Society & Culture

Interruptions are Concentration Killers

Our lives are finite and we can only cram in so much information within a given period of time.

Published

3 months ago

June 13, 2023

Jeff Davidson

Much of the work that you do requires concentration, often deep concentration. Yet, we live in an age when interruptions are the norm. In computer science, an interruption is a signal to a computing device that halts the execution of a program in progress so that some other action can proceed. In electrical engineering, an interruption comes in the form of a circuit that conveys a signal that stops the execution of a running program.

An interruption is a break in the action and is derived from the Latin words inter, which is to go between, and ruptus, which is to break off. Hence, an interruption can be described as something that comes between entities and separates them, such as you and the task you’re attempting to complete! Curiously, ruptus is related to the word rupture, which in biology is defined as a tearing apart of tissue; in politics, a breach of the peace; or in everyday affairs, a state of being broken apart.

Interruptions Impede Productivity

For career professionals seeking to be highly productive, interruptions represent a “breaking apart” of their ability to stay focused and strive for completion of the task at hand. In many work environments today — the traditional office as well as in mobile settings — each of us are prone to too many interruptions to even approach our potential level of productivity. Why? We are subjected to more potential interruptions than any previous workforce since homo erectus emerged from caves.

Unprecedented challenges call for novel solutions. It is not enough to turn your cell phone ringer or vibrator off. It is insufficient to believe that merely closing your office door will safeguard you from intruders. It is folly to believe that tomorrow is somehow going to be better than today if we don’t take a certain number of measures that guarantee we can work for 30, 60, or 90 minutes undisturbed when we need to.

Many years ago I met with the CEO of the Planning Research Corporation (PRC) in his office on the top floor of a building on K Street in Washington D.C. From this vantage point, he was able to look out of large picture windows in three directions, including to the west for dozens of miles into Virginia.

His office, the foyer leading into it, the receptionist’s area prior to that, the hallway leading to that, and the entire floor was notably more quiet than any of the floors under it. Like so many other top executives, he knew the importance of being able to marinade in his own thoughts.

The Quiet to Reflect

Those reaching the top rungs of organizations and who aspire to high achievement, instinctively understand the importance of safeguarding their environment. They understand the value of being able to reflect upon the challenges before them, to utilize the full measure of their cerebral capabilities, and craft a plan or devise a solution to meet that challenge.

In our own lives and careers, sometimes we don’t have the choice of working on a quiet floor with barriers surrounding our work space that ensure the quiet we need to concentrate on the challenges before us. We do, however, have options regardless of our working environment that can increase the probability we will have vital stretches throughout the day and the week, where we are free of disturbances and can safely predict that interruptions will not take us off course.

Most career professionals, throughout the week, have the some opportunity to take command of their immediate environment through a variety of procedures that are quite well known but unfortunately not put into practice as often as one might do so.

Interruption-Proof Your Environment

In my book Breathing Space, I offer some suggestions for safeguarding your working environment and minimizing interruptions:

* Surround yourself with everything you need to fully engage in the change process, which also might involve assembling resources, people, and space, as well as ensuring that you have a quiet environment free of distractions.

* Give yourself the hours or days you need to read, study, and absorb what is occurring, and to make decisions about how you’ll apply new ways of doing things and new technology to your career, business, or organization.

* Go “cold turkey,” which is not recommended for most people! Suspend what ever else you’re doing and engage in whatever it takes to incorporate a new way of doing things. This is enhanced by ensuring that you’ll have no disturbances, bringing in outside experts, and assembling any other resources you need to succeed.

Life will come at us ever-faster as our technology and mobile devices connect us with more and more people, and information sources around the world. We have to establish effective habits and procedures to buttress ourselves against what we know is coming: more information, more communication, more to sift through, more to learn, and more to respond to.

Only So Much

Our work week and our lives are finite. We can only cram in so much information within a given period of time. The ability to understand and absorb what we need to, and keep at bay all the extraneous information that competes for our attention is a skill which must be developed, honed, and refined now. It won’t be any easier later.

