Quick Win: Why unexpected interruptions to work are bigger problems than you might think, with Almanac CEO Adam Nathan

Almanac CEO Adam Nathan believes in the value of deep work. He’s seen how effective it is, and knows first-hand how satisfying it can be. But in recent years, he’s learned that this doesn’t automatically make shallow work the greatest enemy to productivity or job satisfaction…

Instead, he’s discovered that most professionals consider their time well spent if they’re able to check everything off their to-do lists, even if some of that work is shallow. What really matters is simply getting stuff done, and the real enemy of getting stuff done is unexpected interruptions.

Being prepared for uncertainty isn’t about being able to predict the future, but instead being able to learn from these unexpected interruptions, or ‘fire drills’ as they’re called at Almanac, when they do occur.

Adam’s favourite way to approach these problems is with the mantra, “Slow is smooth and smooth is fast,” adopted from the U.S. Marines. The problem isn’t that a fire drill occurred, it’s that most companies don’t take a moment afterwards to figure out why it happened, and how best to deal with it if it happens again…

Connect with Adam on LinkedIn, read more about The Modern Work Method, or try out Almanac for yourself

You can find the full interview here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/30Vyp2xacvdzEv2XsQZEeU?si=4MiyQHUhQ5W4TRd4R-4sQQ

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Credits:
Host: Amantha Imber
Sound Engineer: Martin Imber

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