“To produce at your peak level you need to work for extended periods with full concentration on a single task free from distraction.” Adam Grant is an organizational psychologist at The Wharton School of Business. From recent review of his work found in the New York Times article and a popular book, the concept of productivity is redefined. I truly admire someone who teaches from experience, practicing what they are asking us to do. From his own efforts to manage time to complete tasks this is what Adam Grant found:
“Often our productivity struggles are caused not by a lack of efficiency, but a lack of motivation. Productivity isn’t a virtue. It’s a means to an end. It’s only virtuous if the end is worthy. If productivity is your goal, you have to rely on willpower to push yourself to get a task done. If you pay attention to why you’re excited about the project and who will benefit from it, you’ll be naturally pulled into it by intrinsic motivation.”
It does take a certain level of self talk for me to begin a task that challenges me. Finding meaning in what we do gives value to our work. Attention management is a new skill to be developed that will help us focus solely on one task, complete it with tenacity, and take a few moments to breathe and relax before we move onto the next task!