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You immediately retort ‘Busy, yeah – really busy!’ as this has now become the standard response to any question in relation to how your job is going. The follow up question though is the killer punch. ‘So, what did you actually do?’ You stop, reflect and then stare back blankly, thinking to yourself ‘Well, what I really did was bounce from one document to the next; check emails every time the pop up alert came on; jumped from a PowerPoint presentation, to an Excel spreadsheet, to Facebook and then shared files on Flickr, to checking MSN Messenger, sending text messages and handling walk-ins all at the same time; plus also pretending to check in for a couple of meetings’.
If you find your attention is constantly divided, if you jump from one unfinished task to the next, if every day feels like you’ve been busy but not really productive - then you probably have Constant Partial Attention (CPA), a term coined by Linda Stone, a former executive at both Microsoft and Apple.
If you operate with 24/7 CPA this results in a splintering of tasks and has a significant impact on productivity, especially if you let it take control of the way you work. You see, the average working day is jam packed with interruptions. Consider the following:
• the average worker now gets 1 interruption every 7 minutes, 60 to 70 interruptions a day
• researchers at University of California found 11 minutes is the maximum amount of uninterrupted time during the working day
• it takes an average of 25 minutes to work your way back to the original task
• the average office worker now spends 2.5 hours a day on distractions (BASEX)
• email and interruptions pile up to almost 50% of the average workday.
‘Constant or Continuous Partial Attention describes how many of us use our attention today. It is different from multi-tasking. The two are differentiated by the impulse that motivates them. When we multi-task, we are motivated by a desire to try and be more productive and more efficient. We're often doing things that are automatic, that require very little cognitive processing. We give the same priority to much of what we do when we multi-

[ O R G A N I S A T I O N ] task - we file and copy papers, talk on the phone, eat lunch – we attempt to get as many things done at one time as we possibly can in order to make more time for ourselves and in order to be more efficient and more productive.
‘To pay continuous partial attention is to pay partial attention -- CONTINUOUSLY. It is motivated by a desire to be a LIVE node on the network. Another way of saying it is that we want to connect and be connected. We want to effectively scan for opportunity and optimise for the best opportunities, activities, and contacts, in any given moment. To be busy, to be connected, is to be alive, to be recognised, and to matter.
‘We pay continuous partial attention in an effort NOT TO MISS ANYTHING. It is an always-on, anywhere, anytime, any place behaviour that involves an artificial sense of constant crisis.’
‘Like so many things, in small doses, CPA can be a very functional behaviour. However, in large doses, it contributes to a stressful lifestyle, to operating in crisis management mode, and to a compromised ability to reflect, to make decisions, and to think creatively. In a 24/7, always-on world, Constant Partial Attention used as our dominant attention mode contributes to a feeling of overwhelm, over-stimulation and to a sense of being unfulfilled. We are so accessible, we're inaccessible. The latest, greatest powerful technologies have contributed to our feeling increasingly powerless’.
There is considerable research into ways of focusing the attention of employees in today’s wired-up, technology driven workplaces.
There is considerable evidence to suggest that ‘multitasking’ is a misnomer and the brain doesn’t simultaneously process work, but rapidly switches between various work activities. Only tasks that are highly practiced or automatic (like driving a car) can be performed simultaneously with other actions. Switching back and forth is considered necessary for anything that requires action planning.
The research shows that if employees try to engage in multiple activities at once, they’re actually performing more slowly and less accurately resulting in lower levels of productivity. People may think otherwise, but it’s a myth that you will ever be able to overcome the inherent limitations in the brain for processing information - a key ingredient of knowledge work!
The gadgets designed to lighten our loads actually ensnare us. The continually binging, buzzing, alarms and alerts readily disrupt our thoughts, our productivity and definitely disrupt what is left of our private lives.
Just as the arrival of automobiles ultimately brought us words like rubbernecking, gridlock and road rage, the information age demands new terms for the behaviour it induces.
Wasting time online long after you have finished what you signed on to do.
(Example: Still trawling Google after you actually found the information you were looking for more than 30 minutes ago)
Frantic, ineffective multitasking, typically with the delusion that you are getting a lot done. The quality of the work however is poor.
(Example: 3 minute phone call turns into a 15 minute chat – back to writing business plan for 2 minutes – BING! Email alert – you have mail. Respond to email from HR department takes another 5 minutes – then back to business plan – but it takes you 6 or 7 minutes to get back into the thought process again – back writing the plan for 2 minutes and suddenly – BING – RING – DING…..Argggghhhh!) www.switchedonperformance.com

