October 2018 | The art of concentration
1
FOCUS IS A MUSCLE
Focus is essential for writers. That’s me! I’m a writer! Sometimes I lack focus, so research that promises I can strengthen my focus muscle is like catnip to me. *nuzzles some research*
We’ve all heard it before – heck, I’m sure I’ve written about it here before – multi-tasking is a lie. Impossible. Damaging. And boredom, that thing we fear most because it requires we be all by ourselves in our own little minds focused on who-knows-what thing that makes us feel sad or bad or mad or disappointed, boredom is essential.
I do some of the things – remove distracting apps (my phone is quite tidy with nary a social media app, not even one tucked into a folder on a far screen *flex*), turn off notifications (I can’t stand those niggling interruptions anyway, so that’s an easy one for me), use do-not-disturb settings for long swaths of time (overnight and while in the car, as one must), use grayscale so what few items I have on my phone are less inviting – but still, I am distracted, still I yearn for my phone to take me away from myself.
I also read novels. So many novels. My bookshelves overfloweth. I check out so many books from the library, I have my library card memorized. And I cook, I bake, I focus on delicious things in my future and bring them to life.
So yeah, I can concentrate. But longtime readers also know technology sings its siren call to me, and I turn to it, I dive in, I drown, I come up gasping and go down again.
So what do we do? How do we detangle our thoughts from our desire for more distraction? How do we learn how to concentrate again?
Practice. That’s the simple answer. Do it. Do it again. Stretch that muscle. Fail sometimes. Get up. Try again. Build your tolerance for time alone in your head with your thoughts whizzing this way and that. Exercise. Sleep. Leave your phone in another room. Keep the TV far away (and turned off). Silence the external chatter so you can hear your internal chatter. It will get quieter. The tangles will straighten out. Pick up an empty notebook. Write. Sketch. Get bored. Focus. Create.
2
BETTER TOGETHER
My product gets the best output when content, design, and research work together as a team. I work on an amazing product, embedded in the “big D” design org comprised of visual and interaction design, content design, and research. Our most successful features are those where research, content, design, product management, and engineering all worked together to own the experience. That’s when our customers feel the magic of our work.
How? Communicate often and warmly. Try not to take offense. Keep communicating. Meet. Share. Work together. Work independently. Share some more. Align. Realign. Bug bash. Push live.
3
THE WINNING STRATEGY
I don’t understand the title of this article (for one, they led with the numeral 1, which violates every style guide I’ve ever worked with) because it implies that kindness is barf-worthy. Since when does kindness induce vomiting? The saccharine sort, faux-kindness wrapped in sickly sweet falsity could be vommy, but regular ol’ genuine kindness is delightful, so let’s not hate on it.
Enough about barfing. Here’s the gist: Business leaders who create and promote kindness in their relationships build happy teams, which make happy workplaces, which earn the company more money.
When I consider my own career, my best managers have been kind and warm to me and everyone they interact with. When the team feels cared for and cared about, when we’re treated as people, when our leaders like us, the whole team benefits, our joy increases, our work improves.
It’s ill-advised to conflate kindness with weakness, and I suspect that confusion led to the headline about gagging. Kindness is strength. Have you ever had to work with someone you didn’t connect with, someone whose very presence bothered you? How much simpler it would be to dismiss them, to turn your displeasure in their company to their discomfort in yours. Don’t do it. Rise up. Rise above. Build trust. In strength you set boundaries; in kindness you enforce them. Your relationships will improve, and you’ll be happier as a result (and you’ll earn your company more money).
PSA, website creators: Use a left nav. People don’t discover horizontal tabs tabs tabs tabs tabs. And the farther right you go along that tabular horizon, the less likely people are to click. (True story: I nearly always click on the farthest right tab because that one usually says SALE; I’ve always thought I was a bit strange, and this confirms it.)
A vertical left navigation is tidy and scannable. I know, you’re going to say, but Meghan, if everyone replaces horizontal tabs with a vertical left nav, all websites will look the same. Nah, designers are innovative. And anyway, consumers like consistency. It’s so confusing when a website goes rogue and uses unique design patterns. Yes, it’s cool, it’s progressive, but it’s hard to use. If you’re a consumer site, don’t be hard to use. Simplify. Do right by your users. Give them a left nav and stop putting buttons all across the top.
4
VERTICAL WINS
5
SLEEP IN
Those of us who read business-related news, or any sort of life-hacky coverage, are bombarded with variations on “the early bird gets the worm—be an early bird”. I’ve skimmed countless articles entreating me to wake earlier and earlier. (I skim because I’m never going to be that person who kick-starts her day at 4 AM ... well, I did when I had a bout of insomnia, but I can’t say that improved my productivity.)
Why do we encounter such insistence that we get up early? It’s always in the name of work. Work is great. It gives us a sense of purpose and accomplishment (and a paycheck), but it isn’t everything. So give yourself permission to sleep in. Your well-rested self will be happier, and your work may improve too.