What is Attention Compass and How will it help me? - DBR 022

Episode 22 of the Do Busy Right - The Task and Attention Management Podcast podcast, hosted by Larry Tribble, Ph.D., titled "What is Attention Compass and How will it help me? - DBR 022" was published on March 22, 2024 and runs 57 minutes.

March 22, 2024 ·57m · Do Busy Right - The Task and Attention Management Podcast

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Episode Description

What is Attention Compass and How will it help me?

This is one of a series of posts that are going to discuss Attention Compass in detail. Attention Compass is my proprietary tool and workflow to put you in control of your information and attention - making you a better more confident knowledge worker and reducing your stress over your productivity. My goal is to equip any listener with the tools needed to implement Attention Compass.

I think many people are struggling with the problem(s) that AC solves – overwhelm, associated stress, and fear that things are falling through the cracks. If that's you, I want to serve you as best I can. So, I'll tell you how to implement your own Attention Compass. If you try to do it and struggle, give me a call and I'll help you get it fixed.

We'll start with some assumptions that explain why Attention Compass is built the way it is. This will help you make decisions about how you want to use your Attention Compass. It should also help you figure out more about why you want to have an Attention Compass.

Underlying assumptions

There are more than we could ever…

There are more things to do than we could ever get done
There are more things to know than we could ever look at
Sounds like bad news, but… this makes us fear forgetting/losing/missing something

This fear is low-level, continually stressful for us

Our memories are unreliable as to time, particularly in the future
We know this so we create artifacts and systems, but our brains don't trust them
Misusing the 'workbench', the productive asset, our mind/brain
That means we need to get things off our mind

Implications

More than we can look at and more than we can get done = a ton of stuff

More information than will fit in our brain
Not actually two types, so one kind of storage will work
It's going to be a huge number of things (double huge)

This means that we have to store it in a system

There are only two choices
If we try to use people
We're left with some kind of system

Task management

We get paid on delivering artifacts and we call the work to do so 'tasks'
Most of us don't get paid to deliver random bits of information, but we still need to store reference info
So, tasks need to be first-class citizens in our information management system
A task is just a specific kind of information
Aside on managing time vs. attention
The system is a tool for storing stuff in the right ways (as defined by our analysis earlier)
It's an electronic tool
In addition to the tool, Attention Compass has four workflows

Properties of the system

Electronic is best

"Intangible" = not quite a physical reality
Oddly, this is one place where people tend to hang on to analog, maybe because it's something like a book?
More portable
Updates are easier
Distributes (automatically) more places
More searchable
More ways to organize it (a physical store can only have one (direct) index)

And we need to use a backlog (metaphor) to store it

We've tried other storage metaphors (catalog, schedule), but they didn't work – good and bad places to park
What a backlog is
More definition of backlog
More backlog justification (vs. PMI 'calendar' and WBS)

And we have to make and track postponement decisions

Example postponing a task (grass cutting)
When we say we're 'not doing' something, we're usually postponing
Postponement decision needs to be tracked

Some recap of logic to date
About Attention Compass

So, these things mean that you need a personal Info Mgt System
Attention compass is a personal information management system

The four workflows (most frequent to least)

Capture

Observing the internal world
Observing the external world
Capture is semi-continuous, event-driven

Processing

Turn it in to want it is
Put it where it belongs

Daily review

Don't have to make a to-do list
Pull from the backlog
Validate against other commitments

Weekly Review – the bigger picture

Maximum clarity and control

So what?

Now you understand some of the ideas of Attention Compass. Pick one and work to implement it in your life - tracking your postponement decisions is a good example. You can go to my website for instructions on how to make a physical system (called a "tickler file") that will put you in complete control of your postponements.

As you create this habit, you will begin to see a new clarity and confidence about your tasks and attention management. This should encourage you to continue your efforts to improve in this critical area of your knowledge work life.