Latest / The Action Catalyst / REMASTERED: Attention Pays, with Neen James (Leadership, Time Management, Efficiency, Productivity)

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REMASTERED: Attention Pays, with Neen James (Leadership, Time Management, Efficiency, Productivity) · The Action Catalyst

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Host: Neen James has a book called Attention Pays, How to
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Drive Profitability, Productivity and Accountability
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to Achieve Maximum Results. Neen, welcome to the show.
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Neen James: What a delight to be able to serve your listeners.
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Host: The thing I'm always interested in, especially in
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productivity. What is new? What do you think is the forward
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thinking element of this book? And how do you think this
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advances the conversation around productivity and results?
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Neen James: When you think about time, time is going to happen,
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whether you like it or not, you and I, we get the same 1440
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minutes in a day. We can't control time. Time's a great
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equalizer, and time is not prejudiced. And I don't believe
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in time management. I think time management's out the window. And
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in the world, we don't have a time management crisis. We have
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an attention crisis. You can't manage time, but you can manage
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your attention. We get a choice about what we want to gift our
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attention to, and I think we have developed this attention
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deficit society. And I'm not talking add that's something
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very different, that's medically diagnosed. I'm talking about an
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attention deficit society where people are wandering around to
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your point. They're overwhelmed, they're overstressed. We are
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attached to our devices. When I was researching the book
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attention pays, I named this overwhelmed, overstressed,
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overtired as the over trilogy. And we did all this research
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around the concerns people have. And I don't know if you've heard
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this, but one of the things we uncovered in our research is
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just take a stab. How many times do you think we touch our cell
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phone in a day? Just like take a guess how many times? According
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to D Scout study last year, the average user touches their cell
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phone 2617 times a day, like that. Imagine touching anything
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or anyone that many times a day. But here's what concerns me
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about that is, I think what's happened in moving the
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conversation forward is we've made technology more important
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than people, and so what's happening is we're creating
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these behaviors and habits where, if the person's not
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engaging us, we look to our device, or when, as leaders,
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when people come into our office, we don't look up from
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our computer. We keep finishing that email. I watch people when
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they're out on this hot date, and they're both sitting there
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texting. It's crazy, and I think devices have a place, and I'm
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not anti cell phones, and I love the way they help us stay
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connected in the world. However, I think what is really important
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as leaders to think about is, how do you truly want to get
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people focused on the results, whether it's productivity,
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profitability, and holding that team accountable? And so the
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work when I was my body of work now, is really focused on
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advancing the conversation who deserves your attention? What
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deserves your attention? And how are you going to pay attention
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in the world? And that's what we call the attention pace
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framework. So personally, professionally and globally,
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because we need to pay attention to those important
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relationships. And think about the way we show up in the world,
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with our spiritual lives, emotional lives, relational
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lives, our physical lives, like we have an educational life.
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There's all these components to us. And when you think about the
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fact that, let's just stay like some basics, if you don't get
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the sleep you need, you don't have the energy that you need,
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if you don't take care of your body and you eat the right
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things if you're not meditating or doing your quiet time or
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whatever that means it looks like for you. These components.
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What happens is we constantly respond to busy. And I think we
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live in a society where we try and out busy each other like
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it's fascinating to me, especially in the US where we
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were busy like a badge of honor, like you go to a party or you go
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to a meeting, if someone says, Well, how are you? And you're
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like, Oh, I'm busy. And then someone goes, Oh, my God, you
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think you're busy. I'm so busy. And we're like, wearing this,
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like it's something we're proud of. And what I want people to
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think about is we can have 100% choice about who gets our
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attention and where we're spending our time and our
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energy. And so I think what's happening is we're just doing
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things. We're crossing things off lists, and the wrong things
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are making it to our list. We're going through our email, but
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we're not diligently being strategic about what really
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requires our attention.
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Host: So let's talk about that specifically. How do you decide
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who deserves your attention? Yep, this does deserve
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attention, and. Nope. This does not.
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Neen James: Think of it as like concentric circles. In the
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middle circle, you have those most intimate relationships. So
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obviously our attention is going to be to our intimate circle
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first, then it's going to be maybe the immediate circle.
