Coming into focus: The mindset of peaceful productivity

Office of the Registrar, Coming Into Focus
Kevin R.Thomas, Manager,Training & Development · Office of Human Resources · kevin.r.thomas@williams.edu · 413-597-3542
December 4, 2019
krt4@williams.edu
x3542
Learning & Development Manager
Human Resources
Kevin Thomas
Coming Into Focus

Increasing Focus in 12 Breaths
• 3 breaths: letting go of the past
• 3 breaths: letting go of the future
• 3 breaths: coming into the present moment
• 3 breaths: arriving at the right level of energy, creativity, concentration, etc.

• What’s one tip you can give about staying focused at work?
• What’s one thing you’ve been thinking about doing to stay focused at
work?
• What’s one “time suck” that doesn’t serve you well at work?

• Participation / Listening
• No judgement zone
• Accountability for Results
Ground Rules

• You Write the Slide
Characteristics of Overwhelm & Focus

• Become aware of a range of options
for increasing focus and productivity
• Experiment with focused work
period followed by short breaks
• Create and share a specific action
plan for how you will apply what you
learn.
Objectives

1. Developing a Strategy
2. Pomodoro Technique
3. Email Management
4. Energy and Attention Boosters
5. Action Planning

• Office Stretches
5 Minute Break 1

1. Strategic Questions
2. Forced Choice Prioritization
3. Urgent/Important Matrix
Setting Priorities

6 Horizons of Focus
50,000 feet – Purpose, Principle
40,000 feet – Vision
30,000 feet – Goals
20,000 feet – Area of Focus/Responsibility
10,000 feet – Projects
Runway – Next Actions

• Understanding the context/situation
• Developing a vision/goal
• Effectively utilizing resources and
team members to accomplish it
• Example: It’s raining, but that
doesn’t have to ruin our picnic.
Let’s move our stuff over to the
gazebo and have lunch there.
What is a Strategy?

• Up to 5 questions that help you test
your ideas
• Should relate to critical success
factors in your role
• Should contribute to your boss’s
success
Strategic Questions

Example
• Does it help to strengthen HR’s reputation with directors and senior leaders?
• Does it create or strengthen partnerships inside and outside of Williams?
• Does it help me reach new audiences?
• Does it make managers better at managing?
• Does it help people have difficult conversations?

Your Turn

• Choose 5 projects or initiatives
• Write a subject for each one on an
index card.
• Put them in order of importance
• Write it down
Forced choice with index cards

Online tool for prioritization

Activities

Your Turn
• Using post its, make a list of the main
activities that make up a day or week
• Put them on the urgent/important matrix
• Where are you spending most of your
time?

• KenKen
5 Minute Break 2

Pomodoro Technique
Time management technique designed to:
• Handle interruptions
• Reduce estimation errors
• Improve motivation by improving the content of
work
• Transform time from being an enemy to being an
ally in order to achieve your goals
• Meet deadlines without time pressure
• Reduce the complexity of your goals and the
relative

Attention is a Limited Resource

• If you respected attention as a
limited resource, what would you do
differently?
Attention as a Limited Resource

Lowering the Stakes
Counterproductive Productive
I have to.
I must finish.
This project is so big and important.
I must be perfect.
I don’t have time for fun.
I choose to.
When can I start?
I can take one small step.
I can be perfectly human.
I must enjoy myself.
In Sum: I have to finish something
big and do it perfectly by working
hard for long periods of time without
ever having fun.
In Sum: I choose to start on one
small step, knowing I have plenty of
time for play.

• The brain evolved to deal with
concrete situations.
• For your highest priority activity,
what specifically do you need to do
next?
• Camera check.
Giving the Brain Clear Instructions

• Notice what happens when I say:
– “Go to your office and don’t come
out until you finish your report.”
– “Go to your office, turn on your
computer, open a web browser,
and spend 25 minutes starting the
research for your report. Then
get outside and go for a walk
around the block.”
Time-Limited Work Periods

Pomodoro Technique

Focused Work Periods

4 Criteria For Choosing Actions
Context
Time
Available
Energy
Available
Priority

• Eat, Drink, Socialize, etc.
15 Minute Break

Email Management

• You Write the Slide
What are the biggest issues you face with email?

• Send yourself an email for each
task
• Process email using the GTD
workflow
• Use tags or folders
• Associate emails with tasks,
appointments.
Using email with Getting Things Done Workflow

GTD Processing System
Part 1 of 2
Is it
Actionable
?
Do it
Get clear
and specific
about the
action
Will it take
<2
minutes?
Archive
No
Yes
Yes
No

GTD Processing System
Part 2 of 2: Action Needed, >2 min
Delegate it:
1) Label it “waiting on”
2) Forward to the
delegate with
instructions
3) Archive
Does it
need to be
done
ASAP?
1. Add label
“_next”
2. Archive
1. Add Label
“_action”
2. Consider
creating an
event for
when you
will take the
action.
3. Archive
Are you
the best
person to
do it?
YesNo
Yes
No

Email Delegation
• When forwarding a message,
consider changing subject with a
brief description of the action to be
taken and a due date
– “e.g. review draft email
launch message by Friday at
noon.”
– Caution: will separate email
from the rest of the thread

Look at your docket for today:
– Look at the emails in your “_action”
label.
Does anything need to move to _next ?
– Navigate to the “_next” label
– Look at your _waiting on label. Does
anything need follow up today?
Prioritize tasks:
– Do those that require the most
concentration first
– Use focused work periods
– As you finish, remove the “_action” or
“_next” label
After Processing Your Email

• Don’t respond to ANY emails immediately
• Close your email during focused work periods
• If something hasn’t been resolved after 2 email volleys,
pick up the phone.
• Don’t send emails between 11pm and 7am
• Remember: every email you send creates more work
and more email.
Other Email Tips

Be prepared to communicate the changes you’re making in
how you handle email:
“I’m trying to get in the habit of reducing the number of times
I check email so that I can concentrate on projects.”
“I use the weekends to recharge so that I’m refreshed on
Monday, and I’m often somewhere where I can’t easily
answer work emails.”
Email expectations management

• Walk!
5 Minute Break 3

Activity Benefit
Exercise Greater energy, increase sense of
agency
Nutrition Increased energy, better mood,
lower stress,
Meditation Increased concentration, lower
stress
Naps Increases productivity and alertness
Walking Boosts creativity
Breaks (brief diversions) Increases task focus
Experience of nature Reduces fatigue, decreases stress
Research-based Energy and Attention Boosters

5 Minute Break 4 – Puppies & Kittens!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiCpsIS90F0

Action Planning

Instead of trying to suppress an unwanted
behavior, focus on new, desired behaviors
Goal Setting

WOOP Model

Think of a new productivity habit you’d
like to form.
Complete the WOOP worksheet.
Share your goals.
How will you hold yourselves and each
other accountable?
Your Turn

Kevin Thomas, krt4@williams.edu, x3542
Coming Into Focus
• Course Page

Coming into focus: The mindset of peaceful productivity

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