Are you easily distracted?

As a 12 year old boy I had a part time job selling door to door stickers for letter boxes. The stickers said "No Junk Mail". Unfortunately as soon as they got wet they fell off the letter box. That's not the point. The point is even though we have spam filters set up on our pcs an enormous amount of junk still makes it through. This junk then distracts you from getting on with what you really need to be getting on with.

I am currently reading one of the best books I have read this year called "Hamlets BlackBerry" by William Powers. It is a great read on how the digital age is impacting the way we interact, think and prioritise. Power’s challenges you to think about the point in spending so much "screen time" every day. Could it be an addiction? Is it a distraction from focusing on what is really important to you and your business?

You might want to buy the book for your partner. When they are too busy updating their Facebook status to read it you can always borrow it.

The best leaders I work with always have clarity on their focus. They have developed strategies for dealing with distractions. They know what they want to do and when they want to do it.

There are a million opportunities to become distracted every day, both in your professional life and in your personal life.

How you plan and prioritise your time says a lot about how effective you will be as a leader. Spontaneity and going with the flow is important, but how often and at what price? I like an 80 – 20 rule for most of my working weeks. 80% is planned and helps me to achieve what I need to do for the growth of NRG Solutions. 20% of the time I need to be nimble and able to make decisions quickly, reacting to the things that come way. Poor leaders have their percentages around the other way.

Do you have a technology plan for 2011?

Do you think you need one? Are you happy to go with the flow and just see what appears in your inbox each day?

How you manage your technology and "screen time" could just be the key to making 2011 a career best year for you.

Posted in Leadership; Tagged Leadership; Posted 15 February 2011 by Steve Herzberg