The Art of FOCUS!
According to an article in the February, 2007 edition of "Inc." magazine, American business is losing nearly $600 billion dollars a year to distraction!
According to this article by David L. Freedman, an average American worker is losing just over 2 hours a day and some of us are temporarily developing symptoms of ADD and dropping 10 points of IQ! According to Freedman that's like "skipping a night's sleep and more than twice as much as smoking marijuana."!!!
Holy crap! All this because we're inundated with email, cell phone calls and emergencies. Freeman cites a University of California study that finds the average professional participating in their study could only stay on task for 11 minutes and it took those folks an average of 25 minutes to get back in the groove.
So, multi-tasking and responding to client demands in real time is bad, right?
Not so fast!
Other studies show that despite all this distraction American workers are still more productive, generate more revenue, get back to clients and prospects faster and can handle more projects at the same time.
So, what's the downside?
Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. The human body's response to increased stress is manifested in health problems both physical and mental. At best, when we're stressed we're not very nice to be around. At worst we could be driving our friends away, destroying our personal relationships and heading for the cardiac wing of our local hospital. Temporary lowering of IQ and onset of ADD-like symptoms are not indicators that stress is on the way; these are signs that we're right in the middle of melt-down mode!
Is there a solution? Of course!
Using simple techniques proven over centuries we can learn to stay focused on a particular task, to refocus quickly when another task suddenly takes priority, and to regain our focus efficiently when we return to our original task.
Even gaining back half of the lost time highlighted in Freeman's article would save American business 300 billion dollars a year!
These techniques will improve your health, lower your stress level and improve your overall productivity. Best of all, adopting some of these techniques will keep your spouse in the house and your friends will stop punching "send-to-voicemail" when you call.
Over 20 years of study and practice of martial arts, tai chi and qigong, I've adapted several easy-to-learn and easy-to-apply techniques for developing focus and reducing the stress of distractions. As a self-confessed "gadget-head" I'm very sensitive to the addiction we have to Blackberries and my teeth are "Blue" too!
Adapting simple techniques to help you re-focus when your attention is diverted, installing regular "meditation periods" throughout the day and paying attention to your overall health will reduce the time it takes to get back on task, reduce stress and improve productivity while preserving your sanity!
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