Adjacent chaos

Sitting in the airport as I write this, and I see someone intently writing a document on their laptop, in spite of a huge amount of noise and commotion about a foot away. This ability to focus on a specific task is powerful, and most of us experience it fairly regularly ("tuning out the world" and focusing on a task).

But what we can all do on a task basis is much harder to achieve on a day's basis. How many times do you get sucked into the chaos around you at home or at work?

In both situations (laser focus on a task, and getting caught up in adjacent chaos), time can fly by. I suppose the difference is how you feel at the end.

Goals, action lists, and priorities are your best friends in staying focused but the real challenge is self-discipline: do you have the force of will to stick to your plans?

I find it helps to have a "workout buddy" to help monitor progress against the goals you are trying to keep in the foreground. What about you? What techniques have you developed to keep yourself from being sucked into the chaos around you at work?

-- Post From My iPhone

Comments

[J]

One of the key aspects of a valuable goal is its public nature. If you have a goal, and you keep it to yourself, then cheating yourself (redefining success) is so easy that the goal need not exist in the first place. Some folks have the ability to meet difficult goals without being accountable for success to others, however most of us do not.

Being accountable to the people with which you share the goal one imporant step to acheiving it.

Another is being able to compartmentalize and budget. Realize that the time and effort needed to achieve the goal must exist independently of other calls for the same resources. It's basic economics. Reaching a goal will cost X. X is a percentage of my total available time, attention, and effort represented by A. If there is another call that demands a percentage of A, I have to choose. Either something else that comprises A suffers, or X suffers. Supply and demand :).

The key, I've found, is making certain that each entity that requires a slice of the total resource pie is prioritized, and that changes in priority are viewed as opportunity cost rather than an increase in the amount of available resources.

A final component is prioritizing chaos. Chaos is always and will always be there. Is it noise, or is it signal? Do your priorities really need to change? Does the chaos require a slice of A right now, or can it wait? If you can see and sort chaos properly, it ceases to be chaos... It's simply another entry into the backlog from which you define the next set of goals.

[Dwayne Melancon]

Wow, J - thank you for the great perspective on this. I agree with your thinking, and especially with the need to re-evaluate what is most needed / appropriate based on changes in circumstances.

I also love the very idea of "prioritizing chaos." Some great visuals came to mind - I wish I were an artist so I could draw them!

[Nancy]

If you are really committed and love your work, its much easier to stay on track. I used to get sucked into the chaos at work when I didn't like my job.... I was more of a people person than a report person.... Today, very few things can distract me.

Which, btw, you might be interested in. A group of personal development specialists/coaches/authors has put together a website of gifts for you. http://bit.ly/jOzShTake a look at the site: Gifts'r Free!

http://www.wealthattractiongiveaway.com/vip/118(Take a look at the site. Gifts'r free.)

Thanks,Nancy

[kare anderson]

Dwayne, elaborating on your workout buddy -like an accountability buddy I have two and found them -and the ritual we stick to most helpful in making progress soI'll share some of them.

In both cases, the individualand I have similar drive/passion about succeeding re our projects,some knowledge/experience about the nature of each other's work,complementary talents and an agreement to meet weekly by skype for a 30-minutes check-in and to send each other end-of-day 1-liners re the most important thing we accomplished towards our goal

Your ability to be pithy and to offer a new slant on news-you-can use continues to make your blog so relevant - thank you!

[Dwayne Melancon]

Thanks for the compliment, Kare - and thanks for the additional color about accountability buddies. That is a great approach to keep yourself on track, as well as tap into the strengths other folks have.