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These are people like your family, your extended, close
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relationships, and these are the people that we wear in our
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heart, that us, that have that place in our heart, that are
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super important. But then when you think about that, it then
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goes out beyond that, and we look at the colleagues that we
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work with, our team, members, that we serve, our leadership,
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that we serve, our clients we serve, and then ultimately,
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wider than that, is our community. Many of us have board
5:39
positions volunteers in our church community temple. So if
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you think of it as concentric circles, and when you're really
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pressed for time, you want to think about how close are these
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people to you. And so when you consider what priorities you
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have on your plate, the people that you care the most deeply
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about are often the reason you work as hard as you do, the
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reason people work so hard and get stressed and get tired is
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they're trying to create a lifestyle for people they love.
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The challenge is that those people end up getting the
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leftovers because they're working so hard, they don't have
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the best of that individual. I just want leaders to start to
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consider how they're prioritizing and scheduling
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their time so that that intimate and immediate circle become a
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priority in their calendar. You might have, as a leader,
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multiple meetings you get invited to, but you want to
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think about of those meetings, of those people, those
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relationships, who's going to advance what meetings can you
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attend? What people can you invest in? What relationships do
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you need to improve to ultimately impact your results.
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And most leaders that I know have their own KPIs key
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performance indicators, that it could be profitability targets,
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it might be performance objectives, but there are things
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that are going to impact that. So we have to think about who in
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those circles is impacting those results, and that will help you
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make those decisions about who deserves your attention. And I
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think of my life in seasons. And so for example, there are
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certain seasons when you publish a new book, when you released
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your company, when you were building your team, when you had
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a new baby. We have these seasons in our life, and those
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seasons often dictate who becomes the focus of our
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attention. So when you write a new book, like attention pays
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it's like having a baby. It's maybe not as physically painful,
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but it's emotionally ridiculous, right? So it's going to be time
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consuming, thought consuming. It's going to be the focus of my
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time and attention when we look at our calendar and the seasons
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in our life, there will always be choices. There will always be
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people who want your attention. There will be people that want
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you to serve churches, temples, associations, industries, there
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will be people on the team who want more of your attention than
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others, and one of the things that we have to think about is
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it's not selfish to take self care. And so you may need to
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start with yourself and think about, Okay, today, what do I
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need to do? Who do I need to invest in? In order for me to
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advance my goals, my objectives, my relationships? Are you going
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to feel bad? Yeah. Are you going to disappoint people?
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Absolutely. Are you going to feel a little bad about those
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things? Definitely. And we have to, as leaders, come to terms
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with the fact that we can't be everything to everyone. We can't
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be at every meeting. We can't be at every board meeting or
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Association event or conference we want to attend, we have to
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make very deliberate choices. And I really believe that our
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attention is a choice. Attention is all about connection. We get
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to choose who we want to connect with and how that's going to
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connect us to the bigger objectives we have.
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Host: Talk to me about what to lend your attention to. I think
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you describe this as professionally, right?
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Neen James: Yeah, this is really, if you think about what
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deserves your attention, is how do you really get productive?
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It's really about choosing what is going to deserve your
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attention. Now, for many of the leaders I work with, they have
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KPIs, K performance indicators, or they have objectives. And
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many of your listeners would have their own version of goals,
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whether it's the personal or professional goals that they've
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set up. But what is all about prioritizing the time and
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attention you have to achieve the goals that you have in your
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life? So for many whether you're an individual, whether you're an
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entrepreneur, whether you're a solopreneur, maybe you're a
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speaker listening to this, maybe you are a service leader, a
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community leader, what you want to think about is one of the
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things that will actually advance what it is your working
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lunch. So for me, I'm going to call that productivity. One of
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the things I encourage people to think about is think about time
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in a different way. So if we'll get that 1440 minutes in a day,
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and chances are these days, people don't feel like they have
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an hour anymore, could you just look at time in 15 minute
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increments. I think 15 minutes is the key to productivity, and
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if you can have 15 dedicated minutes, it's amazing what you
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can achieve. And so what I encourage all my leaders to do,
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let's just start with a 15 minute strategic appointment
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with yourself every single day. Have one strategic appointment
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at the beginning. Of the day. And here's what I encourage all
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my leaders to do. And it doesn't matter whether they're
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executives from Paramount Pictures, Comcast, J and J, all
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the leaders I work with, they have this 15 minute strategic
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appointment. And what they do is they identify their top three
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not negotiable activities. So before your head hits the pillow
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tonight, what's your three? And I look my simplest way to do
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this. I've tried every app, spreadsheet, you name it. I've
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tried it, and I still come back to a super fancy little post it
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note. And on the post it note, I literally write today I will,
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and then I write my three things. It is truly the easiest
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thing, because that little 20 post it note becomes your
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decision filtering system, and you can carry that post it note
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with you everywhere. So it's just one strategic appointment.
