Time management is a great theory. It helps us to get more organized, to set priorities, and to increase our productivity. Except for when it does not work…

1. Establish your “flow” times.

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Script: 5 minutes of your life.

You are sitting at your desk trying to concentrate on your project.

“I really need to get it done by the end of the day… Let’s see… What are the numbers for the last month?… Hold on. Is that a new email? It might be from Terry.”

You open the email box…
“No that’s just spam. Why would I want to buy a Rolex watch?! … Where was I? Numbers for the last month… God, who is writing to me on Facebook? I’ll just say I’m busy… Finally!… Numbers for the last month should be right here… Great!”

Janice from her desk: “Oh my God! Look at that! Hold on! I’ll send it to you!”

You accepting an image file… waiting for it to download… opening it. It is a picture of a KITTEN!

You to Janice, “It’s cute!” while thinking, “Why in the world would she send me a picture of a cat?! I really don’t have time for this! Where was I? Right… Numbers for the past month…”

Distractions can be very annoying, especially when you are trying to get some work done. They are like thousands of midges swarming around you and following you everywhere you go, making it impossible for you to focus on important tasks.

Just by eliminating those daily distractions alone you will instantly improve your focus, double your productivity and avoid unnecessary stress.

Here is how to do it:

1. Block out the noise. Our brain actually starts to deal with distractions the day we are born. A large portion of the incoming information is blocked to prevent us from feeling overwhelmed. The two main senses that we rely on the most are vision and hearing.

The results of much psychological research show us that we mainly get distracted by visual stimuli as well as unwanted acoustic information. The solution to the distraction problem is genial, because it is so simple – get ear plugs or put on a pair of headphones without listening to any music. When you block one of the senses, the other senses become heightened. But it also helps to improve your focus.

2. Avoid visual stimulation. It has been shown that we only block out about 20% of what comes in through our eyes. This is why we need to keep all visual distractions to a minimum. Most of us do not even notice that our eyes are repeatedly turning to email pop-ups, flashing banners, clutter around our desk, tens of icons on our desktop or the person sitting in front of us.

Therefore, turn off your IM, Twitter, Facebook, email notifications. Remove all the clutter from your desk and your desktop. If you work in an open-plan office, find a spot where you will not be directly facing someone. At home just close the door (lock it if you can) and inform your family members that you will be busy working for about an hour.

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Do you remember the plot of the great book “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” written by Lewis Carroll?

The adventure starts when Alice encounters a strange White Rabbit, who takes a watch out of his waistcoat pocket and mutters, “Oh my fur and whiskers! I’m late, I’m late I’m late!”

Curious, because she cannot understand what the rabbit could possibly be late for, Alice tries to stop him. But the White Rabbit ignores her, “No time to say hello, goodbye! I’m late, I’m late, I’m late!” Alice sprints after him and asks him to wait, but the White Rabbit responds, “No, no, no, no, no, no, no, I’m overdue. I’m really in a stew. No time to say goodbye, hello! I’m late, I’m late, I’m late!”

As the story goes on, Alice meets the White Rabbit several times, but the question WHERE he was running late to, has never been answered.

Similar, for many of us “I’m late, I’m busy, I don’t have time” have turned into a life mantra. We are always in a hurry. Always stressed out about not being able to meet upcoming deadlines. Always busy running somewhere, doing something, meeting someone.

We learn time management tricks so we can “squeeze” the maximum out of every second and still feel a chronic lack of time. We learn to multitask, because we want to get more things done and then we unlearn multi-tasking, because we realize that our focus and productivity is suffering. We bury ourselves under multiple obligations, numerous must-do tasks and unresolved problems until we can no longer see the light.

This is what I call “the White Rabbit syndrome”.

When you feel that you are “in a stew”, all you do is react and get carried away by it. Your thoughts are focused on avoiding danger. You have no time to think WHY and WHERE you are going.

How to overcome the White Rabbit syndrome?

1. Prioritize. I am sure that you have heard this advice before. So have I. Many-many times. And yet once in a while I find myself stressing over something that will not matter in a week’s time or getting distracted by some insignificant problem. Identifying your priorities is a crucial part of your success and productivity. If you are spending your energy anyway, you might as well be spending it on worth-while tasks.

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