Just as you program your radio to tune into your favorite stations or have preprogrammed playlists, you should also have some go-to habits that get you to dial into what matters most and tune out what’s basically useless. These will help you to avoid searching aimlessly for more static.

Each of these pre-sets is meant to improve your AM (awareness management) and/or FM (focus management) skills. Consider trying a few from time to time to improve your noise abatement abilities.

• Pre-set 1: Say no on the go
  • Premise: Nobody plans to get distracted, interrupted, or derailed. It happens as unexpectedly as life takes its twists and turns. We need to be ready at a moment’s notice to stay on course.
  • Practice: While you are commuting, pick one thought and stick to it. Whether you’re driving or waiting to board an airplane or in line at the grocery store, avoid anything that might catch your eye or entice your attention, including checking your phone. That might mean not looking at that accident on the side of the road that causes a gaper’s delay, not looking at a text alert, or not falling prey to the candy and magazine offerings that are strategically placed at the checkout line. Stick to one thought.
  • Promise: Builds up your ability to say no to unexpected distractions and stay single-minded.
• Pre-set 2: Have a headline
  • Premise: When you communicate in a meeting, a speech, or an important conversation, it is easy to lose people’s interest in the first few seconds. We need to grab their attention boldly and avoid the slow buildup.
  • Practice: When you know you have something important to share, take a few moments to write out a short headline in advance. Keep it to eight words or less and make sure that it creates interest and points to what you’re going to say. For example, if you know someone is going to ask you about your weekend, be ready to handle the obvious questions with a brief headline (e.g. Question: “How was your weekend?” Answer: “I need three days to recover,” or “I think it was pretty weak,” etc.). If people around you don’t do this (e.g. in a meeting, e-mail, or update), challenge them to come up with a quick headline—it will only take a minute or two and will help grab and maintain their attention.
  • Promise: Sets the stage for people to listen when they might tune others out.
• Pre-set 3: Clutter clearinghouse
  • Premise: Fear of missing out (FOMO) is a hard habit to break. We need to take drastic measures to avoid impulsively grasping for every tidbit of useless information.
  • Practice: Look around and find something that you own that you don’t need or don’t use that much. Maybe it’s a pair of shoes, a pen, headphones, or a candle. It doesn’t matter what the item is, only that it’s something that you barely need, or might forget you even own. Go and grab it right now and get rid of it; throw it away or give it away. Don’t hesitate. Just do it.
  • Promise: Gets you comfortable with letting go. It helps you realize the power of being unattached from things—or information—with little or no significance.
• Pre-set 4: MYOB (mind your own business)
  • Premise: Curiosity killed the cat. So much of our wasted attention gets spent on thinking about things that are none of our business and never will be.
  • Practice: The next time you’re with a group of people, notice how quickly your mind starts to formulate opinions, comments, and conclusions. Maybe it’s about how they dress, speak, or organize their day; or where they live, what they believe, or where they went to school. Consider if any of these thoughts directly influence the way you live your own life. If it’s an idle opinion, drop it.
  • Promise: Lets us reframe and tighten our focus on what really matters to us, letting go of futile thoughts and opinions.
• Pre-set 5: Sound off on meetings
  • Premise: Everyone complains about how meetings are a colossal waste of time and predictably unproductive. Yet nobody steps up and makes meetings more effective.
  • Practice: Take time to prepare and share a formal meeting agenda that outlines what’s meant to be discussed and decided. Define the core meeting objective—the reason you’re having it (and the risks if you don’t). What’s more, tell people how to prepare, who should attend, and why they’re needed. Give them specific agenda items and allotted times for each. Finally, when the agenda is shared in advance, stick to your plan.
  • Promise: Gets you to retake control and establish new standards on how people can work together efficiently and effectively.
• Pre-set 6: Take time with a timer
  • Premise: Games end when the clock stops. When it’s running, you play hard and play to win. The countdown motivates you to keep your head in the game.
  • Practice: Get a simple egg timer or a basic stopwatch. Don’t use your phone, but something modest that makes an annoying noise when it runs out of time. Fix the time to 15 minutes at first and set a basic goal to tackle one thing, like writing a thank-you letter, cleaning a room, checking e-mail, making a call, or just sitting in silence. Like taking a test, stop the exact moment the buzzer goes off, not a second later.
  • Promise: Puts time limits on your side so you can start mindfully managing more moments throughout your day with greater awareness and intensity.
• Pre-set 7: The 7-to-7 rule
  • Premise: We are constantly checking our phones or electronic devices throughout the day—and night! Established boundaries can ensure that technology isn’t the first and last thing you think about every day.
  • Practice: Consider where you sleep, whether it’s at home or traveling. Place all technology a far enough distance away (preferably in another room), so that you can’t reach it while lying in bed. You need to walk to get it. If you need an alarm, buy a cheap, small one. If you need to hear the phone ring, set it just loud enough to hear it from the distance. When you wake up, don’t look at your phone until 7:00 a.m. and don’t check it after 7:00 p.m.
  • Promise: Sets daily limits that protect you from technology becoming a bedside burden and lets you rest.
• Pre-set 8: Talk a walk on the mild side
  • Premise: Getting some simple exercise is a way to recharge your brain and disconnect from daily distractions.
  • Practice: A few times a week, maybe even daily, go for a short walk. Don’t treat this as exercise but consider it an opportunity to discharge all the static that’s built up throughout the preceding day or week. Don’t bring music and don’t check your phone. Just walk and think of nothing, letting your mind wander. While you’re walking, listen more than think, and look straight ahead, trying not to accomplish anything in particular.
  • Promise: Provides critical moments to clear your head and restore focus.
• Pre-set 9: Head down, heart up
  • Premise: It can be hard to pay attention sometimes. In these moments, we need something to motivate us to dig deeper.
  • Practice: As you are tackling a particularly tough task like studying, writing, or listening, lean in a little more and consider why you’re dedicating your undivided attention to the task. Sure, you’re saying no to many other things you could be doing in that moment (like taking a break, checking an alert, or just zoning out). More importantly, consider what you’re saying yes to and how it’s worthwhile to make that momentary sacrifice to focus for a greater good.
  • Promise: Provides specific, meaningful purpose to your focus, especially in times when it gets really tough to pay attention.
• Pre-set 10: Bag your bag
  • Premise: You carry around bags of all sizes, yet rarely do you need most of what’s inside. It’s easy to get attached to stuff.
  • Practice: Forget your backpack, handbag, satchel, or briefcase just once. Go to school or work without it. If you start to panic thinking what might happen without it, take some time to empty it out and look at all the contents closely. What do you absolutely need that day? Only take that.
