An autopilot mode and Better to switch off.
- Autopilot mode enables us to keep up with the demands of our life.
- While failing into autopilot mode can help us to keep up the pace of work and life, attention is the most limited and constrained resource. The more we can manage our attention with intention, the more focused, productive, and creative we become.
- We have to pay attention on : Detecting your attention toward the most important object of your choosing -and sustaining that attention – is the most consequential decision we will make throughout the day. Thats why switching off the autopilot mode is difficult.
There are two main criteria to consider when categorizing what to focus on:
- Whether a task is productive ( accomplying)
- Or whether a task is attractive (fun to do) or unattractive (boring, difficult, etc…)
Four types of tasks:
| Non Attractive | Attractive | |
| Productive | Necessory work | Purposefull work |
| UnProductive | UnNecessory work | Distracting work |
Necessory Work : includes tasks that are unattractive yet productive. Ex. Team meetings and calls. we usually have to push ourselves to do such task.
Unnecessory work : includes tasks that are both unproductive and unattractive. Ex. rearranging papers on desk or files on the computers. Spending time on such tasks keeps us busy but such busyness is just an active form of the laziness where it doesn’t lead to accomplishing anything.
Distracting Work: includes stimulating, unproductive task and this is black hole of productivity. Ex. Social media, news websites, water-cooler chats, whats-app chats, and every other form of low return distractions. These are fun but generally be indulged in small doses. Better you managing your attention.
Purposeful Work: the productive sweet spot. These are where we put on earth to do, the task with which we make the largest impact. These depends on what is your profession, like for researcher this might be a designing and running studies, for an actor this would be a rehase and perform. My important task in this categories are focus on current project deadline and completion, reading books, preparing certificate exams. In personal life , my task are: giving time to my kids, playing with them.
Actions:
Davide up your work tasks based on the four categories in the above grid.
This will give you incredible awareness of what is actually important in your work.