The sooner we recognize that our interruption-based society is here to stay, at least for a while, the sooner we can embrace and securely put into place those measures that will ensure that we can be at our best for today and for the long run.

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Life

Your Days Do Not Have to Race By

Much of what you experience each day, in terms of the passage of time, is based on your perception

Published

4 days ago

September 22, 2023

Jeff Davidson

Whenever you feel you’re racing the clock or trying to tackle too much at once, try this exercise:

Close your eyes for a minute. Imagine a pleasant scene. You might be surrounded by trees or with a loved one. It could be something from childhood. Let the emotions of that place and time pervade you. Get into it! Give yourself more than a minute for the visualization to take hold.

Open your eyes and return to what you’re doing. Whatever care or task you’re working on is not quite so bad and your pace is never quite so feverish. Realistically, much of what you experience each day, in terms of the passage of time, is based on your perception. You can slow down time if you choose.

Pause and Reflect

Imagine you’re flying on an airplane. You have a window seat, and it’s a clear day. As you gaze down to the ground below, what do you see? Life passing by. Cars the size of ants. Miniature baseball diamonds. Rivers the size of streams. There’s something about being at great heights that enables you reflect on your life.

The same phenomenon can take place from the top of a mountain or skyscraper. As often as practical things seem to be racing by too fast, seek higher ground, literally, for a clearer perspective.

If you’re among the lucky, perhaps you regularly allocate time for reflection or meditation. If you don’t, it’s no matter. There are other ways to make it all “slow down.”

After the workday, listen to relaxing music and close your eyes. A half hour of your favorite music with your eyes closed and no disturbances can seem almost endless. When you re-emerge, the rest of the day takes on a different tenor.

An effective method for slowing down time and catching up with today is periodically deleting three items from your “to do list” without doing them at all. Before you shriek, consider that much of what makes your list is arbitrary.

In most cases, eliminating three items won’t impact your career or life, except for freeing up a little time for yourself in the present.

A Change in Medium

I have long used water to reduce stress. For eleven years, I lived in a high-rise condominium in Falls Church, Virginia, complete with its own 25 meter pool. No matter how hard I worked during the day, even if I did a 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. stint, at 6:05 p.m. I was in the pool. After 30 minutes of laps, I had swum out many of the stresses and strains of the day.

Now that I live in North Carolina, more rural by comparison, I have lakes! Here I can swim for a mile in one direction and rarely encounter anyone else. Find the swimming hole nearest you!

In the Animal Kingdom

If you have a dog or cat and do not consider it a drain on your time, here’s a little something about Rover or Mittens that you may not have known. In recent years, as reported by U.S. News & World Report, scientists have found proof for what was only once suspected: Contact with animals has specific and measurable effects on both your body and mind.

The mere presence of animals can increase a sick person’s chances of survival, and has been shown to lower heart rate, calm disturbed children, and induce incommunicative people to initiate conversation!

The exact mechanisms that animals exert to affect your health and well-being are still largely mysterious. Scientists suspect that animal companionship is beneficial because, unlike human interaction (!), it is uncomplicated.

Animals are nonjudgmental, accepting and attentive; they don’t talk back, criticize, or give orders. Animals have a unique capacity to draw people out.

Even if you only have goldfish, sometimes simply staring at them in their silent world can help deaden your hectic pace.

Catching up with Today

1. Constantly read your list of priorities and goals.
2. Challenge and defeat your own ritual behavior.
3. Consider the outcome of not handling something.
4. Convincingly, but politely, say no.
5. Call rather than visit.

6. Clear your desk of all but the task at hand.
7. Clear your files of everything that can be recycled.
8. Cancel something you had already scheduled.
9. Choose from what you already have.
10. Choose to get a good night’s sleep every night.

When you consider all of the ways you add unnecessary pressures to your day, you begin to see many ways to catch up with today or, at least, with this week.

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Elections

Lawfare, Coercion, and Intimidation at the U.S Department of Injustice

Th DOJ fraudulently claims this mission: “Uphold the rule of law, to keep our country safe, and to protect civil rights”

Published

1 week ago

September 18, 2023

Jeff Davidson

Lawfare is impacting society in horrendous ways, many of which ultimately impact your life and your experiences. What is lawfare? Derived from combining the words “law” and “warfare,” it is the employment of legal approaches to delegitimize, damage, or destroy an opposing party or to hinder their ability to employ their own legal rights.

