Be a Post Stamp.
“Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you.” — Prov. 4:25
Please tell me you have seen the movie — Focus. Will Smith was at his brilliant best, although we can say that about most of his movies.
In the movie, Will Smith’s unscrupulous character, Nicky, was the leader of a well-organised team of con artists. The “gang” ran scams from pickpocketing to high stakes gambling. Some of the scams they pulled off were as amusing as they were scary. Amusing because the moves looked too simple to be true. And scary because I got the sense that the victims in the movies could be me in real life, in some busy downtown street. I do recommend that you go see it if you have not, and if the plot catches your fancy. Even if the plot is not your thing, allow me to give you the one powerful takeaway I got from the movie.
It was not the big gambling scam of millions of US Dollars that caught my eye, although it was my boggling. The biggest scam in the movie was a masterpiece that showed how the things that we see and hear around us program our subconscious mind and influence the decisions and choices that we make. Nicky and his crew had targeted a gambling addict, Liyuan Tse (played by B. D. Wong). They systematically programmed the number five in to Tse’s subconscious by feeding him with music that had loads of five in the lyrics and flashed signs with the number five around him for long enough leading up to the point where Nicky (Smith) would lure him into a bet. At the highest stakes, during a series of wild bets, Tse was asked to choose a number from the jerseys of the players on the field at an American football game. Nicky bet that the target will choose 55 because they had drilled the number five into his mind. Believe it or not, Tse picked the number 55 and lost millions of Dollars to Nicky. As fascinating as that was, it was not what moved me. It was the relatively less sophisticated, small pickpocketing gigs that got me thinking.
Early on in the movie, Will Smith’s character organised one operation to test and introduce a novice, Jess (played by Maggot Robbie) to the scheme and to recruit her into the team. The scene was a vibrant street carnival with colourful masquerades, and people of all shapes and sizes partying to music at full blast. It was during the Super Bowl week in New Orleans. The gang of thieves stole almost every piece of jewellery, gadget or other valuables that the carnival enthusiasts had on them: wristwatches, camera lenses, wallets, purses and sunglasses, to name a few. What was intriguing was how they did it. The teamwork was exquisite and the timing was to perfection. It was simply a lesson in execution. The trick looked simple. One person takes the victim’s focus away from the target item and gets him/her to focus on something abstract. For example, the distracter may ask the victim for direction on a map, taking his focus away from the camera hanging on his neck. With his focus firmly on giving directions, the pickpocketer moves in to detach the lens from the camera. The trick was the same — get the victim’s focus away from the part of his/her frame that is carrying the target item that they want to steal.
“All of life is the study of attention; where your attention goes, your life follows.” — Jiddu Krishnamurti
Reading that quote from chapter 17 of Eat That Frog, reminded me of those pickpocketing scams in the movie. I reflected on how we pickpocket ourselves of our productive time. We rob ourselves of time when will allow our focus to shift from an important task or assignment that we are working on to an email alert, a social media beep or a phone call. Like the pickpockets in the movie, our laptop and phone alerts move in to take our focus away from what we are working on while the messages we read and respond to steal our productivity and success. The technical jargon is “diffused attention.” Brian Tracy includes a thought-provoking excerpt from a piece in the Wall Street Journal.
Current research proves that continuously responding and reacting to e-mails, telephone calls and texts, and instant messages (IM) has a negative effect on your brain, shortening your attention span and making it difficult, if not impossible, for you to complete the tasks upon which your future and your success depend.
- Andrew Blackman, “The Inner Workings of the Executive Brain” Wall Street Journal, April 27, 2014
I was among the group of people who believe that we can multitask. I believed that I am at my best when I multitask, jumping from one unfinished task to another and back again. Sometimes, I will have three things on the “stove”. I will be reviewing a report; then I will leave it midway to sign a document that is brought in for my signature. And sometime later, I will rush into an unscheduled meeting. Before I know it, the day is gone. No wonder, I used to go home exhausted, come late to work the next morning and call myself a night owl. Now, I realised working without a deep focus on one task at a time is counterproductive, energy-sapping and can lead to stress. I could not finish reading a book because a new one easily distracts. I am endlessly flicking the channels on the TV remote switching between shows, movies and the news. I will drop one task at work to dive into a new one with the euphoria of a new challenge. What was my excuse? “I get bored easily; I need new challenges to keep me motivated.
If that resonates with you, then take it from me when I tell you that multitasking is a time waster. I have learned first hand how not to do it. Learning to fix my focus at one key task at a time is improving my performance, relieving me from stress, and making me feel a whole lot happier.
“Focused attention is the key to high performance.” — Brian Tracy
Over the years, I have picked up some good practices along the way through reading, learning from my mentors and through the good old fashioned experience. Here are five time-tested practices that I have adopted that help me improve my focus and hence, increase my productivity.
1) Keep a clean desk
“The cleaner and neater you organise your work area before you begin, the easier it will be for you to get started and keep going.” — Brian Tracy
The results of maintaining a clean desk will surprise you if you are not already maintaining one. It helps to keep laser-sharp focus and help you work longer. I wrote about this in the article below.
2) Have a morning routine
There is so much on this subject out there that I had to try it. I have had a morning routine for over three years now, and I have not looked back ever since. I transformed from a night owl to an early bird. My morning are now super productive with praying, learning and exercising. I can only suggest that you give it a try. And if you want a place to start, take a look at this list that is curated by Christopher Spadafora of top 10 articles about morning routines:
3) Have a night routine
You cannot have a successful morning routine if you do not have a night routine that prepares you for the next morning. Part of my night routine, includes catching up on my family time, writing, and getting up to date with social media. Then, I will prepare my to-do list and thoughts for the next day.
4) Say no
“People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are.” — Steve Jobs
I now take time to consider my options before saying yes. I am learning to delegate more. Saying no has been a key to improving my productivity. I wrote about it in the article below.
5) Keep a to-do list
Do it as part of your morning routine or do it the night before. Whatever you choose, just do it. For me, I mostly do it the night before as I take stock of the day done. I try to keep my list to seven things a day, making sure they align with my goals and objectives. I have no science for selecting number seven. It signifies completion and perfection.
While the above practices have helped me to keep my focus on executing one task or project at a time, I do not always follow it religiously. There are times when I write in the morning instead of at night. There are some mornings that I may not exercise or read at all. At other times, I get to prepare my to-do list in the morning and not the night before. But no matter what happens, I keep track of these top five practices. The goal is to make progress, not perfection.
It will not matter whatever route you take, steps that you decide to follow or system that you get to adopt. What matters is you making progress towards improving your ability to stay focused on one key task at a time.
Do not let your devices or technology distract you.
Shut off the noise and stay focused. In the words of Josh Billings:
“Be like a postage stamp — stick to one thing until you get there.”
PS: I will be happy to hear if you have a system that has helped you keep your focus that we can benefit from your experience. If not, I will appreciate it if you can share the results of your experience from trying some of my practices. Please leave your comments and thoughts below.
