For Better Focus, Try Going Analog

The workplace is a busy place. Phones ring, texts chirp, emails flood your inbox. Sometimes it seems impossible to focus. There's a retro answer to all this that can restore your connection to your work: go analog. Set aside the digital gadgets, slow down and see what kind of focus an analog workflow can bring to your projects. Use these tips to see what going analog might mean for your creativity and productivity.

Disconnect

As wonderful as it usually is to be connected to the entire world and have a library at your fingertips, constant connection is the enemy of creativity. It pulls your focus in too many directions when you need to single-task. The first step toward going analog is to disconnect from all your digital gadgets. Mute your phone and step away from your computer. You have voicemail to pick up missed calls, after all, and your texts and emails will still be waiting for you when you reconnect. If it's possible, get away from your workplace and find an atmosphere that helps you focus, whether it's a coffee shop, a park bench, or even just a quiet, unused room in your office. Tell your colleagues you can't be reached for a while because you're going analog to get some work done.

Pick Up a Pen

Studies are showing that writing by hand has a unique and positive relationship with the activity of your brain. It's an excellent example of the focus analog allows you to achieve. The parts of your brain that involve language, memory and thought are much more active when you write with a pen than when you use a keyboard. In addition, writing with a pen slows you down, so you can be more thoughtful about what you're creating. When you go analog with a pen and notepad or notebook, you remove the temptation to check email, take a look at Facebook, or play a quick game. Your mind almost magically focuses on the work and only the work. Grab a notepad from the office supply closet, or pick up a higher-quality bound notebook, such as a Moleskine or Rhodia notebook, that lets you keep your thoughts in one place in the stream of consciousness order in which you discovered them.

Combine Analog and Digital

If you know the focus analog work gives you is beneficial but you still need digital output once you return to the office, consider seeking out the best of both worlds. Try working off an iPad instead of a computer, using one of the many stylus-driven apps that let you write by hand, then sync to your computer. If you need to draw diagrams or illustrations, or if doodling is part of your creative process, going analog on a digital platform might be just the answer you've been looking for.

In your overly busy world, always running at top speed, sometimes going analog for a brief time is exactly what you need to refocus and revitalize your creative process. Next time you feel stuck on a project, try unplugging and see how productive you can be when you go analog.

(Photo courtesy of Sura Nualpradid / freedigitalphotos.net)