If you want to be in control of your digital wellbeing by lowering workplace overwhelm and improving your performance then getting yourself used to doing Deep Work is imperative. We talk about this in our learning programmes at Shine Offline and use this discipline daily as a team. Our inspiration comes from academic and author Cal Newport, whose brilliant book Deep Work defines the practise as “…the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task”.

It has been proven that multitasking is a myth. The human brain is not capable of focusing on two things at once. Instead what we do is ‘task flitting’, a practise that makes us less productive as we lose time regaining concentration after each interruption. And is it any wonder that we are all flitting between tasks and find it difficult to focus when we live in a world of distraction?

For example, some recent research found that 70% of work email was opened within 6 seconds. It is normal these days to work in response mode, ready to jump at every incoming email, each ping of the smartphone or switch to another tab on the computer when we hit a challenging task.  These constant distractions and connectivity is not only unhelpful it is damaging. Staying in a perpetual “shallow” state of work trains your brain in distraction making it increasingly difficult to concentrate.  This means many of us rarely get in a state of flow, the state where we produce our best work, are happiest and find purpose.  If you can master the skill of finding your flow and learn to focus in a distracted world this can help increase your digital wellbeing and help you to really shine in your work.  

Start to follow these three simple steps and you’ll find yourself working a more focused way.

1. Create and write down a schedule for your day – what do you need to accomplish and what times are you going to do them?  Your inbox is one of the biggest forms of distraction so decide the times when you will check and process your emails.  Importantly set aside time for demanding, difficult or important tasks for focused ‘deep work’ when you can work without distraction.
2. Remove digital distractions – when focusing on a task close your inbox, put phones out of sight, place them on flight or DND mode or use apps like OFFTIME or FOREST to help eliminate or minimize interruptions.  It’s about doing whatever it takes to let yourself focus on the main thing you’re trying to accomplish.
3. Set a time limit – if you have become used to working in a distracted way it can take time to build your capacity to focus for periods of time.  Start by setting yourself a timer for 25 minutes but stay on the allocated task – you’ll be amazed at what you can achieve!  With practice, you can build the capacity for deep and focused work to longer periods.

Remember it is in your power to transform your mind and habits, to reclaim your focus and escape from constantly being in reactive and response mode.

Constantly checking and fiddling with your phone can wreck your workout. Have a look at our top tips on why you should consider taking a break from your emails and Instagram feed when exercising.

1. GET INTO THE ZONE
You can’t get the most from your work out and get into the ‘zone’ if you allow your phone to distract and interrupt you. Just as you can’t concentrate on completing a piece of work or reading a book if your phone is constantly pinging, vibrating and flashing from notifications. If you find the idea of being parted from your phone really tough why don’t you ‘reward’ yourself with a smartphone fix at the end of a tough workout – you can lose yourself in your Instagram feed (or email, or snapchat, or game) guilt free knowing that you have earned the indulgence.

2. TUNE INTO YOUR BODY
Exercises like Yoga and Thai Chi which are centred on mental focus as well as physical control and strength are great for cognitive development, managing stress and mental health. You can apply this focus to any exercise that you do, be that lifting weights in the gym or running in the park. Remove all digital distractions, concentrate on your breath and tune into your movements and you can give your mind a healthy work out at the same time as your body.

3. LOOK UP
If you leave your phone on, interact with it or let it distract you whilst exercising you are more likely injure yourself. Actually using your phone to change songs, text, browse or call will effect your balance and stability meaning the likelihood of an embarrassing fall from the treadmill, never mind distracted joggers running into traffic.

4. GO NAKED!
Beware fitness apps, whilst they can be useful to motivate and track your training they can also be addictive and disassociate you from what your body is telling you. I became so fixated on the data from running apps, concerned about my mileage, speed, performance that I failed to listen to my body and ran into injury. I now run naked! Not NAKED, naked but without a watch, a phone or a running app. I feel much more in tune with my body, my performance has improved and I am coming back from runs refreshed and rejuvenated. You can read more here about my marathon training without technology here.

5. OUT OF SIGHT OUT OF MIND
If you really can’t be parted with your phone, or feel it offers security when you are running outside for example, at least have it zipped away. Turn it off, switch it to flight mode or try using apps that will disable the use of the functions on your phone (some that we love are here). OFFTIME for example is an app that lets you choose what functions you need to use within a defined period of time and disable the rest. So you could still listen to Spotify for example during your workout. Just remember to prepare your playlist in advance and keep your phone zipped in a pocket so you aren’t tempted to let it distract you.

6. DITCH THE GYM SELFIES
No one looks at their best red faced and sweaty. Remember that fitness is not just about looking good – feel the strength in your own body and focus on what it can do, rather than how you look and you’ll get a lot more out of your work out.

