Focus

"It's not what you intend to do but what you actually do that counts."

That's something I came up with when I was with a group of folks and one person was trying to explain why he hadn't done what he promised to do for the other. The other person had that plastered-on smile that was trying to say "It's okay." when really the impact was, "Wow, I was counting on you and you let me down."

What's that other saying? "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions."

The reason I bring this up is because, we have "good intentions" as we begin a new year and then somehow they get sidetracked, derailed, lost in the shuffle, back-burnered, reprioritized...you get the drift. I've been thinking that maybe it's because that word -intentions - is plural. Perhaps we should start out in the singular...intention . Just one. Make it happen. Not just part of the way; all the way. Then, move onto a new intention. Do that one. Repeat. People don't really want or need to hear about what you intended to do...they care about what you actually did.  Can you imagine talking about your intentions in an interview? "Yes, well, I intended to be the #1 producer however I ended up 15th." or "I intended to lead the company in an ethical way however..." So to avoid that, here are 4 tips as we face the first year of a new decade:
 
   1. (psst! It's Task Switching not Multitasking) We've gotten bitten by the multitasker bug and really folks, brain science tells us we are kidding ourselves and shortchanging those we serve and the results we are supposed to deliver not to mention the quality of our communications and relationships. We delude ourselves into thinking we can do this and do it well when in fact our brains just aren't built to function that way. Oh yes, we can do one task after another and switch between 2 or more but we really cannot and do not do more than one at a time. When we divide our attention, I spoke about this a bit in last month's newsletter, we tax our limited working memory and prefrontal cortex. We are capable of the mere act of task swtiching. However, this kind of cerebral acrobatics costs us and eventually accumulates and backs up on us. Something's gotta give and it is the quality of our performance and results...you know, (ahem) the thing by which others will judge each of us.

   2. How to choose what to focus on. One word. Prioritize. Ask yourself what would produce the biggest lift if you were to focus on it and get it done? What's the cost of not focusing on that thing? What action that you have yet to take has the most riding on it? What will only get worse the more you delay closure? This is not to say that you silo yourself and not work on or think about anything else in your life. "I'm sorry boss, I can't fly to D.C. and make a presentation to the board since I'm focused right now on creating my business plan." This also doesn't mean you can't delegate to others or renegotiate deadlines when you have multiple competing priorities. What it does mean is that when you decide you are going to tackle a priority, you must become deliberate in the steps and actions you take and fierce about protecting your time to get your chosen task done.  Ask yourself: Who else or what else could help you get this done sooner than later and in a way that will bring it to successful closure? Look, there will always be interruptions that cannot be avoided however you can move the ball on this one and get higher quality output and closure on more of your to-do list if you focus.

   3. Remove distractions. This means physical and mental. Physical: noise, phone, IM pings and pings associated with incoming email, kids, dogs, your hunger or other bodily demands, shall we say. Mental: Intruding thoughts about having to shop for your spouse's birthday gift, the sale going on at the mall, the fight you had last night with your friend, sibling, parent or spouse, or your upcoming review, speach, etc. You must develop a discipline around your mental focusing ability. create an environment in which you will not be disturbed either until a certain amount of time passes, you get to a certain point (milestone), you run into a roadblock that you can't get through, whatever. But you do have to set a timeframe to complete the entire task. Invest in getting this down and it will pay you dividends.

Let me say one thing about focus: it does not exclude being able to be creative, innovative or spontaneous. Let me tell you why from a personal standpoint and share something I learned as it relates to my operating style: I can be easily distracted by my thoughts. Oh, can I idea-generate and imagine...at any time during the day while at my desk or on a plane, etc. People always wonder, "How do you come up with this stuff, Karla?" Well this is how. There can be a price though. There are always hundreds of thoughts coursing through the superhighway of my mind and that is not unique to me. All humans have thousands of synapses firing all the time. The difference is that people like me, give them air time when they pop up and get noisy, insisting on getting some attention. If it's a cool idea or information I've run across while surfing, I'm doomed...or I should say whatever I was working on is.

However, here's what's happened over the last several years. I realized that by focusing and bringing in a more disciplined approach to the way I operate, it actually allows me to be spontaneous, organic, innovative and creative and not lose my focus or my point. By preparing and being thorough in my research and staying on track, I end up with more free time to do the things I like to do like hang out at TED.com and imagine how I can use what I'm learning there to serve my clients and my network. It's deliberative on my part. I actually will catch myself disengaging from a task because something either came into my head or I saw something that interested me and I will say out loud, "Nope. Focus, Karla." and that will bring me back. I always have many things going on at any given moment like most people. By developing a discipline of mind I can finish more of them and free up  more time as well as deliver the quality I want to be known for. Like I've said in the past about the hardwiring in our brain...we can't erase the hardwiring that's there but we can build new wiring that will allow our thinking to disrupt the pathways that don't work for us. We can catch ourselves and redirect our thinking and therefore our actions that lead us in a better direction. It won't happen overnight but stick with it and it will become a new habit of mind.

   4. Learn how to say No. I can hear you now. "How can I say no to my boss?" and about 30 other How can I's. You have trouble saying no to the important requests because little by little we said Yes to requests that you really didn't have to and it filled up your available time. Now you're stuck. There are people who do this and have a very rough time distinguishing what to take on and what to defer or turn down. You can say, "I'd love to do that for you if you're willing to give me until...(name the date that gives you time...more than you need.)"  If the person can't wait that long, refer them to someone else who may have capacity. Or ask them to work on the task further and then come back so you don't have as much to do on it. (Note: By doing this you may find they end up doing the whole thing! While you may say that this is a bit sneaky,  I encourage you to think of it as helping them become better thinkers and able to solve their own challenges. Oftentimes, that is the actual outcome of saying No.) There's a quote: "No one has enough time; but everyone has all the time they're going to get." Think about what you say Yes to.

So I know all of you will say you have your process for getting things done and my response is to ask you, "How's it working for you?" More importantly, how is it working for the people you serve? The people who matter to you? And how would you know if it was? Really, this is about making highest and best use of what being disciplined and focused as well as what being open and go with the flow can do for us when we blend them or use them at the right times. Last month I spoke about what happens when we flip out on the extreme of one side or another of a given behavior. We are out of the action. So, yes, sometimes, the way to re-establish a fresh focus is to leave it and do something else. When you get back to whatever "it" is for you, though, focus and finish. This way, more often than not, you won't find yourself explaining why you didn't get something done ...even though you intended to.


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