Focus Can Lead to Freedom in the Digital Era
Focusing in Times of Change
Industrial Revolution
In the book The Focus Effect, authors Greg Wells and Bruce Bowser write, we are living through a cultural change similar to what happened during the Industrial revolution one hundred years ago . The beginning of machinery required factories and the majority of the population shifted its focus from agriculture to industry. The digital era is creating a monumental change similar to that of the industrial revolution.
Digital Era
In today's digital era, a time of change so enormous, there are more mobile phones in the world than there are toilets. There is such a huge shift towards technology globally. A relatively small percentage of the population of India has access to water and power, yet the majority of the population now has a cell phone.
What a Difference Ten Years Makes
Digital technology is relatively new. It’s hard to imagine that the iPhone is just 10 years old. In those 10 short years, technology and social media has shifted everything we do. For example, according to Wells and Bowser, the average person spends more than sixty hours a year just looking to see if they have a text or email, not actually reading it. Think about what you could do with 60 extra hours a year or 90 extra minutes a week?! You could have a massage, go for a walk, mediate. You could make time for things that matter.
The Busy Culture
In this era of continuous connection we believe we have to respond and be in constant contact with one another. Sometimes we are on our computer and the phone rings or a text or email comes in. There's a constant pull to stop what we are doing to focus on something else. This ends up creating a constant state of distraction. Distraction is an epidemic affecting all human kind, right across the globe.
Where Do We Go From here?
Our society is in a time of change because of technology. The old ways to thinking that originated during the industrial revolution are obsolete. Unlike in the industrial era where conformity was the norm, it’s time to realize that we as humans are not all wired the same. Some of us are more productive in the morning and some of us are more productive at night. Because we are no longer constrained because of the machines of the industrial era there is a freedom on the horizon we have never experienced before.
Good Bye Traditional Nine - to - Five
We are in a time where the days of showing up at the office for 8 hours will soon be gone. The focus is slowly becoming about focus and adding value. The authors of the Focus Effect say “ as an employee if you want to become a star who gets noticed and promoted, do it by becoming more focused, less distracted and far more productive. Focus fuels performance."
With the Power of Focus Comes Freedom
Some of the most successful companies over the last 10 years are leaving traditional, antiquated work place practices behind and offering flexibility and life balance. They no longer embrace the old 9-5 routine. They are attracting top talent because of it.
Google Sets the Stage
Google for example, provides healthy food for its employees in cafeterias located on every floor. Food is marked with green, yellow or red labels indicating how healthy it is for you. If you want ice cream, or cake it’s marked with a red sticker because it may not be the most healthy choice. Fresh spices are available to encourage employees to cook at home. Google embraces the healthy body, healthy mind philosophy. Google seems to take a holistic approach to the employee and knows the choices we make outside and inside work impact our productivity and focus.
Google Leads the Way
Google chose to break the rules put in place during the industrial revolution. These old rules don’t apply any more. The founders of Google came up with a lifestyle that works. Google is changing our perspective on what work and work places look like. It's an exciting time where freedom is possible and focus is key.
Six Figure Mentors
We were searching for freedom in our lives. For decades we had been tied to traditional ways of doing business that no longer served the way we wanted to live our lives. We found a community of people and educational programs that allowed us to live the life we had always imagined. We longed to travel more with the flexibility to work when we want, all over the world.
Say Good-Bye to Old Ways of Thinking
Being baby-boomers, it wasn't easy letting go of the traditional ways. Our parents had taught us that we needed to be the first into the office and the last to leave to get noticed. It is a paradigm shift to realize hours don't matter, but focus does. It took a little time for us to really embrace how productive we could be when we really enjoyed what we were doing. Now, time zooms quickly. We are more creative and more inspired because we can work under a palm or a lemon tree instead of behind a desk under florescent lights.
We Put Fun and Freedom Back in Our Lives
Check out the videos available on the side and bottom of this blog. These were the very videos that opened our eyes to a world of possibilities. You too may experience what it's like to have fun and freedom back in your life. We chose to live a life of freedom and focus and say good-bye to the ways society has programmed us to think.
We look forward to joining you on your online journey.
Adrienne & Bob
We are digital entrepreneurs who took a courageous leap to start our online business. We have owned an executive recruitment company for over twenty years. The industry is being rapidly disrupted by technology. As a result of the skills we have learned our recruitment business is 100% virtual. Both of our businesses allow us flexibility to work when and where we want and do the things we enjoy.