Photo by Karolina Grabowska
The great philosopher, Rick Springfield, sings, “Nothing that matters comes easy. Nothing that comes easy ever really matters.” Goals that matter are not easy. Sometimes that is because of what you have to resist in order to achieve them.
William James work was instrumental in establishing psychology as a legitimate scientific discipline. In his book, The Principles of Psychology, he defines the ability to confidently and repeatedly resist temptation as conscientiousness. It’s a broad personality trait that includes carefulness and organization, but mostly restraint. Conscientious restraint is a clear indicator of health, contentment, and prosperity and it’s like a muscle. The more you use it the stronger it gets. What temptations are preventing you from reaching your goals at work?
Social Distractions
It takes time for your brain to shift focus. For example, you take a break to check Snapchat before a meeting. You get caught up in your friends’ stories. Before you know it, half an hour has gone by. Then, you have to shift your focus back to prepare for the meeting. You enter the meeting wondering why you don’t feel adequately prepared. Time spent on social media, personal texts, and in-person/DM interruptions add up to hours that sneak up on you. You can better focus your attention by pausing notifications from your email, direct messages, and texts and closing your office/home office door. When you resist social distractions, you get more done in less time. The moral of this story: Silence your phone and put it out of sight.
Multitasking
Multitasking is a myth. Humans do not multitask. Only computers multitask. Sure, maybe you can walk and chew gum at the same time, but those activities aren’t particularly taxing on your brain’s executive control processor. But sending an email during a videoconference is. When you do that you are not multitasking, you are task switching. Either your email will suffer or you won’t remember what the last speaker said. You may be able to do all the things and in quick succession, but you are still doing them one at a time. The more you slow down and do things deliberately, the faster you can accomplish each task. The moral of this story: Resist the temptation to multitask.
Setting Yourself Up to Fail
If you have the most brainpower in the morning, then why do you check email first thing instead of tackling your most difficult assignment of the day? If you know that you work on a project until it’s done before allowing yourself a break, then why are you surprised your result is full of mistakes? If you interrupt your work to handle random tasks that pop into your head, then why are you frustrated with the time it takes to shift your attention back to the task at hand? If these scenarios describe you, then start setting yourself up to succeed. Tackle your most difficult projects when you have the most brain power. Set a timer for 30 minutes and take a seven minute break when it goes off; preferably to hydrate and maybe step outside for some fresh air. Keep a scratch pad and pen on your desk so when a random chore enters your mind you can write it down to do later. The moral of this story: Know yourself and play to your strengths.
What temptations do you resist in order to get work done? Please share in the comments.