7. FIND A NEW DOPAMINE HIT
If you find it agonising to be parted with your phone for even a short workout it may mean that you have developed a behavioural addiction. So what does this mean? Dopamine floods the brain when you engage in social media, gaming, online shopping or whatever your particular smartphone vice is. Professor Greenfield who is the founder of a technology addiction clinic has said we are all carrying around ‘portable dopamine pumps’. If you are addicted, abstinence is hard so you need to think of healthier ways to get your dopamine fix. What better way of naturally boosting your dopamine levels than through exercise? Be brave and go for a tough work out without the tech, keep the phone off whilst you shower and get dressed, let your mind run free. You may just find a more fulfilling natural high than the one you are seeking when you obsessively swipe and tap a screen.

At Shine Offline we value the role of digital technology in our lives and are working to assist people in using it more mindfully as opposed to not using it at all. By questioning our relationship with technology, changing our habits and setting a Shining example to those around us, we can start to really reconnect with ourselves and others and live a better, more balanced life.

It’s up to managers to make sure employees disconnect from work – only with the support of line managers will workers be able to manage digital distractions and balance their work and home lives, writes Anna Kotwinski

Let’s think back to a time when our working likes were very different to how they are today. We don’t have to rewind too far…

It’s 1999. When an employee leaves the office at the end of a busy day, shuts down their computer for the weekend, or smugly composes an out of office message before a holiday, they also leave work behind. And now? The majority of us are carrying our work around in our pockets – to the pub, to the family meal table, and often to the beach or ski slope.

The smartphone has completely transformed the way we do business. It has provided incredible opportunities for flexible working, but that flexibility has come at a high cost. A culture has developed where employees increasingly feel the need to be available around the clock, where responsiveness is too often equated to commitment, and boundaries between professional and personal life are blurred like never before. Employees choosing to work long hours to get ahead is nothing new, but in a new digital age where individuals can be contactable and engage 24/7, arousal levels are continually peaked and the mind has no time for recovery. Dr Almuth McDowall, a psychologist at the University of London, has warned that these behaviours are not sustainable and that the effects on wellbeing and danger of burnout are the same whether the expectation to be available is explicit, implicit or self-imposed.

Time and time again, people tell us about the trouble they have disconnecting from work; the impact this has on their personal relationships and families; how it increases stress; and suffering the compulsion to ‘just check’ their messages on holidays and weekends.

Read the full article here

‘Before I know it I’ve had a 30 minute break from work . . . ‘
Richard, a previous participant of our workshops, seeks advice to stop him getting sucked into lengthy internet browsing sessions.

Richard wrote:
‘My personal digital distractions tend to be articles from BBC News, football comment, fan blogs and business update websites. I can often find myself going through 8–10 different articles at a time, and before I know it I’ve had a 30 minute break from work.
Do you have any advice on how to catch myself doing this and to then stop?
Are there any internet browser monitoring apps you recommend where I could measure how much I’m doing of this?’

Dear Richard,

You are not alone
I fully understand the way you can get sucked into an internet black hole. We like to believe that we are all behaving with individual choice and freedom but in actuality whenever we go onto the internet our choices are manipulated by menus we did not choose in the first place. The internet is designed to distract and capture your attention, stimulate your brain to feel that it must react and keep clicking from one link to another.

One of the key things that we seek to do in our sessions is to help people question their own behaviours and acknowledge what issues they may have with digital distraction in their lives. The very fact that you recognise what your sticking points are is in itself is the first step to gaining control of your digital behaviours and regaining control.

Make some rules
Taking a 5 minute break from your work online is not in itself a bad thing. It could provide a much needed interruption to refresh your mind and it seems you are seeking out subjects that are of genuinely of interest to you. See if you can try and set yourself a time for your digital breaks, making simple rules and sticking to them can really break habits and make you aware of your behaviours. Frances Booth in her book The Distraction Trap suggests setting a timer for 5 minutes (or however long you are seeking ‘distraction’) and stop at that time to break the browsing habit. Or how about if it is just a break you are seeking you get up and put the kettle on instead, or grab a few minutes fresh air.

Read it later
If you want to read something but know it is not the best time or are able to catch yourself there are plenty of ‘read it later’ and read it offline apps that work both on smartphones and the major internet browsers. These apps will turn any web page into a clean view for reading now or later on your computer, smartphone, or tablet so get rid of all clutter, links and ads that can keep us distracted. Try Readability, Pocket or Instapaper.

Cold hard shock
If you’d like to shock yourself into reducing your digital distraction maybe some cold, hard stats would help. Time Stats tracks website stats and helps you to collect stats of the sites you visit. It’s quick to access and easy to use. Be Limitless is another app that easily identifies where your time is spent and gives productivity suggestions. Apps, such as QualityTime for Android and Moment for iOS monitor your phone usage and inform you just how many hours a day you’re spending on your phone. These apps also allow you to set alerts to remind you if you are using your phone too much.

