There’s no better feeling than going to bed feeling accomplished. Knowing that you took steps toward your goal. It gives you a positive expectancy for the future.
It’s the opposite feeling of uncertainty about the path your own or of not feeling connected to your work.
Avoid The Cognitive Switch Penalty
So much of productivity is about the energy we bring to the day.
When we know what needs to get done, we tend to have the energy to complete what needs to get done.
It’s easier to continue firing when you know what you’re aiming at and why.
It’s when we attempt to aim at multiple targets with multiple guns that we tend to struggle with productivity.
Eventually, our productivity trigger begins to fatigue.
It’s called the cognitive-switch penalty.
It happens when you try to multi-task or are interrupted.
Common Cognitive-Switch Penalties
Cognitive switch penalties are real, and their insidious. You have to think of each time you’re forced to switch your focus from one task to another as a point deducted from your day.
Just like willpower. It’s a finite resource that gets depleted as the day goes own.
Common cognitive-switches like:
- Email notifications
- Device notifications
- Checking social media
- Meetings
- Background noise
Can be avoided with the right strategy, and it starts with setting clear boundaried.
We live in a world of distraction. Media is in the business of vying for our attention at almost every corner of our lives.
If you want to achieve the level of productivity that leads to deep work, you have to set clear boundaries.
Here’s the reality. When the day is done, the day is gone. We’ll never get it back. We have to guard our focused attention as if our lives depend on it.
How To Avoid The Cognitive-Switch Penalty
Set your device notifications to OFF. Delete your social media accounts on your phone if you have to.
Schedule and batch your meeting on the same day.
Communicate with people when you’re in process of deep work to avoid interruptions.
Wear ear-plugs if you find that background noise is taking away from your focus. You’d be surprised how effective this works.
At the end of the day, if you want to do work that matters, you have to prioritize cutting distractions to allow space for your focus to expand.
How you go about doing that will be different for you compared to others.
You will fail at it. It may even be a constant struggle, and that’s ok.
What matters is you keep establishing the boundary until it becomes a habit & core value.
If it’s a priority, you’ll find a way. If it’s not, you’ll find an excuse.