As an entrepreneur, you have a lot on your plate. Staying focused can be tough with a constant stream of employees, clients, emails, and phone calls demanding your attention. Amid the noise, understanding your brain’s limitations and working around them can improve your focus and increase your productivity.
Our brains are finely attuned to distraction, so today's digital environment makes it especially hard to focus. "Distractions signal that something has changed, " says David Rock, co-founder of the NeuroLeadership Institute and author of Your Brain at Work (HarperCollins, 2009). "A distraction is an alert says, 'Orient your attention here now; this could be dangerous.'" The brain's reaction is automatic and virtually unstoppable.
While multitasking is an important skill, it also has a downside. "It reduces our intelligence, literally dropping our IQ, " Rock says. "We make mistakes, miss subtle cues, fly off the handle when we shouldn't, or spell things wrong."
To make matters worse, distraction feels great. "Your brain's reward circuit lights up when you multitask, ” Rock says, meaning that you get an emotional high when you're doing a lot at once.
Ultimately, the goal is not constant focus, but a short period of distraction-free time every day. "Twenty minutes a day of deep focus could be transformative, " Rock says.
Try these three tips to help you become more focused and productive:
1. Do creative work first. Typically, we do mindless work first and build up to the toughest tasks. That drains your energy and lowers your focus. "An hour into doing your work, you've got a lot less capacity than (at the beginning), " Rock says. "Every decision we make tires the brain."
In order to focus effectively, reverse the order. Check off the tasks that require creativity or concentration first thing in the morning, and then move on to easier work, like deleting emails or scheduling meetings, later in the day.
2. Allocate your time deliberately. By studying thousands of people, Rock found that we are truly focused for an average of only six hours per week. "You want to be really diligent with what you put into those hours, " he says.
Most people focus best in the morning or late at night, and Rock's studies show that 90 percent of people do their best thinking outside the office. Notice where and when you focus best, then allocate your toughest tasks for those moments.
When multitasking is the norm, your brain quickly adapts. You lose the ability to focus as distraction becomes a habit. "We've trained our brains to be unfocused, " Rock says.
Practice concentration by turning off all distractions and committing your attention to a single task. Start small, maybe five minutes per day, and work up to larger chunks of time. If you find your mind wandering, just return to the task at hand. "It’s just like getting fit, " Rock says. "You have to build the muscle to be focused."
Read more stories about: Productivity, Focus, Multitasking
我们该如何来训练大脑，让我们保持专注，来集中精力完成我们日常工作中的事情呢？本文为你提炼答案……
作为企业家，你有许多事务得处理。由于员工、顾客、邮件和电话要求你的注意力，因此，保持专注就变得很难。在这些嘈杂声中，了解你大脑局限性，并渐渐转到这上面，能够提高你的注意力和提供生产力。
我们大脑能够很好地协调干扰，因此，今天的数字环境让人们特别难集中注意力。“干扰信号已经发生变化，”戴维·罗克（David Rock），NeroLeadership Insitute联合创始人和《工作中的大脑》（哈珀·柯林斯，2009）一书的作者。“干扰信号是一种提醒：‘现在转移你的注意力到这里；这将很危险。’”大脑的反应是自动的而且几乎不可阻挡。
虽然多任务处理是重要技巧，也有缺点。“这会降低我们的智力，字面上说就是降低我们的智商，”罗克说。“我们犯错，错失些微妙暗示，不应发怒时却勃然大怒或者是拼写错某些事情。”
更糟糕的是，分心感觉棒极了。“当你多任务处理时，你的大脑如同打开电路非常活跃，”罗克说，意味着当你立刻做很多事情时，你获得高情商。
最终，我们的目标不是固定的专注，而是每天有短时间的自由分心时间。“每天20分钟的深沉专注能带来转化，”罗克说。
试试这能助你更专注和高效的3个技巧吧：
1.首先做创造性工作。
很典型的事实，我们通常首先做不用动脑筋的工作，然后做最艰难的任务。那会损耗你的脑力，降低你的注意力。“工作一小时，你的能力就比最初时下降了，”罗克说。“我们做的每个决定，都会让我们大脑疲劳。”
为了有效地专注，改变工作顺序。在早晨核查第一件需要创造力和注意力的任务，然后在当天晚些时候转移到稍容易的工作，比如删邮件或安排会议之类的。
2.谨慎地分配时间
通过对成千上万人的研究，罗克发现我们每天平均只有6小时是在真正集中精力。“你应在这些时间力真正地努力工作，”他说。
大部分人在早上或深夜能最好地集中精神，而且罗克的研究表明90%的人尽量想些办公室外的事情。观察在哪儿和什么时候你能集中精神，然后在那些时间里分配你最艰难的工作任务。
3.如训练肌肉样训练大脑
当多任务处理习以为常，你的大脑就能快速适应。当分心成为习惯，你就会失去专注的能力。“我们已经训练我们大脑不去专注的能力了，”罗克说。
通过排除所有干扰，训练聚神，把精力集中在单一任务上。从小做起，也许每天就5分钟，然后逐渐增加到大量时间。如果你发现你心不在焉，就回到手头上的工作任务。“就像锻炼身体一样，”罗克说。“你需要集中训练肌肉。”
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