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“The ability to focus attention on important things is a
defining characteristic of intelligence.”
- Robert J. Shiller, Irrational Exuberance
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Do you start every day by working on your most important project?
This is an essential habit of the most productive people I know.
Many of us start with a warm-up period that sometimes morphs into time-wasting. We check our email, peruse the news, read a few favorite blogs and, before we know it, the hour we planned to use writing has meandered into procrastination.
Consistent focus on our priorities is the way to make significant progress on our work (and in other areas of our life as well).
This is why the vast majority of novelists and other professional writers begin each day by writing for a set period of time. What would happen if you began each weekday morning with an hour of focused attention on your research and writing? The cumulative result would be many publications, or a finished dissertation, I’ll wager.
Maintaining focus – on both a macro and micro level – is one of my greatest personal challenges. I’m the type of person who opens my email program with the intention of sending an important message, gets distracted with new notes in my in-box, answers a few requests, , and then logs off having forgotten to write the message I had logged on to send. Does this ever happen to you?
My most productive days are those when I first review and update my “to do” list, plan which steps I’ll take and when, avoid unimportant detours, and keep my priorities in focus. It always surprises me how much I can accomplish when I apply my energy to my chosen task.
Do you need to focus your attention more consciously?
Let’s try, this week, to keep our wandering eyes on the academic ball. How far will we hit if we do?
(By the way, I wrote this message Saturday morning before I did anything but sip my coffee.)
What are you going to focus on this week?
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