You have to concentrate to focus … you have to work at ignoring distractions.

Wikipedia defines Focus: selectively concentrating on one aspect of the environment while ignoring other things.

Today’s large organizations often are open concept cube farms.  There has always been a lot of things in this type of environment to distract you or break your concentration and this is getting more pervasive in today’s connected state. With facebook, twitter, personal e-mail, IM (corporate and outside), drop-ins, online banking, loading Tim cards via smart phones, people walking by etc… it is hard to FOCUS.  But it is not just your typical outside distractions.  I find corporate processes heavy in templates and corresponding data mappings can slow down the works and create a mesh in itself that is tiring to wade through.

I have a loft office in a historical building downtown that is a peaceful place to get away from distractions where I can focus.  There is something about old architecture that calms you down and allows you to tune out noise.  I work with a team of consultants who work from their home offices 3 days a week and work onsite as a large group 2 days a week.  I believe this is the best new model.  These team mates are coding up a storm in their home offices and then come together for some group work.

There is also personal time / goal focus…

Malcolm Gladwell wrote a book called Blink.

The preface is that when you are an expert in a field you should not take time to over analyze situations.  If you are an expert, you should rely on your experience, make decisions, and get on with implementing them.   Notice I’m focusing on expert… if you are not an expert then you need to do your homework or follow a well-defined process.  The focus of an expert is as quick as a blink because of his experiences.

A friend of mine pointed out to me years ago that different roles prefer different approaches to scheduling their day.  Programmers like to have 2-3 hours of quiet time where they can get deep into an effort without someone distracting them.  Managers tend to think of the day in terms of 30-60 minute blocks.  Just long enough to have a topic and wrestle it to the ground with a resolution.  Managers will often have full schedules and feel like they are getting a lot done.  Programmers want a rather empty schedule and time to think // create // and battle through technology issues.

When I have been able to focus personally on getting work done or cleaning up my to-do list I find I see benefits.  When the members of a team can get into this focused mode I see huge benefits and can feel a momentum swing.  When there is too much noise to get focused – a filter is needed.

Noise is the enemy of focus.  It is something that will distract you from the important.  Experience is the only thing that will help you with pushing back when you don’t feel the item is of benefit.

Use the comment section below to share your your tricks to avoiding the noise trap.

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Ron is a Project Manager and occasional blogger with Chalder Consulting Inc. www.chalder.ca

Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/rondsmith

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