This is the last post in a series of predictions for 2009. It revolves around an emergent meme where controlling your attention is the new work ethic, as opposed to the old one, working hard.

The old work ethic, hard work, was the enabler for the industrial revolution. It stipulates that hard work is good for its own sake and that it makes us better as human beings. As the information age began, hard work became even more important – up until the ’80s, using a computer program often required you to build it first. At the turn of the century many of my colleagues, myself and the industry at large, prided ourselves in being hard workers. We would hammer away day and night to get the job done, sleep under our desks and deliver, deliver, deliver. We worked crazy hours. We worked hard.

In Outliers, Malcom Gladwell observes;

Control of attention is the ultimate individual power. People who can do that are not prisoners of the stimuli around them.

Looking back, it’s possible that not all of those hours were work. We did play a little too. In fact, at times it was all play. As we’ve grown, individually and as an industry, we’ve fortunately started to work fewer hours, and although many of us still work hard we’ve handed the torch to the game development crowd. Man do they work hard…

How do your distractions manifest?

Distractions aren’t just easy to come by, they seek us out. We’re im:d, twittered, syndicated, e-mailed and called. We’re facebooked, tumblred and jaikued. We’re massively influenced by recommendations and tips from our peers. We’re subjected to marketing by companies whose sole existence relies on distracting us enough so that we’ll spend a few minutes watching their funny clip. When we’re accosted from all sides at all hours, how does anyone get anything done, ever?

A new black

The new work ethic is controlling your attention. It means that you should strive to work less hours, but stay on task and be more effective in the hours you do work. If we’re going to cope, we have to learn how to tune out. The pundit that can focus for six hours a day is ever more valuable to an employer or client, than the one that ”works” for twelve hours every day reacting to every impulse, internal as external.

What can service providers do?

If you’re offering something online, or anywhere, you need to consider emphasizing the aspects of your service or product that makes peoples lives more simple, not more complex (aka cool). On my end, I’ve been sketching out an application that will help us manage our conversations better. If successful, it may well lessen the attention fragmentation we experience.

The back story

The meme originates in filter failures and the proverbial distraction virus. In May of 2008 programming language designer Paul Graham pointed out that ”[Internet-based distraction] is not a static obstacle that you avoid like you might avoid a rock in the road. Distraction seeks you out.”

Gladwell makes a case for circumstance, social factors and genes as key factors to success rather than hard work in Outliers, but David Brooks wrote a very interesting commentary to rebuke it, where he mentions the new work ethic. This inspired Mike Elgan to write Work Ethic 2.0: Attention Control. It’s a good read.

Where do we go from here?

The subject of attention control is huge, and requires a post all of it’s own. I recommend taking a cue from people with small children, they’re usually extremely effective when they get a chance to work.

I’ll leave you with this; if you base your self esteem on the amount of twitters you receive, you’re on a slippery slope.

How do you manage your attention? Share your tricks in the comments.

All posts in my series of predictions for 2009;

1. I Want my Package Now, Right Now
2. We Start to Notice our Observers
3. We Depart from Mediocrity
4. Free is the Magic Number
5. Attention Control is the new Work Ethic