Focus: Using Technology Wisely - Leap Forward Coaching

Fall 2009

Focus: using technology resources wisely, filtering information, and cultivating attention.

Is modern technology and its increasing demands to filter information and cultivate attention driving you to distraction? Texting, email, Facebook, and Twitter can be helpful in connecting with others but they can also destroy the peace and quiet needed to think, to process, and to plan. Learn how to develop singular focus to maximize your personal and professional effectiveness.

Thank you for taking the time to read the debut issue of the Leap Forward Coaching, LLC e-newsletter. This newsletter is inspired by clients who are working with me to achieve a richer and more fulfilling life. I hope you find at least one suggestion or thought to inspire and encourage you. In this first edition, our topic is Focus: using technology resources wisely, filtering information, and cultivating attention

Is Technology Driving You To Distraction?

What do you think of the constant stream of social networking through twittering, texting, and email technologies? Are you already a “thumb person,” or are you hanging back, not quite convinced of the benefits of this new technology?

Texting and tweeting can be great tools, fostering a sense of connectedness, but they can also virtually eliminate the peace and quiet needed to think, to process, and to plan. In her book Rapt, author Winifred Gallagher speaks of the relationship between quality of life and finding focus. “Paying attention, whether to a trout stream or a novel, a do-it-yourself project or a prayer, increases your capacity for concentration, expands your inner boundaries, and lifts your spirits, but more important, it simply makes you feel that life is worth living.”

Your attention is the most precious thing you have to give to your job, your family and friends, and yourself, and learning how to develop singular focus is an important step in maximizing personal and professional effectiveness. While none of us can control our environment completely, I urge you to consider being discriminating in the use of your attention.

Focus-Building Tips

Here are some great ways to improve your focus:

Set aside a specific time each day to focus on tasks demanding your complete attention. Train family, friends and co-workers that you are unavailable during these periods unless there is an emergency.
Write down your goals for the day, week or month. Post in visible places in your home or office, such as on the side of your computer monitor, on your calendar, or at home on your bathroom mirror, so you can see them at least once a day.
Create “Vision Cards” or a “Vision Board” by printing photos or cutting out magazine pictures visualizing what you want in each area of your life. Glue the pictures to index cards or a poster board and look at the cards or poster daily.
Share and discuss your goals with your closest friends and family – people who are likely to encourage and support you in your efforts. Talking out loud about your goals can make them seem more vivid and compelling, which is likely to increase your commitment level.

Focus on the Future …

What does focus have to do with career and life planning? Simply put: If you are caught in a deluge of constant communication, you may be unable to create and effectively manage the time you need to think strategically about your future, filter the information your brain is receiving, and focus on things that are truly important.

That’s where Leap Forward Coaching can help. We have a process that will help you live more skillfully by becoming aware of the internal and external factors that shape your self-image and worldview and your ability to see your full potential for success and happiness.

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