A Different Take on Time Management: Attention Management

I find myself most productive when a deadline is fast approaching. When I have time on my hands, I feel like relaxing instead of getting other work done and preventing a buildup of to-dos. However, this approach isn’t the best for me. While I usually manage to get everything done, I also cause myself unnecessary stress and grief. You would think I’d learn my lesson by now, yet like many other people who follow a similar suit to me, I haven’t.

Dr. Elisha Goldstein, a Clinical Psychologist, has a blog posting that briefly touches on time management and its importance, but focuses more on attention management (J.O.B: It’s About Attention Management, Not Time Management). I found her post interesting because after reading it, I saw attention management as something that can compliment time management. Explained in her blog are four areas that our mind can be in. Like a two by two matrix, each area is a combination of importance and urgency. I drew a matrix of the attention zone model that she describes so you can see:

When we are able to realize which zone we are in and increase our productivity, we will benefit. By managing our attention, we are able to manage and focus other things such as time, which is why I believe they are compliments. Dr. Goldstein’s blog sites, “The American Psychological Association put out a report saying, the inability to focus for even 10 minutes on any one thing at a time may be costing you 20 to 40 percent in terms of efficiency and productivity.” Ten minutes is not a lot of time out of an eight hour work day. If this is true, it cannot be good for companies when their employees are not performing at their maximum capacities. Maintaining focus allows you to allocate your time more wisely. So, do as the good doctor says because “when we learn how to refocus our attention on what is most important, we become more effective, less stressed, and seem to have more time.”