the new work ethic: just paying attention
Work Ethic 2.0: Attention Control
Columnist David Brooks, commenting in the Dec. 16th New York Times about Malcolm Gladwell’s latest book called “Outliers,” made a statement as profound as it was accurate: “Control of attention is the ultimate individual power,” he wrote. “People who can do that are not prisoners of the stimuli around them.”
But why is that truer now than ten or twenty years ago? Why will it be truer still ten or twenty years from now? As I wrote in May, Internet distractions evolve to become ever more “distracting” all the time — like a virus. Distractions now “seek you out.”
Distractions mask the toll they take on productivity. Everyone finishes up their work days exhausted, but how much of that exhaustion is from real work, how much from the mental effort of fighting off distractions and how much from the indulgence of distractions?
Pundits like me are constantly talking about Facebook, Twitter, blogs and humor sites, not to mention old standbys like e-mail and IM. One gets the impression that we should be “following” these things all day long, and many do. So when does the work get done? When do entrepreneurs start and manage their businesses? When do writers write that novel? When do IT professionals keep the trains running on time? When does anyone do anything?
~via axelalbin@twitter. (ha!)
(i suck at the new work ethic.)
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[...] Read this whole article; it’s a great kick in the pants for getting focused in the New Year. the new work ethic: just paying attention at intellectual properties [via [...]
Good find! Sometimes I feel I am working more at learning about productivity and finance than actually being productive or making money. The same is true of my photography hobby. I probably read more about photography than actually getting out and taking pictures.
Well, I read the article; the near end sums it up splendidly:
“A person who works six hours a day but with total focus has an enormous advantage over a 12-hour-per-day workaholic who’s “multi-tasking” all day…”
Fact is, no matter how much we don’t want to believe, we don’t multi-task. We task-swap.
Our life in the information era requires each person to be a manager, a manager of their own time.
Prioritize.
Don’t fall into any of these traps:
1 – Nothing is important, nothing is urgent
2 – Everything is important, nothing is urgent
3 – Nothing is important, everything is urgent
4 – Everything is important, everything is urgent
Find the balance.
Golly. People have discovered the difference between someone who is working hard and someone who *seems* to be working hard.
How fascinating.
[...] Read this whole article; it’s a great kick in the pants for getting focused in the New Year. the new work ethic: just paying attention at intellectual properties [via ] Tags: Attention, Mind Hacks | January 2nd, 2009 | Posted in From the World [...]
personally i think my multi-tasking has 1) kept me from going insane from boredom at the repetitive nature of my job and b) simultaneously made me better at my job. i have to be at the desk for 8 hours a day no matter what. it’s not like i can come in, focus really hard, get my word done in 4 hours and go jogging or to a museum or something. i think a lot of people are in the same sitch. i’ve taught myself/learned a lot of things screwing around online that i apply to my work. for example: i’m already the company web designer and we use sites i build for project purposes. and, i’m turning my company’s website into a blog soon, which my boss is pretty excited about. it won’t be the best thing ever, but it’s a step up.
i will admit some days i surf longer than i should, but i’ve never missed a deadline, and the work eventually gets done. if your websurfing is interfering with your work and not enhancing it, then, yeah, maybe you need to get a hold of your habit.
p.s. there are lots of comments about this @
http://lifehacker.com/5121914/.....work-ethic
good article!
I work from home and this point is a good one. When I first started at home it was great, unshackled from the constraints of an office environment, working my own hours and so on. But the ease with which one can ‘become distracted’ (in my view a euphemism for short attention span or poor will power!) is incredible. Email, facebook, forums, etc were chewing up hours of my work day to the point where it would take 12 hours in the office to do 8 hours work. Not good.
My solution:
1) Track my time. No I didn’t need any ‘GTD’ software for this, just a pen and scrap paper where I would simply note each task and how long it took (including checking time waster-sites) and I only did this for week. It helped me realise how much time I wasted.
2)Block the websites I waste time on. This is easy, get leechblock (firefox ext) to filter out the domains you want to prevent yourself from visiting during work hours. Works a treat. You look forward to catching up with everything when the filters turn off every day.
[...] snippet is from a post titled, “The New Work Ethic: Just Paying [...]
Time to change the whole corporate incentive structure, and redefine performance; so many companies still base their performance assessment on face time! The boss at my previous job told me that as the junior, I should be the first one in the office and last one out…
[...] Read this whole article; it’s a great kick in the pants for getting focused in the New Year. the new work ethic: just paying attention at intellectual properties [via [...]
[...] Free your eyes and productivity will follow… Columnist David Brooks, commenting in the Dec. 16th New York Times about Malcolm Gladwell’s latest book called “Outliers,” made a statement as profound as it was accurate: “Control of attention is the ultimate individual power,” he wrote. “People who can do that are not prisoners of the stimuli around them.” [...]
[...] The new work ethic is just paying attention. [...]
[...] intellectual properties: Columnist David Brooks, commenting in the Dec. 16th New York Times about Malcolm Gladwell’s latest book called “Outliers,” made a statement as profound as it was accurate: “Control of attention is the ultimate individual power,” he wrote. “People who can do that are not prisoners of the stimuli around them.” [...]
[...] delineados e focados. Leia o artigo inteiro; é um tapa na cara para ficar centrado no Ano Novo. the new work ethic: just paying attention at intellectual properties [via ] – a nova ética do trabalho: apenas preste atenção 31 de Dezembro de [...]
[...] Read this whole article; it’s a great kick in the pants for getting focused in the New Year. the new work ethic: just paying attention at intellectual properties [via [...]
[...] The New Work Ethic: Just Paying Attention [...]
[...] Read this whole article; it’s a great kick in the pants for getting focused in the New Year. the new work ethic: just paying attention at intellectual properties [via [...]
wow !
[...] The New Work Ethic: Just Paying Attention [...]