In the current world of knowledge work, our attention is our currency, our productive asset.
This site is home to a community interested in understanding how attention works and, more importantly, how we can best utilize ours to achieve our goals.
To join the discussion, visit my blog, or check out one of the areas of focus below.
Three areas of focus
Knowledge work changes how we work. Understanding knowledge work is vital to understanding why attention is your most valuable asset and how to apply your attention to be most productive.
The Attention Compass is a workflow system that helps you understand what has your attention, what needs your attention, and how best to pursue knowledge work.
Roles are commitments you have made to stakeholders. RolesFinder is a system for highlighting your roles, understanding your commitments, and achieving your goals.
About me
I have been leading organizations in the IT space for over 20 years. I have both held formal positions and consulted with organizational leaders. I hold a Ph.D. in Information Systems Strategic Management, along with an MBA and a Masters in Enterprise Consulting. I am a Christian, a husband, a father, a friend, a consultant and writer, among many other roles.
Through my blog and my writing, my mission is to help you master your life, nothing less.
Throughout my career and my academic work, I have been challenged to be highly productive. I did my MBA, M.S., and Ph.D. work while working to support my family. In my leadership roles, I have been challenged to help others be productive. I looked at all of the management, leadership, and productivity advice and academic knowledge for answers. Over the years, I integrated much of that thinking into my own system for living life.
When I say "living life", I mean all of it.
Sure, work is an important part of life. And I hope you are doing work you love, work that excites you. But, you also have other roles that excite you. And, if you're like most people, you're furiously juggling them in an effort to meet your goals: professional, spiritual, family, health, among others. Almost everyone is...
And everyone is exhausted by it.
It's not just you. Very few people are able to face the world from a position of thoughtful calmness. We should be able to feel a sense of accomplishment and peace, at least from time to time. But, western culture and the marketplace is built on busyness and attention. Everyone is trying to claim your attention - all of your stakeholders and everyone else who wants some of your money or time. And they've gotten really good at it. So everyone is feeling the stress of constant motion...
We're slicing our attention into increasingly smaller bits.
At the same time, the economy is moving away from jobs that are routine, that only require part of our attention. Modern work is knowledge work, work that requires our full attention, our full problem solving capacity, and our full self-management skill. If you want to make a good living in the current economy, you simply can't have a routine job. Our tools and automation are too good, and too cheap. If you want to have some measure of financial success, you have to engage in knowledge work. And you have to pay attention.
That's what this site is about.
Here, I want to gather the best information and experiences about managing our attention. I've done a lot of the early work, but you have contributions to make as well. I want to use this site as a place to explore our collective wisdom, knowledge, and experiences about managing life.
I'm glad you're here.
Let's get started.