Different techniques will work for different people but by simply understanding what you want from the internet when you go online, and more profoundly what the internet wants from you in trying to keep you there, will help you better manage your distractions and procrastination and seize back control of your time both in and out of work.

Good luck!

Anna

Are you addicted to your iPhone? Does your boss email you on a Saturday night? Can your girlfriend not stay off Facebook? Whatever issues you have managing technology email Anna and we’ll do what we can to help.

1. Leave your phone at the bedroom door
A 2014 study found that the average smartphone user reaches for their phone by 7.31am to check emails and social media. At Shine Offline we’ve invested in alarm clocks to remove the smartphone from the bedroom and found that leaving our phones off while we get up, dressed and eat breakfast makes for a better start to the day.

2. Out of sight, out of mind
If your smartphone is always within arm’s reach, the temptation is to check it every few minutes. Make sure there are times you turn it off, put it in a drawer, your work bag or even a sock! Make some rules about your phone free time – a proper break for lunch, to focus on an important deadline, kid’s bedtime.

3. Turn off notifications and use ‘flight mode’
If the apps on your phone are set to alert you to emails, social media and every time there is a bid on your old sofa on eBay then you will be distracted by it all day. Turn the default notifications off or even remove certain apps from your phone altogether. Make use of ‘flight mode’ and stop texts and calls coming through.

4. Good old fashioned pen and paper
Any questions on any topic can now be answered through the power of Google. Amazing. But the distraction of constantly going online can get in the way of a productive day. The solution is simple. Carry a small notepad and pen and every time something pops up that requires you to go online resist the temptation of doing it there and then. Start a list and a few times a day go online to action it.

5. Have designated online time
Rather than leaving your inbox and half a dozen browsers open on your computer all day, create certain time frames to be online. That includes deciding a certain number of times a day to check your email as well as designated admin time. Write yourself a task list for the next day, and at the start of the working day tackle your most important tasks before you open your inbox. It takes discipline but you’ll be surprised how productively your day can start and how clearer your mind can be. Be brave and experiment – you’ll soon find what works best for you.

6. Be mindful and reclaim the pause in your day
When we are constantly distracted by technology we are never fully present in the moment. At Shine Offline meditation offers a solution giving a break from constant bombardment of information and some space back to focus on and what is important. Resist the temptation to automatically reach for your phone every time you are sat on a bus, in your lunch break or waiting for an appointment. Try and be mindful and break that habit. Instead of looking at your phone on your commute, read a book, look out of the window or just close your eyes and breathe.

Embracing the experience! High fiving a Womble at the Wimbledon Common Half Marathon

Like thousands of others I have signed up to a Spring marathon and launched into 2016 with a training plan to get me to the start mentally and physically prepared for the 26.2 miles ahead. Part of that plan is to run naked more often.

Yup, you read right. NAKED.

No, no, not actually no-clothes-naked. That would be streaking and no one needs to see that. Besides it’s a bit chilly this time of year and I’d have nowhere to keep my house key.

Running naked is a term meaning ditching the technology, just lacing up your shoes and heading out the door into the elements like it is 1995. Radical eh? Well to many and certainly to me – yes!

Technology continues to permeate every aspect of our lives, and wearable running tech is big business. There are GPS watches, heart rate monitors, trainer inserts, head cams not to mention a dizzying array of phone apps to tell us how fast, how far, calories burnt, to improve cadence, pre-programme training, plan routes, navigate . . . . And if you need an incentive to up your pace, there is even an app placing runners in a zombie apocalypse world pursued by the undead.

The undead aside (there are other blogs for that), how much does all this technology really enhance your run, your performance and crucially does it have an impact on the sense of escapism many runners seek when they reach for their trainers?

Since joining the Shine Offline team I have been thinking more and more about my own reliance and interaction with the technology in my life.

There is always ‘an app for that’ and technology to make life simpler and less stressful. But does it? When in my life is technology beneficial and when might it be an idea to take a break and go back to basics: walking across the office to talk to a colleague rather than emailing? Having an alarm clock by the bed not a mobile? . . . What about running without a GPS watch?

On a recent social evening run with my Bearcat running club friends we had a 6-mile loop mapped out that started and ended at a pub (a frequent occurrence – I do love my running club!) As we approached the end of our route and the promise of a refreshing pint we realised we had in fact only run 5.9 miles. So what did we do? We ran a 100 metres or so up the road and back so we could all stop our watches at exactly 6 miles. A few months ago this would not have struck me as bizarre in the slightest. Many an odd look have I had from neighbours as I have zigzagged outside my house so I can clock up a precise number of miles.

