Before you realize, habits form. How much thought do you put into your daily routine, and how much of your routine is formed as a response to outer influence? In other words, do you know why you work the way you do?
Being purposeful with your work philosophy might be the missing key to achieving a healthy rather than hasty, always running-behind pace. Understanding the psychological benefits of controlling the flow of your time and attention reveals the wisdom in taking things slow.
Matt Killingsworth is interested in not just what makes people happy but when people are happy. Gathering data from a happiness-tracking app that he built, he found that people are less happy when their minds are wandering, no matter what they’re doing.
So rewire yourself to stay in the moment, and watch how you’re paying attention.
Giving and receiving undivided attention, even briefly, is the least that one individual can do for another — and sometimes the most. And yet, attending to others doesn’t just help them — it helps us, by evoking responses that help the listener feel cared for, useful, and connected to the larger world.
Kare Anderson, “What Captures Your Attention Controls Your Life”, HBR
We’ve said before that the ultimate true lifehack is to figure out what to pay attention to. Anderson explains the positive impacts of being conscious how we devote our attention on not just ourselves but those around us.
Paying attention to others is the path not just toward being a better leader but leading a better life.