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It's 15 minutes slow, and you identify your top three not
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negotiable activities. And every listener can do that just by
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investing 15 minutes. And they get hyper clear on what's most
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essential for today. So the what is about identifying, what is
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your not negotiable activities that absolutely must get
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completed.
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Host: One of the words that you introduce here, which I think is
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powerful, is globally. So can you talk about the concept of
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what you mean when you use the word globally?
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Neen James: I do. I think that the way that we choose to show
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up in the world, this is the how, like, how are we really
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taking care of? Let's look at the resources we have the planet
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that we live on. So globally, is not just the world in which we
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live and taking care to make sure we're paying attention, to
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recycle and protect the species and just to be a better human,
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to make better, more responsible decisions. It's also about the
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community in which you serve. And for many people, it could be
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that, if you're listening to this, maybe you are involved in
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your school board, maybe you are involved in your church
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community, maybe you are involved in a community where
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you can then think about, how do I show up as the best version of
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myself? How do I take care of the resources that I have, the
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people that I serve? So global to me is obviously a planet in
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which we live and how we're paying attention to that. But
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also, too, if you think about this as a business owner, and I
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know many of your listeners are business owners. As business
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owners, we have a responsibility to take care of the resources
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that we are given, and it could be as simple as implementing a
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recycling program in your organization. And so many
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organizations have done a brilliant job of engaging their
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employees and helping with this many of the clients I work with,
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some of my pharmaceutical clients, for example, they give
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their employees a day of service where they are at choice about
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where they want to serve in the community or something they're
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passionate about, and they're paid for this day because the
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company is so committed to that there are organizations. One of
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my favorites is an organization called City Year. It's a
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partnership that Comcast, one of my clients, Dave Gon, is on
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their board, and so every year, they support City Year. And City
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Year is just a phenomenal organization, but what Comcast
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has done as a corporate citizen is support City Year. There are
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so many ways that as companies, we can do it. As leaders, we can
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look for opportunities to encourage our team to give their
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attention to things that they're passionate about. Doc Kenley,
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Wine to Water. He saw a need for he was a bartender in Raleigh,
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North Carolina, and he realized the world needed more water, and
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there were places without it, and so he created these wells
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all over the world. There are so many ways we can pay attention
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to the planet we live on, and the community, the communities
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we serve in, and we just have to start directing our attention,
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because we may only have a small amount of time, but we
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definitely have resources and attention we can give to it.
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Host: And so how do you just kind of reconcile that the
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conflict you know kind of coming back to your you know early on,
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where you have, like, your intimate circle, your immediate
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circle, and then you get out to the community. And now here,
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when you start singing globally, is that the same thing is kind
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of going, Okay, think about certain places we can use our
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attention. Are those the same two levels in that conversation?
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Or are they different? And how do you...
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Neen James: I think they can intersect. I think they're
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different. So for example, if you're a leader listening to
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this, you have employees who work with you. There might be
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particular things they were really passionate about. As an
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organization, are you able to even implement something like a
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matching program that every dollar they donate to a
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particular organization, your organization matches it. That's
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not actually going to take you a lot of time, but as an
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organization, you're saying we stand for something. It might be
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as a leader that you have the opportunity to control
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sponsorship dollars for different events. Maybe that's a
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way. So you may not have a lot of time on your hands, but you
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may have resources. It could be the opposite. It could be you
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don't have a lot of finance. Resources to contribute, but you
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do have time where you could volunteer and you could help. So
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I think it is that outer concentric circle of community,
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but I do believe that each of us has a responsibility to truly
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take care of the community we serve in and the greater world
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now being Australian, Australians are very
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environmentally we're a small country, we recycle everything
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like things are organic, just because they are and that's sort
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of how I grew up. And then when I moved to the US, there was a
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really big disconnect. And so for me, I think there is a
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incredible personal passion too, but it doesn't have to be a big
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deal. Imagine if people just started like recycling in their
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homes a little more diligently. Imagine if we just took more
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care about maybe there's an opportunity to walk catch public
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transport, as opposed to constantly getting in our cars.
