Your Focal Mass Index

As the saying goes, you need to "stave your distractions and feed your focus" to achieve what really matters.

I am in full agreement ... up to the point where we may need to deliberately distract ourselves to stop burning ourselves out. You don't want to increase your FMI (Focal Mass Index) to the point where you are in the unhealthy range. Continuing to work on until we break is crazy - but something I am observing in clients and organisations.

And, equally, you don't want to get sucked into the black hole of the distraction that is lurking around many corners of our work-a-day world.

So, be conscious of the time you are happy to goof around - because we are human, need some fun and are giving our brains time to process and recharge - and he time you are happy to be diligently focused.

One way not to get sucked into unhealthy FMI range is to set an upper bound which James Clear describes in his book, Atomic Habits. For example,

“I want to make at least 10 sales calls today, but not more than 20.”

“I want to write at least 500 words today, but not more than 1,500.”

And this can work for distraction as well.

“I want to watch that series on telly, but not more than 2 episodes.”

“I want to search the internet for cats doing funny things, but for not more than 10 minutes.”

This way we can continue to achieve in a sustainable way and have time for great focused work and some distractions.

#doonethingdeep #focus #distraction