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How much attention a certain type of communication requires.
(Example: a telephone call has high attention density; a text message is relatively low attention density)
I can best describe this with a story explained by Linda Stoner about a wife and mother in New York City in November 2006. ‘Our husbands come home from work, glued to their Blackberries. They don't talk with us or with the children. They don't connect with us.
And then, when we go to bed, they want sex. I don't think so.’
A temporary absence or cessation of breathing, or shallow breathing, while doing email.
Now for some solutions. I don’t want you getting further and further into this article and feeling further and further out of control.
There is a way out of multitasking mania and 24/7 CPA. And the way out will require a totally different mind set for some people. It involves chunking, energy platforms, prioritising, clear communication and going to email school.
This is not a new term, but for many people it is a new skill. Chunking involves focussing on completing one task at a time, or working on similar tasks together.
(Example: Writing all your proposals together, locking out 2 hours to complete a project report, or blocking all your inner city meetings back to back on a Wednesday afternoon. Put a do not disturb sign on your office door or work station if you have to)
If you are a morning person, block out uninterrupted time in the morning to do proposals, reports, thinking work and high end tasks.
The worst thing you can do as a morning person is junk emails first thing you hit the office. And for the bears who blossom later in the day, the morning is probably the best time for you to do emails and lower end thinking tasks – then do the productive activities when your energy levels are high.
Try working without any distraction for at least half a day. Turn off your mobile or put it onto silent, get rid of the email pop alert and be disciplined, avoid continually checking emails. If possible work in a closed space or quiet room to avoid walk-ins and distractions. It helps to tell colleagues that you’re working on finishing a few tasks so please avoid interrupting unless it’s urgent. You’ll be amazed how much more work you’ll accomplish!
Enforce new rules in meetings including turning off all electronic communication devices. Companies including Yahoo and Microsoft are going topless (laptop-less) in a bid to get rid of distractions during meetings. This will keep meetings much shorter and to the point. Where possible, compress meetings from the mandatory 60 minutes down to 30 minutes or less.
Once again this is nothing new. But when we become consumed by the medium it is often very difficult to focus on what needs to be done and what needs to be deleted. Spending 10 to 15 minutes at the start of the working day is a great way to get clarity on the most important tasks that should be completed today. Then control your time as much as possible and focus on your action list. www.switchedonperformance.com

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Unfortunately for most workers this never existed! We didn’t learn how to use emails to be productive and efficient. Instead, we have been consumed by the medium and are chained to the Inbox. For a starter, implement the following:
• chunk checking times – only check emails 2 or 3 times throughout the day
• get rid of the ‘you have mail’ alert. This kills thought process and productivity.
• avoid email tennis – any more than 2 emails and you’re still unclear resort to the old fashioned mode of talking on the telephone, or better still – go back to meeting face to face
• keep email brief and to the point. It’s not a research thesis!
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Stop covering your butt. The cc and bcc is more often than not super unnecessary. Only send emails to relevant people and avoid the email butt covering trail.
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Delete. Get rid of the junk.
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Respond to what’s important. This challenges the values many people were bought up with that you need to respond to every phone call, letter etc that comes into your office. Surviving amidst ‘data smog’ requires you to focus on what’s important and leave the rest.
Some of the suggestions in this article may cause a bit of tension for some readers. That’s fine. This is designed to challenge you to work smarter not harder. To do this some people are going to have to reengineer the way they work. But I guarantee after a few teething problems, if you take on the majority of the recommendations you’ll be amazed at how much control you actually can have over the way you work and the way you spend your time. Gotta fly – have a number of things I have to go and check on, I’ve got a case of CPA!
Andrew May www.andrewmay.com
Andrew May is the best selling author of Flip the Switch and is regarded as an expert on performance and productivity. He is one of Australia’s leading corporate speakers and is the co-founder of Good Health Solutions, Australia’s largest corporate health company. Andrew is the former Physical Performance
Manager for the Australian Cricket Team and has also worked with AFL Teams and Olympic Athletes in track and field, swimming, basketball, netball, hockey and tennis. Andrew is a regular voice on 2UE radio and is the resident lifestyle expert on Channel Nine’s TODAY show.
(Main source: Staying Sharp, Time Magazine, January, 2006) www.switchedonperformance.com