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Now this is my little bandwagon. This is my little soapbox, I
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guess. And I think each of us every day can make different
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decisions around what we're putting our attention towards
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that have a greater impact on the world, at home, at work and
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in your community, it's another set of circles, and I think for
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each of us, it doesn't have to be something we're spending time
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on every day. I just want to raise the awareness of how we're
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investing our global attention.
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Host: So I have one other question for you in just a
16:15
second about leaders. But before I do that, where do you want
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people to go to connect with you? And Attention Pays again,
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is the name of the book. Where do you want people to go, Neen?
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Neen James: I'm the only Neen James online. So if you Google
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Neen James, n, e, e n, j, A, M, E s.com, you will find me. So
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Neen James on Twitter and LinkedIn. If you want to see my
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adventures, go to Instagram, but you'll be able to find
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everything you need about the book. If you just do a search by
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my name, there's only one Neen James online.
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Host: So our last little question for you. Neen, in the
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spirit of leadership, business owners and leaders measure every
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financial cost to a business, but almost nobody measures and
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tracks the amount of time that is wasted, or in your case,
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let's say, the amount of attention that is wasted. But
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when you're a leader, knowing that attention is a form of
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currency. Every second of attention that someone on your
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team is spending on something that is not in alignment with
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the vision or the objectives that you're moving them, there
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is a real financial cost to that. So what is a leader would
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be the very first thing you would suggest that they take
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action on?
17:22
Neen James: The first thing I would suggest is eliminate
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distractions. In according to the information overload group,
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it costs us businesses 580 $8 billion every year because of
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constant interruptions. So think about how do we eliminate
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distractions? And just as a leader, one of the biggest
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distractions is you. You as the leader are often the problem,
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right? Because you're constantly saying to your team, hey, you
17:45
have a second. You have a minute to have a second, you have a
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minute. It's never a second. It's never a minute. And then
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you might say to someone, Hey, can you What do you think about
17:52
this man? That person then takes that and says, Oh, my God, my
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boss wants me to go find out about this. And so they go on
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this path as a leader, you call meetings unnecessarily. You've
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always had an 830 Monday morning meeting, so you still have the
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830 Monday morning meeting. And I'm suggesting maybe what you
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want to consider is every time you ask someone to spend their
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minutes with you, they never get them back. So as a leader, can
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you eliminate some of the distractions, including how you
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are a distraction to your team as well. I often consult to
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organizations, let's just say, even on their environment, some
18:25
of my clients have moved from offices to open plan
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productivity. And while open plan is collaborative and it's
18:32
fun and it's energetic, it can also bring its own set of
18:36
challenges. And so for many of my clients have had to be able
18:39
to teach them. How do you pay attention in these fast moving,
18:43
open plan environments? I want to encourage the leaders have a
18:45
look at where you can eliminate distractions. Maybe encourage
18:49
people to wear headphones if they're trying to get work done.
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Book a meeting space if they're trying to get very thoughtful,
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strategic work done. Allow some of your team members to work
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from home if they're working on something strategic and
19:00
important, start canceling meetings that are unnecessary.
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Stop sending emails late at night. Oh my gosh. So many
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leaders that I work with, I beg them to stop sending emails late
19:10
at night, while it may be out of your brain and in someone else's
19:14
inbox, every time you send a team member an email late at
19:17
night, you're stealing minutes from their family. And I want
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you just to think about you can write the email, just don't send
19:24
it, save it as a draft and send it tomorrow. There are so many
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ways as a leader, we can help prevent this wasted money and
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time when we start focusing on how we can eliminate being a
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distraction.
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Host: Wow, that's a sobering thought, that as the leader, you
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are some of the cause of the distraction. Well, very good.
19:45
Neen, thank you for sharing with us, and so we wish you all the
19:49
best.
19:50
Neen James: Thank you. I appreciate being on here, and
19:52
thank you so much for everything that you do.