How to Beat ‘Carlson’s Law’ and Be More Productive

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To do deep work, you have to focus on one task, and to focus, you have to avoid distractions. That's a common-sense idea, and it's the basis for Carlson’s Law, named for Swedish economist Sune Carlson. He determined that interrupted work is always less effective and more time-consuming than un-interrupted work.

It's a lofty goal, but that doesn't mean a distraction-free zone is easy to achieve. If you want to beat Carlson's Law, you have to have a plan.

How to eliminate distractions when trying to focus

Before getting to work on anything, make sure your space is free from distractions—not just physically, but mentally. Here are a few ways to do that:

• Work somewhere with a door and keep it closed so others know you’re busy and not to interrupt you.

• Try earplugs or noise-cancelling headphones to minimize noise. 

• Turn on a white noise machine to drown out distractions. I sometimes use white noise playlists on Spotify or white noise channels on my Roku, depending where I am and what I have access to. (They're free!) Here are some of my favorite white noise YouTube channels, too.

• Use apps, extensions, and software that prevent you from accessing social media or other distracting platforms. I have two favorites: Steppin, which blocks all your distracting apps and forces you to trade minutes you earn by walking around to access them; and FocusPomo, which initiates "focus sessions" that block your apps for a pre-determined period.

If you don’t think you can work on something without getting distracted—say, if your kids are due home from school and will burst in loudly, or there are free bagels in the break room and everyone is walking past you to get one—don’t. Carlson’s Law is all about how the work you do if you’re distracted will be lower quality than what you can do if you’re focused. When you’re focused, it takes less time, too, so you’ll make up for skipping work if it’s not feasible to do it at a given time. If you work when you're distracted, not only will you produce something subpar, but you'll waste even more time going back and redoing it. Sometimes, strategizing and choosing to do nothing for the moment is the most productive thing you can do.

Strategically allocate your time

In addition to blocking out external distractions, you have to tamp down on your personal distractions, too. That means no multitasking. Every task you do should be a single mission. Don’t answer emails and work on a project. Don’t plan dinner while you’re in a meeting. When you’re doing two things, you’re distracted and neither of them will be done as efficiently as they would be if you did them one at a time. It might seem counterintuitive, but I've noticed improvements in the personal projects I care most about now that I've abandoned multitasking.

To accomplish this, you need a few rules and guidelines in place. First, organize your responsibilities in order of importance. Try using the 1-3-5 method to make your to-do list every morning, planning on completing one big task, three medium-sized tasks, and five small ones. You can use the Eisenhower matrix to figure out what those nine task should be, organizing them by urgency and timeliness using a quadrant. 

Once you figure out your tasks and the order they need to happen in, put time on your calendar for them. Even the small tasks should get their own designated “timebox” on the calendar—as should your downtime and breaks, which are as elemental to true productivity as working without distractions.

When you glance at the calendar, you’ll see each item separated and know exactly how much time you have for it. This way, they won’t run into each other, you won’t end up multitasking, and you’ll be able to focus on each action item one by one. Bonus points if you do this on a shared office calendar or one that’s visible to people around you, so they can easily see when you’re busy—and not come around and distract you. 

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