You are bombarded with distractions every day.

If you lack a clear sense of your mission, then the most urgent message becomes the focus of attention.

It can be helpful to articulate your mission to yourself every day.

Ignoring is not necessary a bad thing to do.

You may not hear much about the crisis called “distracted living”.

This is where you miss out on much of your life because you generally aren’t paying attention – or your attention is so torn in many directions that you really don’t focus on anything.

We know that distractions can make learning harder, driving more dangerous and life less enjoyable.

Leaders are responsive. But being too responsive may reduce effectiveness. Effective leaders have roadmaps for choosing what to ignore.

In the absence a roadmap, the most urgent request or the loudest complaint becomes the center of attention . This post discusses how to ignore urgent but not important information.

“Ignore” Is Not Necessarily Negative.

Disclaimer: The information on this POST is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional advice. The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. All content, including text, graphics, images and information, contained on or available through this article is for general information purposes / educational purposes only, and to ensure discussion or debate.

Thank you ….In the real world, tracking large objects is more difficult than tracking small objects because background movement like trees rustling in the wind must be ignored.

The more subjects learned to avoid distraction the higher their IQ scores. The more they were easily distracted, the lower the IQ.

In other words, the ability to ignore distractions may be a critical component of intelligence.

How to Manage Distractions

What’s your personal mission?

You may work for a mission-driven organization, but is that your life mission?

The physicality of death destroys us. The idea of death liberates us.

In other words, by focusing on the inevitability of death, you become sensitive to avoiding wasting precious time. Focus on your life mission or missions in the time you have remaining.

Suggestion: Articulate to yourself your life’s mission every morning after you wake up and before your feet touch the ground. Let the articulation of your mission officially begin your day.

For example, one of my friend is divorced  and has visiting rights to spend weekends with his daughter Manju.

He has stated that his mission is to be the “best father I can be to Manju.”

He recites his mission every morning upon waking and prior to leaving his bed.

This crisp focus on mission helps him be sensitive to the many daily distractions that take him away from his mission. He has used the mission to justify not going on business trips and insisting that meetings be online.

Do you want to add a word or two?….

When you create a habit of articulating your mission every day, you force yourself to face your personal north star.

Fail to articulate your mission and the urgency of others becomes your center of attention.

Honor Your Span of Attention

You have probably had the experience of being so engrossed in a book, movie, or work project that time seemed to vanish.

But what about the “typical” activities of life that are less engrossing?

All of us have attention spans. We have met scientists with attention spans of 90 minutes. I have worked with CEOs of large companies with attention spans of 20 minutes.

Your Comments……

Forcing yourself to continue working beyond your optimal attention span means triggering the Law of Diminishing Returns: every additional minute of attention produces less than a minute of real value.

Honor your attention span by defining projects in terms of time spent rather than completion dates.

Use the stopwatch on your mobile device to honor your attention span.

For example, I have an attention span of 45 minutes.

I have developed a 45-15 routine.

Start a project. When the buzzer rings 45 minutes later, spend 15 minutes exercising, chatting with colleagues, reading the newspaper, exercising, and etcetera. Return to the project for another 45-minute chunk and repeat.

Change Your Attitude towards the Word “Ignore”

How would you feel if you sent us an email and I responded by writing, “We have chosen to ignore your request?”

How would you feel if you sent the same email and we responded by writing, “We’ve got to focus on a client project? We are not forgetting your request. We expect to get back to you within 72 hours.”

If your reaction is more positive with the second example, remember the dictionary definition of the word “ignore”:

Intentional disregard for now. Instead of thinking, “It would be rude of me to ignore this request,” reframe your thinking to say, “Given my mission, I am not going to focus on this message at this time.

I can focus on it later. Mission first.”

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