By Published On: 1 April 2016
Table of contents

Are you working long hours and then only just finding time to squeeze in family, friends and fitness? What if you could power the same amount of work but save an hour a day? Then you could get out of the office earlier to enjoy an evening and have a bit more time to do what you want.

Are you working long hours and then only just finding time to squeeze in family, friends and fitness? What if you could power the same amount of work but save an hour a day? Then you could get out of the office earlier to enjoy an evening and have a bit more time to do what you want.

Not Time Management

I’m sure you’re thinking this will another time management post – same old stuff about prioritization, scheduling and diary planning. I am going to give 12 tips managing your energy, focus and attention. These come from the recent research into positive psychology and neuropsychology – on how to train our brain to be working optimally so we can get through the same amount of work in less time.

A busy, busy world

Our world has got busier – in 1973 the average American worked 200 less hours a year (or approximately five more weeks) than in 2000 (time poverty). Long hours and being “busy” are seen as the requirement for career advancement. Technology allows us the flexibility to work from home, but also means the work day ends when we go to sleep and starts the minute we wake up. All this rushing, busy-ness and hurry sickness means we multi-task, work half distracted without really concentrating all our attention and energy on getting really important tasks done.

Neuropsychology Tips

The real breakthrough in neuropsychology is that you can teach an old dog new tricks. Scientists discovered that different parts of the brain physically grew depending on the type of jobs or activities the people were doing. This is good news as it means we can learn how to be more focused and concentrated and get through our work quicker.
I am going to present a series of blogs and videos where I’m going to give 12 tips to help you improve your focus and attention. It is not expected that you’d put in place all tips. Just try one or two, for about 2-3 weeks, and see if it has an impact on your productivity, energy and focus. We will look at some different aspects like turning on your discovery brain, creating some headspace and getting some really sharp focus.

Look out for my next blogs and videos where I will go through the tips in more detail. I look forward to you joining me and to getting your feedback if these work for you.

If you’d like to get out of the office earlier try the work-life style self-assessment with ways to get in balance.

Enjoyed this? Get a weekly dose of career inspiration