May. How? Eliminate distractions.

Sign in to your devices and stop audible and on-screen notifications.

Turn off your phone or put it in another room, out of sight and hearing.

Close the door and let people know not to interrupt.

Use the tools you need, including those that keep you from visiting distracting platforms like Facebook.

Those are helpful tips, but it’s often not as easy as eliminating distractions. Reducing or eliminating distractions requires that you engage with what is important to you. Overcome your fear that you will actually make it: what will that mean for you and your business? Who do you have to be to live the new reality? – You have to commit.

The decision to engage is critical to stopping distractions.

Distractions prevent you from concentrating on what is most important to you. Even if you feel like you can’t stop all distractions, make a commitment to stop most of them and you’ll see an increase in what you can accomplish. You will be happier, less tired and more satisfied at the end of the day.

Of course, there are many ways you can increase your productivity, but this one is stark in its impact.

Reduce your distractions and you’ll have a lot more energy and time to do the things that will allow your profits and impact to soar.