Hi Reader,

Who do you think is the enemy?

Before the Internet, I remember a woman coming to our office to sell a program to eliminate distractions. She was promoting the concept of a "quiet hour" during an era when the principal distractions were people hanging from your door frame, the usual phone calls and the "connectivity" of a newfangled intercom system.

She was well-intentioned, but the gimmick was to hang a bright red stop sign on everyone's office door announcing that a certain hour that day would be Interruption Free. You might be able to break the rule if there was blood on the floor otherwise – NOT!

For a while, it worked remarkably well. Everyone knew we needed a reinforced wall against distractions, but the novelty wore off and morphed from a warning ... to a reminder ... to something that might not apply at the exact moment when YOU had a question. It ultimately died a peaceful death.

Years later, I read the book, Hamlet's Blackberry, a thoughtful and provocative look at the bombardment of inputs attacking our craniums every day and our struggles to find any quiet headroom.

In it, Bill Powers *ventures back to Plato in ancient Greece and the philosopher Seneca in ancient Rome and their encounter with the devil of their day: Document Overflow.

As the Roman empire expanded, Seneca lamented being inundated with documents of all types and became obsessed with checking on the latest boat arrival to see what else required their attention.

Powers traces confrontations with encroaching “technologies” through Shakespeare as well as Henry David Thoreau at Walden Pond, who believed that as peoples’ inward lives failed, they were regularly, and more desperately, going to the post office to check their mail.

The moral of the story is kinda obvious, isn't it? It isn't the technology - the email, the social media, ad nauseum.

It's us.

Look in the Mirror. Not through the Window.

Over the last few weeks, we've talked about the need to fight through the pain of our struggles, the importance of focus and our tendency to overlook what isn't in our headlights.

The Fearsome Threesome

Over the next several weeks, we'll tackle the "fearsome threesome":

1. Conquering endless distractions,
2. Defending your turf, and
3. Winning the battle for focus.

If you want to Become a More Effective Leader, you must master these concepts.

Yes, there will always be unexpected events that derail our plans.

But unless you can gain control of your time, your space and your ability to get things done, your aspiration to Become a More Effective Leader will fall short and so will the opportunities presented to you.

Technology Isn't the Enemy

It would be easy to make technology our enemy and blame it for all of the distractions that keep us from getting things done.

Nice try, but this problem is on us, not on the technology that surrounds us.

Screaming about distractions and the lack of productivity didn’t help them in ancient Rome, either.

P.S. Last week, my daughter Kali's 18-month-old Labrador Retriever, Remi, underwent emergency surgery. In just three days, veterinary expenses exceeded $22,000 and continue to rise.

As a young breast cancer survivor, Kali has already faced more than her share of challenges. If you'd like to learn more or help, I've created a GoFundMe campaign on her behalf:

​https://www.gofundme.com/f/bbqyy8-help-remington-recover-from-emergency-surgery​

Please don't feel any obligation whatsoever. Sharing the campaign with others can be just as helpful.

Thank you for your kindness and support.