WITH THE INCREASING PERFECTION of our ultra-connected, megabit-speed, everywhere-always, on-demand society, many of us are feeling our attention spans breaking into ever smaller fragments.
Life and work have changed — first gradually, but now with increasing speed. It’s changed from mountain trek (ups and downs, peaks and valleys) into slalom run (exciting, fast, but as the run goes on, exhausting and over-stimulating and destined to end in a painful crash).
Here’s what it feels like:
You are the center of the universe, and the universe has just received the memo. Rest is what happens after you close the last e-mail. Quiet is a two-hour drive away. Deep thought feels like too far to dig.
What I’m telling you, and telling myself as much as I’m telling you … is slow down. Go deeper. Life is too important to slalom through it.
Make a block of time (one to three hours) every day for big, long-term “extra mile”-type projects. And remember: just because e-mail and other online communications are “always on,” that doesn’t mean you have to be. Redefine the barriers between your work and the rest of your life. Prune away the “this-that” time that’s not quite working, not quite resting, and as such is neither productive nor restful.
Do it, and you’ll be better in both areas — your life and your work.
See if I walk my own talk by checking out my new blog on our redesigned website.
Wishing you the very best business
David Squires
Associate Publisher
P.S. Congratulations to our new baby, INDESIGN magazine, for taking third place in FOLIO: magazine’s Eddy Awards in the category of Best Business-to-Business Retail Publication.