Eruptus Vitae

Eruptus Vitae

Eruptus Vitae

The modern world doesn't make it easy to focus.

We live in a constant state of eruptions, or interruptions. Whether it's at a crisis at work, a call from home, an opportunity that comes up or a social media chat that distracts - we are interrupt driven.

I used to be proud of my ability to multi-task. My friends all would shake their heads in amazement as I juggled 100+ balls and kept them all going.

Today, that same multi-tasking wears me out. Not because of the effort - I can still do it. It's because of the price I pay for multi-tasking in the new world. I admit it - I lose my focus.

So what changed?

Well - I used to multi-task under my own control. I'd get five of my projects going and work them simultaneously over email, chat, phone, etc. But they were my five projects with my plan. It might have been multi-tasking but it was planned multi-tasking.

Today the multi-tasking comes from interrupts - outside my control. Someone pings my on Skype for an opinion or some help. Another sends Facebook email and yet another distracts with some juicy Twitter information.

I'm giving control to the external instead of the internal.

That's true in my business and personal life, by the way. For the past few weeks I've been experimenting. Dropping off of social media, shutting down external influences and focusing on my own internal stuff - my work, my life, my home, my world.

Guess what? I've been more productive, focused and just plain creative than I've been in a long time. And I've been multi-tasking all along the way.

So what's different? I made a simple shift in my focus - from the world at large driving my life to my own self defining my direction.

Now that's exactly the opposite of what I'd suggest a client do when it comes to defining their growth strategy - but it is the way to focus for my own productivity and focus in executing on my own strategy.

That's what I learned for myself. What about you? How do you manage the Eruptus Vitae of the new digital world?

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