Indistractable

Suddenly work obligations and ambitions take priority over having beers with buddies. If children enter the picture, exhilarating nights on the town become exhausted nights on the couch.

Unfortunately, the less time we invest in people, the easier it is to make do without them, until one day it is too awkward to reconnect.

The time we spend with our friends isn’t just pleasurable—it’s an investment in our future health and well-being.

•    The people you love deserve more than getting whatever time is left over.

•    Go beyond scheduling date days with your significant other. Put domestic chores on your calendar to ensure an equitable split.

•    A lack of close friendships may be hazardous to your health. Ensure you maintain important relationships by scheduling time for regular get-togethers.

When tasks and projects take longer than originally planned and expectations aren’t met, managers are left guessing why. Is the employee not capable? Is he not motivated? Is she looking for another job? How are they spending their time? In response to underperformance, managers often ask employees to do more and work longer hours.

studies have found that workers who spend more than fifty-five hours per week on the job have reduced productivity;

•    Syncing your schedule with stakeholders at work is critical for making time for traction in your day. Without visibility into how you spend your time, colleagues and managers are more likely to distract you with superfluous tasks.

•    Sync as frequently as your schedule changes. If your schedule template changes from day to day, have a daily check-in. However, most people find a weekly alignment is sufficient.

Model states that for a behavior (B) to occur, three things must be present at the same time: motivation (M), ability (A), and a trigger (T). More succinctly, B = MAT.

When we’re highly motivated, we have a strong desire, and the requisite energy, to take an action, and when we’re not motivated, we lack the energy to perform a task.

ability relates to facility of action. Quite simply, the harder something is to do, the less likely people are to do it. Conversely, the easier something is to do, the more likely we are to do it.

A trigger to tell us what to do next is always required.

when people are interrupted during a task, they tend to subsequently make up for lost time by working faster, but the cost is higher levels of stress and frustration.

We condition ourselves to respond instantly. Soon, it feels impossible to do what we’ve planned because we’re constantly reacting to external triggers instead of attending to what’s in front of us.

receiving a cell phone notification but not replying to it was just as distracting as responding to a message or call.

By having your phone in your field of view, your brain must work hard to ignore it, but if your phone isn’t easily accessible or visually present, your brain is able to focus on the task at hand.

Is this trigger serving me, or am I serving it?

Viewed through the lens of this critical question, triggers can now be identified for what they rightly are: tools. If we use them properly, they can help us stay on track.