To getting more done

All talk

Conversation is a two-way street, and distractions are detrimental to it. Research shows that simply having a phone on the table is sufficiently distracting to reduce empathy and rapport between two people in conversation. Multi-part questions should also be streamlined. Journalists have been advised to stop asking multi-part questions of Donald Trump at Slate magazine — be blunt, the theory is, you might learn something.

Work it out

If you’ve got a big task at hand, the last thing you need to distract you is a hyperactive mailbox. Hop on a treadmill, go for a run or hit the pool to escape the rat race and gain some perspicuity. Studies have shown that interspersed aerobic-style activities improve concentration: a 2016 study of Dutch schoolchildren showed that 20-minute physical activity bouts significantly increased “selective attention”.

In too deep

While we celebrate dexterity, we are evidently not evolved to cope. Cal Newport, an associate professor of computer science at Georgetown University and the author of Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World, is a firm advocate of “deep work”, in which one commits at least 90 minutes to any task, putting it in the calendar and determining to completing it.

Home comforts

At home, don’t tweet through television shows. The more distracted you are, the less you will enjoy the tasks you set yourself as your attention divides. Musk is no fool. If we apply ourselves with focus, the sky’s the limit.

@fish_o_wick