  • Promise: Encourages you to realize how you are attached to things that you really don’t need.
• Pre-set 11: Tech timeouts
  • Premise: Electronic devices and screens surround us, constantly competing for our attention. We need scheduled separation.
  • Practice: Whether it’s during a meeting, a meal, a sporting event, or driving somewhere, give yourself, your family, and your colleagues a break. Don’t use technology at all—even for music or podcasts. This isn’t for the rare occasions like exotic vacations or being at a wedding, but as a regular, daily practice. Set a specific amount of time to disconnect, informing those around you. Hold to it completely.
  • Promise: Allows you to see how often you interact with technology, instinctively and impulsively. Feel how liberating—and hard—it is to take a break.
• Pre-set 12: Feel some little feelings
  • Premise: Without realizing it, we can miss small, yet important parts of our day. This can go on for a lifetime.
  • Practice: Look for three or four simple things you do unconsciously every day. Maybe it’s taking a warm shower, drinking a glass of water, or sitting in a comfortable chair. While you’re doing these things, feel what it feels like. Mindfully take notice. Sense the streaming warm water on your shoulders for 30 seconds. Taste the sips of cool water as you drink. Feel the coziness of the couch as you sit down in the morning or at the day’s end. And truly experience it.
  • Promise: Gets us started tuning into and appreciating small moments of our day that can turn into something much more meaningful and rewarding.
• Pre-set 13: Board games
  • Premise: There’s nothing like an old-school game such as Monopoly, Jenga, or Solitaire to help you unwind. Games play an important role in letting our brains recover from the barrage of noise.
  • Practice: When you are feeling overwhelmed or overworked, it’s time to step away and play a game. It may be with family or friends or alone. Keep it simple and low tech. Cards or a variety of board games can not only be fun but also ensure that you and others stop spending so much time in isolation on your phones. Reflect on your downtime (on trips, after dinner, weekends, as a break, etc.) and how this might give you more enjoyable time together.
  • Promise: Gives you an enjoyable moment here and there to unwind and have old-fashioned fun.
• Pre-set 14: Start the gratitude engine
  • Premise: It’s easy not only to get distracted but also to waste a lot of attention complaining. Thankfulness is a way to focus on what’s essential.
  • Practice: During the day, note where your mind starts to criticize. This could occur while waiting in a restaurant, at home when you are impatient, or in a meeting where you are frustrated with others. Not only does complaining make us distracted, but it is also a huge energy drain. Notice how and when your mind starts trash talking and attempt to turn the negative energy into positive thoughts. Let your mind be grateful that you can afford a good meal, that you have healthy children, that you are gainfully employed. Turn that frown upside down!
  • Promise: Helps you notice that once you spend a few moments carefully thinking about the many things you are grateful for, your anxieties, worries, and complaints start to diminish.
• Pre-set 15: The daily download
  • Premise: Every day, people ask each other “what’s new?” or “how was your day?” and then ignore what’s said as soon as the other person starts talking. Active listening is completely absent.
  • Practice: The next time you ask someone about a project, their day, or what’s going on, decide to actively listen to what they say. Ask better questions and be engaged. You may not feel like doing it, but make the willful choice to be interested. Don’t try to listen to agree, comment, or correct, but listen to understand. Notice how much noise inside your own head prevents you from staying in the conversation. Give yourself 15 minutes of “present listening” as a gift in the moment.
  • Promise: Watch how these moments impact the quality of important connections and relationships.
• Pre-set 16: DND: A sign of the times
  • Premise: People will disturb you if they think they can—or if you don’t notify them that they can’t. Give them a basic way to know when it’s okay to interrupt.
  • Practice: Make a small sign (or buy a pair of headphones) that clearly indicates that it’s quiet time. A “do not disturb” warning like this might seem a bit drastic at first, but it tells people that you need to concentrate and that interruptions aren’t welcome. This not only protects your time and attention but also sets a standard for others to see that your focus is precious and distractions are undesirable.
  • Promise: Creates a simple rule for people to follow that generates a balance between quiet and collaboration.
• Pre-set 17: One-minute meeting set-up
  • Premise: People love to grumble about how much they hate meetings because they’re a huge waste of time. Yet nobody speaks up to stop the madness.
  • Practice: Whether you’re a meeting organizer or a participant, demand change. That means publishing formal agendas— prepared and distributed well in advance—is a requirement. By making them an essential way you work, you’re ensuring you’re not informally complicit in an agreement to waste everyone’s precious time. You wouldn’t write a book or perform a play without chapters and acts, yet every countless, meaningless meeting defaults to improv comedy as its model.
  • Promise: Gets you all headed in the right direction with a simple agenda with clear objectives, roles, and expectations.
• Pre-set 18: A few good friends
  • Premise: Technology in any form—texting, social media, e-mail, podcasts, videoconferencing—can never supplant the sound of a close colleague’s voice or the warmth of a friend’s face.
  • Practice: Who are your best friends and closest contacts? That’s a tough question for me and for most. Give it careful consideration. Know who these people are and keep in touch. The list might be short, so make it a point to stay in regular contact with them. Don’t let either time or technology get between you and them.
  • Promise: Encourages you to make sure that you don’t ever lose close, personal contact with people who really care about you. Much of the noise should die down when those people are around.
• Pre-set 19: Set some automated rules and filters
  • Premise: If you don’t tell tech no, it will walk through the door uninvited every time. And the next time, it will invite all its friends.
  • Practice: Technology, in all of its forms and flavors, has no heart and no care or concern for you and your time. You need to use every tool at your disposal to prevent it from taking over your life. It starts with setting simple rules or filters, whether it is directing e-mails to the trash or select folders or more sophisticated schemes to manage alerts, notifications, and noises. What starts as a small ping can quickly become a symphony of distractions and interruptions all disguised as an important guest, surprisingly arriving at your doorstep without an invitation. Set some guidelines that can handle their unexpected arrival.
  • Promise: Gets you ready in advance to field the constant influx of useless information and endless interruptions that weaken your focus and ruin your quality of life.
• Pre-set 20: Soundproof spaces
  • Premise: We need set-aside areas that restrict nonstop noise. Only with these silent refuges can we keep calm and carry on.
  • Practice: Find, design, and designate spaces in your life for silence. Whether this means a tech-free conference room or a small reading nook in your home, build and bless it as a safe haven. Go there frequently to regroup, think, meditate, contemplate, pray, and plan. Make sure that technology isn’t there or available nearby. Enjoy how silence restores and rejuvenates you from the constant clamor that is your world.
  • Promise: Provides time for reflection and wonder since silent spaces are what we crave when we are barraged by noise all day.

