What does it say about all of us that Annalee points to “spending far too much time reading Merlin Mann’s blog” as a symptom of highly granularized attention?

I find this phenomenon (high confidence of decisions made in a cluttered environment) the single most damaging behavior that affects my work and productivity. Example: I deleted an email that provided directions to an off-site meeting I had to attend today. No problem—I mapquested the address. Turns out mapquest does not give you correct directions for this location—a 3+ year-long problem as it turns out. Result: 30 minutes late to my meeting, never mind the near stroke I had out of sheer frustration.

Solutions—not sure what they are, but disciplined ignoring of email and phone interruptions, coupled with a strong “No!” ethic for committments figure in prominently.

Ed