“Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus.”

Alexander Graham Bell

The digital age could also be called the distracted age.  There are so many competing demands for our attention. When was the last time you were in a meeting, at a restaurant, or simply having a conversation with someone when you didn’t see some type of digital device in their hands?  I know I am guilty of being distracted on a daily basis.  The pull of the digital device is a black hole for creative energy and focus.

How much great work is sacrificed because 100% of our effort isn’t focused on the work at hand?  I know that when I make the decision to attend a meeting with only my paper notebook in hand that my focus and participation is so much better.  Yet it is so hard to do with regularity.  Study after study shows that multi-tasking is a myth, yet we all do it and think  that we are are the exception to the rule, that we are able to multi-task with great effect.

It isn’t possible to spend 100% of our time focused and distraction free, but what if we just started by deciding to do it only once per day on whatever the most important thing is for that day?

Today try to attend a meeting, have a conversation, or spend some focused work/thinking time without a digital distraction.  See how how it impacts your productivity.   Give it a try, how can it hurt?