The last time I ran a marathon was in 2007. I had an ipod so that Dolly Parton could keep me company on long runs (don’t judge me) and a simple stop watch. My training runs I ran for time on my feet, perceived effort and estimated distance. I didn’t have a clue how far or fast I was actually running. In recent years I have tried to get back to marathon running (and failed, more of that later) and have marvelled at the tech available to me from my basic Garmin watch and an inexpensive app on my phone. The operations, organisation and social aspect of my wonderful running club are run through Facebook and I am also part of an online community of female runners. This has kept me motivated, provided structure, built friendships and let me better understand my running.

But can you have too much of a good thing? For me, the answer is yes and I think this has had both performance and psychological consequences.

Let’s start with performance
It certainly would not be true to blame my scuppered 2015 marathon plans entirely on technology, but one thing for certain is I got carried away in January, I over trained and I became injured. And technology played a part in that. I set a pace on my watch so it would beep if I dropped below a certain speed. I became obsessed with building up online data through my Garmin as evidence to myself that I was on track. I was over concerned about the training progress of running friends on social media, how long and fast their runs were and I was swept into a Facebook 100-mile challenge. I was training my body, but my head was full of noise, data, the nagging beeping of my watch and the ping of social media. I was out of tune with my body so rather than recognising the warning signs I ran myself into injury.

And then in September last year a funny thing happened. By then injury free I was at the start line of Richmond Running Festival Half marathon. It was a beautiful morning, in Kew Gardens and there I am fussing and waving my left arm frantically in the air and cursing my Garmin as it fails to pick up a signal. It was an anxious start to the race as I was forced to run ‘naked’. How could I tell if I was running fast enough to reach my goal? What if I had set out too fast and would burn myself out? How could I possibly pace myself? But after the first mile I settled into a natural rhythm, got my game face on and ran my ass off. The result? I was shocked to find out I took seven minutes off my previous best time.

Psychological
But running for me is not just about performance. Yes, I set myself goals, but primarily when I run whether alone or in company I do so to get out in nature, to feel the air in my lungs, the strength in my limbs, to leave all the stresses and challenges of daily life behind and escape for a short time. I want to run to that point when the endorphins kick in and all that positive brain stuff happens.

However, in recent times, even when just taking a short ‘runch break’ in a busy working day, I would step out of the door and fuss about the GPS on my watch, check Spotify had downloaded, worry about phone battery, were my Bluetooth headphones connecting and on occasion start my Runtastic app as GPS back up. After all, how could I be sure I had actually run at all without the data to back it up? Calls and emails might interrupt a run, and when I stopped for recovery I would have checked my inbox before getting back in the door as well as reviewing my running stats, uploading the data and deciding whether to share on social media.

I disconnected from nothing. There was no escapism, no sanctuary. I took everything I sought to escape and zipped it in my pocket.

Running naked
The realisation that my tech use whilst running might have an impact on both my happiness and my performance was a big one.

It is an interesting term ‘running naked’. It suggests something daring and radical but also suggests vulnerability. Taking both my phone and watch was a habit, something I was doing automatically without even thinking. And yet the conscious decision to leave them at home even for a short run was surprisingly hard to do. But I am so glad I did!

It really is liberating to get out there and not have to think about your watch or phone! My running feels more focused, I am more aware of my breathing, my form, the world around me and I have space to think again.

I had a joyful moment pausing in Richmond Park early one morning and enjoying the tranquility, the outline of the stags on the sky and a heron by the pond. I reached for my phone and had a pang of regret that I did not have it with me. But this memory has stayed with me, as an experience for its own sake and not as a photo opportunity to tweak and enhance and share on www.

More and more often these days I am deciding to leave for a run with nothing but my oyster card and a house key. Maybe a fiver for emergency haribos.

Finding the right balance – who is running this show anyway?
Don’t get me wrong, I certainly have not ditched the technology completely and there is no question it offers enormous resources when training for my marathon. In my experience though you can have too much of a good thing, so I am seeking to find the right balance: listening to my body more, simplifying things and trying to use technology in a more mindful way.

For routes and distances I already know I run tech free and run for effort. New routes I map out in advance on WalkJogRun (www.walkjogrun.net) and on the occasions I do wish to make use of GPS I use a phone app, make sure that it is on flight mode and tucked away with the sound turned off. This way I can access the run data when needed but I can with as few distractions as possible JUST RUN!

I have every intention of being at on the start line of the Brighton marathon this year. I may even leave my watch on the bedside table!

Anna
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At Shine Offline we value the role of digital technology in our lives and are working to assist people in using it more mindfully as opposed to not using it at all. By questioning our relationship with technology, changing our habits and setting a Shining example to those around us, we can start to really reconnect with ourselves and others and live a better, more balanced life.
www.shineoffline.com