The more productive I am, the more accomplished I feel at the end of the day. However, I am an entrepreneur and like many that I know, I have ADD. I come from an entrepreneurial family. I've never liked to be the employee and am rebellious by nature. With that being said, I've always been the best employee and never had an employer who didn't try to stop me from leaving, but they recognized that you can't keep a tiger caged and it still be a tiger. I needed the freedom to think creatively.
I've done many things over the years to adapt to my ADD and turn it into a positive trait. I've tried medications, which I didn't like, and various techniques. I have actually been pointing-and-calling for most of my life. It is a technique that has worked well for me when it comes to managing my ADD. I was so excited when I found out just recently found out that it actually has a name and an entire theory around it!
The History Behind the Name
According to my research, pointing-and-Calling is a system that was used by the train and subway systems in Japan, China, Toronto, and New York City. When the conductor was going to make a stop. He or she would have to stop whatever else they were doing and point-and-call where their next stop was going to be. For instance, underneath a certain sign.
The system was born out of necessity in 1997 when passengers were opening doors, falling out, and tragically being killed before the train had stopped. It worked well for the train and subways systems and in my experience can work well for entrepreneurs too.
Taking it Back to the Basics
I believe that as entrepreneurs we do not fit the classic employee model. I find that I tend to spark quickly with creativity as I'm sure many of you do as well. For me, this leads to multi-tasking and bouncing around a great deal. The idea behind pointing-and-calling is to take you from multitasking to a singular task that is very purposeful. Studies show that this technique can reduce workplace errors by up to 85%. The idea is that when I engage multiple senses when performing routine tasks, I'm increasing awareness and focus and consequently reducing the chances that I'll make a mistake.
Applying Pointing-and-Calling to Everyday Life
Everyone has unique personalities, so pointing-and-calling can be applied to your everyday life in a variety of ways. For me, there are two ways I like to apply pointing-and-calling to my personal and professional life.
I talk to myself a lot! I talk through my tasks. For instance, "I am going to check my email for 10 minutes, but I won't reply to anything that isn't urgent".
I will walk through my house and call out what I am doing (pointing-and-calling). I will repeat this over and over. For example, "I'm going to wash dishes, take out the trash, and grab a cup of coffee". I repeat this over and over as I accomplish each task.
For me, these tricks help me to focus on a singular task until it is done. Interestingly enough, I have found several pieces of literature that suggest talking to yourself is not only helpful but may indicate a higher level of intelligence. I believe that it allows me to gain a faster sense of self-awareness and self-compassion. It helps me to be more decisive and resolve inner conflict.
Although simplistic in nature, the pointing-and-calling system has been an effective way for me to increase my productivity by focusing on a single task at a time. I have found that pointing-and-calling helps me in my personal life and as an entrepreneur to stay on task with my priorities.