Quality time should not be a pending task

"Being constantly busy can produce a false sense of productivity," warns Ignacio Morgado Bernal, Professor of Psychobiology at the Institute of Neurosciences of the Autonomous University of Barcelona. According to this expert, it is important to establish priorities that protect our concentration and well-being. "Letting ourselves be carried away by everything that comes up, without having a clear prioritization, will negatively affect the performance of what we do as well as our physical and mental health.”

Answering fifty emails, attending six meetings or crossing off an endless list of tasks may produce a sense of progress, but it does not necessarily generate value. High-value productivity consists in dedicating time and attention to tasks that produce a real impact. Within the professional environment, they can be what allows you to solve a complex problem, make an important decision, develop an idea or advance in a strategic project. On a personal level, they involve spending time on things that contribute to our well-being and life goals. 

To identify them, we must differentiate between what is urgent and what is important. Urgent matters demand immediate attention; that which is important contributes to our goals. When the former occupies all the space, the latter is relegated to the background.

One of the keys to working better is to set aside time during the day for tasks that require greater concentration and protect them from interruptions. It is not about doing more in less time, but about spending our best hours on what can truly change the outcome. 

Constantly switching tasks has a cognitive cost that science has been researching for years. Researchers at Tsinghua University (China) studied in 2023 the effects of disruptions when we face complex decisions. In decision-making we go through several stages: problem identification, development of alternatives, evaluation and selection of the solution. "Interruptions during the evaluation and selection phase harm overall performance," the study's authors say.

Furthermore, abandoning an activity does not necessarily mean ceasing to think about it. This is what is known as "attention residue" according to researcher Sophie Leroy, from the University of Minnesota (USA). UU). In her study Why is it so hard to do my work? The challenge of attention residue when switching between work tasks, she argues that part of our attention remains linked to the previous task, especially when it has been left unfinished, which can impair performance in the next activity.

This fragmentation of attention is one of the main threats to impact productivity. Every time we interrupt one task to attend to another, our brain must change context. That effort, repeated throughout the day, can make it difficult to concentrate and reduce efficiency. "Our consciousness is a linear processor. Consciously, we can only think about attending to one thing at a time, or one thing and then another and then another… It is like an access barrier to the subway platform; it works linearly because only one person can pass at a time, one after the other. But unconsciously, neurons in different parts of the brain may be dealing with several different pieces of information at the same time," says the Psychobiology professor.

The concept of deep work precisely describes the periods of uninterrupted concentration dedicated to cognitively demanding tasks. It is the moment when we can analyze, create, write, program, research or solve complex problems without our attention being constantly divided. "That sustained attention –argues the researcher from the Autonomous University of Barcelona– is generated by the type of work in progress, without needing to worry about it. Interest and motivation in what we do are what automatically most influence attention and the absence of distraction at work."

The consequences of a poorly organized workday can go beyond professional performance. Sustained stress and overwork can also affect our physical and mental health.

The expert from the Autonomous University of Barcelona has no doubts, "the stress generated by overwork and, above all, poor planning, increases blood pressure and the possibility of contracting diseases and reduces the ability to form robust and lasting memories." Morgado Bernal emphasizes the importance of planning and order in work, "making sure to be aware of the time each task needs and not deceiving ourselves by proposing to do more than we are able to."

The professor at the Institute of Neurosciences insists that "it is important to spend time on planning the order and priorities of the work before starting the task. And then commit to the planning without letting ourselves be carried away by unplanned calls or immediate requirements."

A recommended strategy is to reserve blocks of time to make decisions or perform any type of activity without interruptions and with concentration. During this period, the goal is to minimize external input, silence notifications, close unnecessary applications and avoid automatically checking email. Similarly, establishing time slots without meetings can protect the time needed to think. Quality time.

Protecting our attention not only helps us work better, but can also help us make more thoughtful decisions outside the office. Choosing between different purchase options, evaluating economic decisions or dealing with important personal matters requires having cognitive resources to compare alternatives and consider their consequences.

The way we manage our day influences what happens when it ends. A schedule dominated by interruptions and pending matters can mentally prolong work long after we have closed our computer. Therefore, defining when the workday ends, reducing communication off hours and avoiding turning every spare moment into an opportunity to work allows us to reclaim space for other aspects of life: family, friends, rest, leisure or simply doing nothing.

In a society that encourages us to be constantly available, learning to protect our attention has become a way to take care of our well-being. Organizing our priorities better, focusing on what's important and setting boundaries enable us to reclaim time for what gives meaning to our lives. Because the true value of time also lies in how we choose to enjoy it.