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Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeart Radio.
Good morning.
This is Laura.
Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Today's tip is to write down the thoughts you have during deep work blocks so you can get them out of your head and get back to work.
Today's tip comes from Eric Fisher, host of the long-running podcast Beyond the To-Do List.
Eric was recently a guest on this show.
Eric noted how easy it is to be perpetually distracted with new information coming at us through our many screens and with thoughts about various topics popping into our minds.
For instance, maybe you've been absorbed in a spreadsheet of sales data until you realize you need to reschedule a meeting that falls on Yom Kippur.
Or you have an idea for a marketing strategy for next season.
Or you remember it's your college roommate's birthday.
Or that you forgot to pick up the dry cleaning.
You know you were supposed to be working on the sales data.
But what do you do with the unrelated thoughts during what's supposed to be focused work time?
Eric advised taking what he called a meditational approach.
When you are meditating, you might acknowledge a thought you are having and then let it pass.
Likewise, Eric advises if you are in the middle of working on something and you have an unrelated thought, acknowledge the thought by writing it down.
Literally put pencil to paper and then let the thought move away.
By writing down the thought, you avoid interrupting your blocked work time to deal with it.
This is time to analyze the sales data spreadsheet.
So you stick with analyzing the sales data.
This is not the time to reschedule the meeting or call your friend to say happy birthday.
I know some people try to resist unrelated thoughts and push them away, but then you are at risk of forgetting the thought altogether.
Or if you try to maintain your focus on the task at hand while remembering the thought for later, you wind up consuming precious brain space.
Clearly, you need to get the thought out of your head so you can get back on task.
Eric is adamant that you need to capture these off-topic thoughts on paper.
And this does have some upsides.
It is simple.
You just write it down on paper that is near you.
And, unlike emailing yourself or putting something in a notes app or in your digital calendar, you won't risk getting pulled away into other things.
As in, you email yourself a note for later and then, while in your inbox, you see a very exciting email from your manager and next thing you know your deep work.
Block of time is gone.
Paper doesn't do this to you.
That said, if you know yourself and know you can email yourself responsibly without looking at anything else, I think that does work too.
Your choice.
Then, when you are done with your original task, you can process your notes either right then or during a designated later time.
If you emailed yourself and you process your primary inbox to current, you can deal with it then.
But this process, out of your head and back to work, gives you the best of both worlds.
You capture your thought and you don't interrupt your blocked work time.
You maintain your focus and get everything done.
In the meantime, this is Laura.
Thanks for listening.
And here's to making the most of our time.
Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast.
If you've got questions, ideas or feedback, you can reach me at laura at lauravandercamcom Before Breakfast is a production of iHeart Media.
For more podcasts from iHeart Media, please visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
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