There are many things that make our team well… dynamic.
One of the most unique facets is that our team works remotely full-time. We’ve been doing it for a while, so the work from home part is not new to us. The at home all the time part is! For some of us we’ve suddenly got a house full of people at home with us! In the wake of social distancing and self-quarantine, we are all asking ourselves, “How can I possibly stay focused for 8 hours a day?” Pets, snacks, kids, laundry, screens, partners and our comfy beds stare us in the face with each moment that crawls by. For others the new routine of not having evening plans and activities keeps us sitting at our computers longer than normal. There’s got to be a balance! Getting your work done without distraction and turning it off at the end of the work day as well!
So, what’s the magic behind an entire virtual team? How does the Dynamic Works squad stay engaged, productive and sane at the same time?
According to Cal Newport’s “Deep Work,” there are 4 types of focus approaches:
- The monastic approach. This is where you shut yourself off from distractions completely. An extreme example might be moving to a remote cabin in the middle woods with no technology and locking yourself in until you check off everything on your to-do list. But we don’t expect you to do that.
- The bimodal approach. This is when you might set aside a block of a few hours to hyper focus. Once the block of time is done, you can work on all the other stuff you got to do, like finishing Love is Blind on Netflix.
- The rhythmic approach. This involves setting aside small chunks of time over the course of a longer period to accomplish a task. You might set aside 2 hours a day for 6 weeks, for example. You know what they say: A chunk a day keeps the procrastination away!
- The journalistic approach. This is when you use random blips of free time to dedicate towards your tasks. When you find yourself staring out a window, you may suddenly think, “I could do that report I guess.” Then you focus in and have the time of your life on doing that report.
We asked our General Manager and Business Development Manager to tell us their personal focus approach. Here’s what they said:
GENA LEISTEN, General Manager – Bimodal
“Show your face on meetings as much as possible for accountability AND team camaraderie. Seeing other people can brighten your day, especially virtually.”
Finding your own work and focus styles can be a trial & error process.
Somedays you’ll know you did something wrong when you’ve had 5 cups of coffee and 7 breaks by noon. But that’s okay! Everyone has a perfect work flow just waiting to be achieved.
No matter what your style the most important thing to remember right now is that these are extraordinary times and things are just different. Kids are going to interrupt meetings, dogs are going to bark, connections are going to be iffy. It’s o.k. none of us have done this at this level before. Things happen. A cat stepping on a keyboard is not going to wreck the space time continuum and it may give a welcome laugh when we all need it most.
Wishing you deep focus in your missions!
-Your Dynamic Team
