Attention Management - Zones Model
Attention management helps people manage stress, be more productive and manage time better. Attention management requires that you not only concentrate, but also implement. Sometimes, we fail because we are intimidated by success. It is very important to have a positive thinking, while you execute a plan. This will help you focus more.
We can divide attention into four different zones: Reactive, Proactive, Distracted and Wasteful. The more attentive you are, the more it reflects in your productivity as well as personal stress levels.
Reactive Zone
Managers especially feature heavily in the reactive zone, as they deal in meeting deadlines and taking decisions of tasks that demand time and attention. For example, they are in a project that’s near to deadlines and one of their employees calls out sick and he has to arrange for someone to fill in.
Such crises don’t help the managers meet their goals or deadlines. With major tasks come unexpected situations. Most of them mainly happen because of improper time distribution. In order to move from the reactive zone to proactive zone, they should try to waste less time in being distracted.
Proactive Zone
People in a proactive zone are willing to work harder, and like to follow some strategy or procedure to attain their goals. They always like to plan in advance accordingly to achieve their goal. If you spend more time in this zone, you can minimize your time in the reactive zone. This zone helps you maintain balance in your personal and professional life.
Staying in the proactive zone also helps you to have a positive attitude towards your work and colleagues. It helps you budget your earning, maintain cordial relationship, review your goals and adjust the changes required to achieve it. It also improves your performance with time.
Distracted Zone
This is the zone where most of us spend more time than we are actually supposed to. These activities appear as if they demand your urgent attention, but they are not actually that important. This happens when people start distracting you or you start prioritizing needs of others before that of yours. IM-pinging, frequent emails, phone calls, or chatting comes under this zone.
Leaving the Distracted Zone
As you must have realized by now, this is not the best zone to be in. If you are in this zone, try to move away from it as soon as possible. This can be done in the following ways −
Turn off email alert − Not every email is so urgent that it needs to be answered as soon as you receive it. Email alerts often distract you and sometimes take you from the Proactive Zone to Distracted Zone.
Create a time-blocked schedule − Don’t entertain phone calls or emails while working. Schedule a time to return calls and reply to mails, while maintaining a cordial relationship.
Set boundaries − Make a schedule and follow it. Never allow others to distract you in your actions, unless it’s really urgent. Once you start following your schedule, people will slowly adapt to it and stop distracting you.
These methods will help you come out of the Distracted Zone and focus more on the important and urgent work. It will help you focus more on the work which actually demands your attention and will help you obtain your goal.
Wasteful Zone
People tend to waste their time without any external provocation. People in this Wasteful Zone engage in meaningless chit chatting, doing nothing, checking emails, gossiping with colleagues, and browsing on Facebook, Twitter. The main objective for people in the wasteful zone is to shift to the Proactive Zone. They should think of the goals they want to achieve and how wasting time by indulging in unproductive activities takes them away from their dreams and ambitions.
People here spend more time in relaxing and imagining stuff than actually doing something productive or being useful. Shifting your attention away from this zone can be done in the following ways −
Schedule personal time − It is impossible to focus on a task always, so it’s better to take short breaks in a while, and then get back to your work. Always have sometime for yourself to chill, eat, mediate and relax.
Limit temptation − Avoid getting tempted into spending time chatting, using phone, and browsing the internet, instead of concentrating more on work. It is better to turn off your cell phone or always take short breaks. Keep in mind that it will take the same amount of time to complete the work, so the time wasted indulging in trivialities is actually delaying the work.
