Bite Size Comms

Many people set New Year’s resolutions at this time of the year. I don’t do that. However, in the past, I have sometimes struggled with managing a heavy workload. Some New Year’s resolutions are good productivity hacks. Here’s my snapshot of this year’s tips.

Attentional control is the art of channelling your mental resources fully into specific tasks, avoiding distractions. LSE Prof. Grace Lordan, writing in the FT, gave advice on avoiding pointless meetings, spending time on unimportant work, moaning about the weather or checking social media notifications. She suggested that you ask yourself two questions before doing a task. Firstly, do you care about the outcome? Secondly, can you control the outcome? If the answer to either is no, then say ‘no’ and don’t do the task.

Next tip, check messages only during designated time blocks. I used to check emails for an hour at the beginning and an hour near the end of the working day. Freeing myself to do important work without emails distracting me for the majority of the day. I also used the phrase ‘processing emails’ to put these messages in their rightful place as part of a production line. And ignore those who send a chaser email as to whether you received the original email or the passive-aggressive “I look forward to your immediate response”.

Having themed days is another tip from Prof. Lordan. For example, Monday for meetings, Tuesday for research, Thursday for wide thinking (that one is @Kiran’s practice – great idea). Multitasking is, in fact, bad for attention and cognitive focus. I’m hopeless at multitasking anyway!

The writer and former Guardian journalist Oliver Burkeman suggests that you do not have long to live. 4,000 weeks is the average life expectancy. And 52 weeks flew by last year! That sounds depressing. However, Burkeman suggests it is not. Acknowledging that time is finite allows one to find a sense of meaning. Don’t try to complete everything on your to-do list when you know that is impossible. Say ‘no’ to some things you want to do and not just to the things you do not want to do, prioritising the pursuits that grow you as a person. Be in touch with reality.

The Pomodoro is a time management technique that splits work into short intervals. For Elon Musk, these are five-minute blocks of time – a bit extreme! For others, maybe hour blocks. They can give shape to your day. Also, set a fixed number of hours for work. Don’t even read, let alone reply to messages after the end of your set work time. 

The author Margaret Hefferman suggests you should spend more time reading a book. One made of paper. Few people do nowadays. Bill Gates used to have a ‘think week’ twice a year in which he retreated to just read books and academic papers.

Last but not least, reflection is good for your well-being. I read an article by a cardiologist who, talking about good heart health, said he spent five minutes at the end of every day reflecting on what he had done that day. It cleared his mind, reduced stress and improved his well-being.

I’m going to dawdle off and make a cup of tea. Have a productive New Year!

[Image: Unsplash]