Estimated Reading Time: 1 minutes, 41s.
What did you spend the last forty minutes doing, before you read these words?
We often work on autopilot throughout the day, responding to what comes our way. We get caught up in responding to what’s latest and loudest instead of working intentionally.
This is not a productive way to work. The more intentional we become, the more productive we become. Most of us know this. Yet we often fall into cycles of automaticity, including when we tend to things like:
- Email (especially when we pursue inbox zero);
- Social media, where we mindlessly scroll through updates;
- YouTube or Reddit, where we consume and react to whatever the algorithm feeds us;
- News websites, where we react to what’s happening around the world.
Sometimes we even tend to things like these to procrastinate on what’s truly important.
Once you look out for reactivity cycles in your day, you begin to see them everywhere. Distractions are all around us. Eliminating these distractions ahead of time is essential—especially when you consider how stimulating they can be.
Another tactic to try: set a chime on your phone that’ll go off every hour or two. When it goes off, reflect: What did you spend the last hour or two doing? Was it a productive use of your time, attention, and energy if you’re at work? If you’re at home, was the time meaningful and fruitful? Or, if you were vegging out, was it enjoyable and restful?
A lot of noise surrounds us these days. It’s never been more critical that we reflect: When do you tend to spend your time and attention on autopilot mode rather than deliberately?
The 40-minute question is a great place to start when weeding out distractions, becoming more productive, and spending less time procrastinating.