Your attention is a more limited resource than your time. Have you ever got to the end of a day when you’ve still got loads to do, you’re still motivated to do it and you have all the tools or information that you need, yet find that you’re just staring into space?
Under those circumstances, you’ll often tell yourself you ran out of time, but actually you just ran out of attention to give.
On other days, you might feel as if you’ve been in back-to-back meetings all day, and it’s 4pm before you even have a chance to get any desk time in, to finally look at emails, catch up on your reading and planning, and seize control. On these days, you might really feel that you’re short on time, not on attention.
Wrong again.
Your attention is a currency to be spent, and if you choose to give away as much as 80% of your attention to meetings, don’t be surprised if that final 20% of your attention amounts to little more than dealing with a few emails, followed by time spent staring into space and feeling overwhelmed.
But don’t fool yourself that it was anyone else’s fault – if you start to think about the time spent in meetings not just in terms of the time you lose, but also in terms of the attention and energy expended, you soon realise that complex and difficult meetings are a massive drain on your personal resources.
Pay attention. Attention is your currency. Time might be spent, but attention still needs to be paid. Look after this currency, as it’s the most valuable currency in the world.
DONE = TIME + THE RIGHT ATTENTION AND FOCUS
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How to Rebuild Your Attention Span and Focus – Lifehacker