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Digital Distractions and Finding Focus

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We need to find time for focus to do our best work.

Ironically some of the tools we use to make us more productive are designed to steal focus. Distraction is the default setting.

Some of this challenge relates to work norms. I love how Jeff Maurer joked about the “always on” expectations of Slack:

“You CAN mute notifications: Just go to ‘settings’ > ‘notifications” > ‘never get promoted’, and turn the slider to ‘on’.”

But much of it is just human nature. We’re hardwired to seek distractions. Even before the launch of the iPhone, a 2005 University of California study on the hazards of fragmented work found that the average person works on three minutes at a time before getting distracted from a task by something else. Once distracted, they found it can take an average of 23 minutes to get back to that task.

And even though iPhone now has a feature called Focus Mode that temporarily mutes notifications, the temptation for distraction is high. In the US, the average person checks their phone 205 times a day (once every four-and-a-half waking minutes), according to a survey by Reviews.org.

I struggle with this in my creative work. I found that rituals help. I schedule a 90-minute block of uninterrupted device-free time early every morning for what Cal Newport calls “deep work.” I treat it like exercise. It’s by far the most productive time of my day.

I like how writer and artist Austin Kleon re-imagined “Airplane Mode” as an opportunity to turn off technology anytime we want to find that kind of focus. As he wrote in his book, Keep Going:

“Airplane mode can be a way of life…

“You don’t need to be on a plane to practice airplane mode: Pop in some cheap earplugs and switch your phone or tablet to airplane mode, and you can transform any mundane commute or stretch of captive time into an opportunity to reconnect with yourself and your work.”

New Cartoon Collaboration

This is the first cartoon from a new collaboration with Confluence by Atlassian on how their product helps set knowledge free.

Over the next 7 weeks, we're going to parody some of the workplace pain points that we've all experienced but Confluence can help solve.

Cartoon from the archives

Here’s a cartoon I drew about device distractions back in 2011:

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Thank you for all of your support (and cartoon material)!

-Tom

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About Marketoonist

Marketoonist is the thought bubble of me, Tom Fishburne. I first started drawing cartoons as a student in the Harvard Business School newspaper (not quite as well-known for humor as the Lampoon) and later started this newsletter from a General Mills cubicle in 2002. The cartoons have followed my career ever since. I poke fun at the ever-changing world of marketing and business because I believe that laughing at ourselves can help us do our best work.