{"id":456,"date":"2015-02-06T09:56:45","date_gmt":"2015-02-06T09:56:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/adriangrigoras.com\/blog\/?p=456"},"modified":"2015-02-06T09:56:18","modified_gmt":"2015-02-06T09:56:18","slug":"focusing-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adriangrigoras.com\/blog\/focusing-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Get More Done by Focusing Less on Work"},"content":{"rendered":"

When people want to get more done at work, they double down on the time they put into their jobs. They adopt a new productivity approach, stay at the office late, work weekends, revamp to-do lists, and try to cram more into every day. But what if the secret to performing better at work, and feeling more satisfied, isn\u2019t to put more <\/em>effort and energy into work but less<\/em>?\u00a0Instead of working harder and longer, what if you\u00a0better integrated the four domains of your life \u2013 work, home, community, and self?\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>My research<\/a> has shown just that: By focusing more on the areas of life you care most about, even if those aren\u2019t work, you\u2019ll perform better at your job.<\/p>\n

In July 2013, I wrote a piece<\/a> and launched an assessment<\/a> on HBR.org meant to help readers take a clear view of what they want from \u2014 and can contribute to \u2014 each domain of their lives. My advice to people was to carefully consider the people who matter most to them and the expectations they have of one another. I then suggested that they experiment with small changes to see how those tweaks affected all four domains over a short period of time \u2014 what I call \u201cfour-way wins.\u201d I gave practical guidance derived from my book<\/a> on how to conduct the experiment. (See this article<\/a> for more on designing four-way win experiments.)<\/p>\n

But \u2014 as I\u2019ve seen in thousands of cases from years of field research, teaching, and practice \u2014 there are serious barriers to this type of integration, and even to trying small experiments. Those barriers are fear, ignorance, and guilt. People are afraid of change, don\u2019t know how to go about it, and feel guilty even trying because they worry it will negatively impact others. If you can learn to minimize these barriers, you make it far more likely that you will try something new and successfully experiment, thereby getting more done and creating greater harmony in your life. Here\u2019s how:<\/p>\n

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  1. Lower risk by scaling the intended new action down<\/strong> so it\u2019s manageable, and less frightening. Let\u2019s say the experiment is to shut down your digital stream periodically so you can focus on people at home and in your community. Instead of setting the goal for three hours of detox every day, try three hours per week.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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    1. Gather information about what might and might not work <\/strong>by sharing ideas for action with stakeholders who\u2019ll be affected. For example, let your boss know that for the next month, you\u2019re going to try shutting down for three hours per week \u2014 and which specific hours you plan to do so. Explain to her how you believe this will benefit her and ask her what her concerns might be. If need be, adjust your plan so she sees it as a win for her, as well. Ideally, she\u2019ll then want you to do this more often.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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      1. Deliberately assess the positive impact you expect<\/strong> your actions to have<\/strong> not just on you personally, but on the people who depend on you at work, at home, and in the community \u2014 reducing any sense of selfishness you might feel because you\u2019re doing it for them and<\/em>\u00a0for you. With your boss, for example, agree on a metric (e.g., your attentiveness to co-workers or your level of crankiness) that assesses an aspect of your performance that matters to you both. Then, figure out a simple way to collect data on this metric so you can quickly capture the results of your experiment and inform any further adjustments.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        It might seem counterintuitive that you will perform better at work if you spend more time with your kids, leave work early to volunteer at a local nonprofit, or take an hour out of your workday to go to the gym. But that\u2019s just what happens.<\/p>\n

        My research team observed in a 2005 study of 300 business professionals a paradoxical result (reported in my book Total Leadership<\/em><\/a>): when you undertake smart experiments with the intent of better aligning your actions and your values in a way that\u2019s consciously designed to benefit yourself, your work, your family, and your community, you are likely to spend\u00a0less<\/em>\u00a0attention on work while experiencing\u00a0enhanced<\/em>\u00a0well-being and\u00a0better<\/em>\u00a0performance (as assessed by others) in all domains. Consider the following chart:<\/p>\n

        \"fourwaywin3\"<\/span><\/p>\n

        As the chart illustrates, we found that what\u2019s important to individuals didn\u2019t change much over the course of the four months of the experiments we studied. People still rated each domain with the same level of importance. But participants shifted their focus of attention to better match what they cared about \u2014 that is, generally away from work to other domains\u00a0\u2014 family, community, and self (mind, body, spirit). At the same time, their satisfaction in every domain increased, particularly in self. It\u2019s easiest to make gains in this domain because it\u2019s (usually) rated lowest to begin with, so there\u2019s nowhere to go but up. Further, the positive spillover from better experiences in the other parts of your life has an especially good effect on your mind, body, and spirit. And not only did people\u2019s sense of well-being improve across the board, their ability to meet performance expectations \u2014 as reported to them on a standard scale by key stakeholders \u2014 went up in all domains, too.<\/p>\n

        But, how can performance at work improve with less attention paid to it? There are several reasons:<\/p>\n