I’d better start this week by saying something about the General Election. Clearly the… Sorry, just wait a second, I’ve got an e-mail. As I was saying, clearly the pundits and the… Hang on, there’s a text message. Sorry. That’s better, I’ve replied. Where was I? Clearly the pundits and the pollsters got it… Ah, damn it. Someone’s just tweeted me. Wait a second while I reply. Won’t be a minute…
At which point you quite rightly conclude the blog isn’t going anywhere this week and there must be something better to read while you eat your Friday lunchtime cheese and tomato.
But isn’t that exactly what modern business has become? An endless stream of interruptions and distractions? Could it be that technology – and its attendant e-mails, texts and social media messages – is making us less, rather than more, productive?
As my Grandpa used to say, “Keep your mind on the job, Suzanne.” But these days that’s increasingly difficult. I was discussing the problem with a friend of mine: he employs a dozen young men. “Transfer deadline day,” he muttered through clenched teeth. “They may as well make it a national holiday…” (For the uninitiated, transfer deadline day is the last day on which football teams can sign or sell players.)
…And the evidence isn’t just anecdotal. In 2004 researchers from the University of California followed US information workers with a stopwatch. “We found they switched their attention every three minutes,” reported Professor Gloria Mark. The team went back in 2012 and found that the average had fallen to one minute, 15 seconds. And by 2014 it was 59.5 seconds.
Just about the first technique I ever learned for managing my time was to do the most important thing on your list and keep doing it until you’d finished. At which point you moved onto number two… But that seems to be impossible today, as the evidence from California shows.
The question is, what can employers do?
Not worry, is clearly the answer: according to one Canadian study there is a significant link between treadmill desks and increased concentration and attention to detail. That’s alright then. Problem solved. I’ll just buy all 15 members of the Castle team a treadmill desk at £3,000 a time and the problem’s solved…
Back in the real world employers clearly need to take some action and, as I’ve mentioned in a previous post, the first place to start is with your employment policies. Online shopping, Facebook and Twitter are not a mandatory part of the working day and your terms of employment need to spell that out very clearly. If you need any help with this, don’t hesitate to get in touch with Nicky at Castle HR.
But maybe the answer to keeping your team focused doesn’t lie in policies and prohibitions. There’s increasing evidence that the working environment can play a key part – particularly the background noise. And in bad news for the joiners, plasterers and builders of Great Britain, the first thing that should go is the radio. According to research on the site www.focusatwill.com even hearing a favourite tune for a small amount of time will cause you to lose focus and concentration. Apparently instruments that sound like a human voice can also be distracting – so out go tracks featuring cellos, saxophones, and synthesisers.
Focusatwill – or Focus@Will according to the logo – say that 66% of the workforce can benefit from the right ambient noise. They claim it blends into the background so successfully that the listeners are unaware of it – but that their levels of focus and concentration are improved.
Well, on your behalf I’ve been trying it out on the 30 day free trial Focus@Will offer. I started this post listening to a baroque piano: Bach’s Prelude in F minor. After that I tried the background noise of a creative café. And I’m finishing it to the sound of waves breaking on a tropical beach.
The winner so far? The waves: but try it for yourself and see what works for you. One thing’s for certain; social media’s ability to distract us is only going to increase. Writing your blog on a desert island isn’t a bad way of fighting back…