While lawfare has been used among nations seeking to resolve military conflicts, hamper an opponent’s strategies and tactics, or accuse others of serious crimes, here I am only focusing on domestic issues.

The U.S. system of justice has become overtly contentious, straying from the original mission and objective of our legal system. Unfortunately, the U.S. Department of Justice adopted lawfare tactics en mass during the Obama Administration, under the sordid leadership of Attorney General Eric Holder.

Long Term Damage

Lawfare was employed against individuals whom the DOJ had targeted, to damage or disparage their character, waste their money and time, or triumph over them for public relations purposes. Today the DOJ persecutes, coerces, badgers, and prosecutes Americans, mainly conservatives, time after time.

The agency’s conviction rate is 93%, or 14 out of 15 cases. Yet, in countless instances, DOJ lawyers pursuing cases do not have sufficient evidence or even legal grounds. How do they prevail? Repeatedly, these government attorneys intimidate defendants to confess to “process” crimes, much like what the special prosecutors under Robert Mueller did with many of Donald Trump’s associates.

If no real crimes existed, DOJ attorneys, well-versed in lawfare, pushed for prosecution in one way or another, HUNDREDS of times. Conviction represents career bonus points for eager DOJ attorneys.

Garland: Corrupt Beyond Belief

Bill Barr, appointed by Donald Trump, was utterly corrupt – a swamp creature of the highest order. He sat on the Hunter Biden revelations. He ignored voluminous evidence of worldwide bribes taken by Joe Biden. He covered for Jeffrey Epstein’s clients, and likely lied about Epstein’s demise. He had insider knowledge of the numerous bogus plots against Trump and said and did nothing.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, now head of the DOJ, has raised lawfare to justice-destroying heights. The DOJ has become the chief agency of injustice. Under Garland, Catholics, parents concerned about the education and welfare of their children, peaceful protesters, and legions of others have had their rights violated.

We know that both the FBI and DOJ have sought to lay heavy crap on Rudy Giuliani, Matt Gaetz, Don Trump, Jr., Jared Kushner, many of Trump’s advisors, and so many others.

Injustice on Demand

Garland’s DOJ implements lawfare in virtually everything it does. The agency has no qualms about incarcerating people for indeterminate lengths, staging show trials, bleeding defendants financially dry, and threatening them with jail sentences unless they capitulate. These are perilous times, especially for anyone who is opposed to the Biden Administration or speaks up in ways that the DOJ does not approve.

It is not difficult with the vast databases to undertake intense snooping and other nefarious methods. In record time, the “Department of Injustice” can ruin a person’s reputation, even after a lifetime of accuracy in their work, in their claims, and in how they comport themselves.

The DOJ can destroy reputations in less than 24 hours, particularly if that person is vulnerable with relatives or children. They raid homes with guns drawn when a simple knock on the door would suffice. The Democrats of today, can get to anyone they want, and will shake their targets to the core.

The GOP Must Win in 2024 or We’re Doomed

Everything described above should have no place within the U.S. Department of Justice. Lawfare should have no place. Meanwhile, the DOJ fraudulently claims that its mission is to “Uphold the rule of law, to keep our country safe, and to protect civil rights.” In actuality, it fails miserably on all three counts.

Claiming independence and impartiality, the agency states, “We work each day to earn the public’s trust by following the facts and the law wherever they may lead, without prejudice or improper influence.” Yes, Hunter Biden will verify that. The DOJ claims, “Our employees value differences in people and in ideas and treat everyone with fairness, dignity, and compassion.” Not exactly.

The only tenable solution to vanquish the runaway DOJ and their insidious practice of lawfare, intimidation, and coercion is for a Republican to win the 2024 presidential election, replace Garland, and quickly reverse the serious damage that has been done to our nation.

If Democrats successfully re-cheat their way to victory, may God help us all.

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