Putting news in its proper place

- Does checking the news make you less productive at work? Let me provide some context. There was a 500 company study but The Better Works Group. They found that 87% of workers reported reading and getting involved in a social media argument. 50% of employees reported witnessing a political conversation turn into a verbal jousting match on company time. Many people will admit that extreme events such as an election, or a disaster even if it happens on the other side of the world can have a negative impact on their personal productivity.

Now, I don't want to say that you should never check the news. Or that talking about politics is a bad thing. That's one of the benefits of living in this day and age we can have these kinds of conversations openly. But, we must also remain focused in order to be productive. It's crucial that we protect our attention and become more effective at using our time wisely rather than allowing our work place to become news distracted.

So, how can we stay aware of what's happening in the world, while not allowing the world to disrupt our productivity? First, feed your focus not your newsfeed. What this means is that the majority of your work day is scheduled to focus on, well, work. Then, also schedule times in your day, or week, to check things, like social media, and the newsfeed. Outside of those times, stay focused.

This includes, being aware of any apps on your phone that would give you notifications about news. Set those to off. This allows you to check the news rather than having the news check you. Next, protect your focus by building a mental firewall. I go into this in greater detail in my course on improving your focus. Basically, the idea is to create a yes/no/maybe list of the things that you will pay attention to.

In your yes column, are the things related to to your most valuable activities at work. No, well, these are the things you will not pay attention to, that you know are mental black holes. And in the maybe column, you list things that you might review, but at a future date. This forces you to choose your lanes when it comes to current events. Choose the area in which you'll focus. If there's news that's related to your career, that's worth checking out put that on the yes list.

But if there's news that you know gets you upset and distracted, then either don't check it, or, check it at a time when it's not going to disrupt important activities such as focusing on work, or focusing on being with your loved ones. Third, build relationships with other people. This may seem like an odd suggestion when it comes to productivity and time management, but it's relevant. Your ability to build connections with other people has a direct impact on the success of your career.

And how much you are worth per hour. When we allow inflated news stories that hyper focus on the negative aspect of one geographic region, one nationality, one type of person it cripples our ability to make positive connections with other people. I've had the privilege of traveling around the world and meeting people in a variety of situations from a variety of countries. I've even spent time in prison speaking candidly with people who have committed violent crimes.

What I can say is this. While there is always a chance that a very small minority of a certain group of people are going to make bad decisions, on the whole, people are good. People want to do the right thing and most people also need help. And they feel a bit insecure. By taking time to reach out to real people like this and get to know them personally, you expand your network rather than just reacting to negative headlines or sound bytes you'll find it easier to see the good in other people.

After all, none of us can achieve maximum productivity by ourselves. You'll need the help of others to be effective with your time so make time to connect with others.