It seems that there was some confusion in the last minutes of class today regarding the exercise of finding techniques for becoming better at focusing and simplifying in daily work. Sorry to have not been clearer. Here’s the idea in a nutshell. We can all learn to focus and simplify better. We can learn about that in the classroom and go out and do it ourselves. Our we can have a mobile “coach”–a system that drops tips on us, small techniques to implement in a day. They not only help us do better that day, but they also help us form a habit. For example; let’s say that on this coming Monday you received a notification on your phone, “Today, say NO to something you want to do that takes at least one hour of your time, then use that time instead to work on a key priority.”  So you say “No!”, and then you get stuff done that hour, feel good, and now you have taken a first step in learning to say NO. Then maybe you will just continue doing so, forming a habit of learning to say No in order to focus. These are “micro-habits” that together and cumulatively leads to more effective behaviors.

As an analogy, a few months ago I signed on to weightwather.com to learn how they cajole their customers to lose weight. They try to get people to engage in small habit changes, routines they call them. I chose to do “put down your cutlery on the table between bites” (the theory being that when you slow down eating, you eat less). Similarly, when you don’t bring your smartphone to meetings, you probably listen better , if that’s what you’re working on.