Click some of these pre-sets during your day. Make new ones that I could never imagine. Share them and use them for your collective gain.

Personal Pre-set Programming: Customize Your Settings to Manage the Noise

Imagine you drive your car to a new city. When you turn on the radio, your pre-sets no longer tune in to your favorite stations. Instead, they only produce loud static. It’s time to reset them to avoid the noise. The same is true in your daily life; circumstances change and you need to adapt.

I have created a programming guide that helps you personalize your pre-sets to accommodate your life circumstances. By following along, you can develop specific strategies to improve your focus. Take a notepad, sheet of paper, laptop, or device to answer these questions and develop your personal pre-set plan. Go to www.thebrieflab.com/tools to download a Personal Pre-set Programming Guide.

“The Lineup”: Playing to Win by Keeping Score

In sports, every coach needs a plan before each game. The list of who is going to play is generally called your lineup. It seems like an obvious thing, yet many games are lost because the wrong players are in, or missing from, the lineup.

I’ve devised a basic checklist for you to use to manage the day-to-day noise mindfully. Some of the actions are considered “daily” and others “specialty,” with the distinction being that some actions are non-negotiable and must get scheduled in specific moments in time every day (“daily”), while others are ongoing, selective habits that can be plugged in strategically and selectively throughout the day (“specialty”).

“Daily”—Scheduled behaviors

• First thought: This is your initial headline the moment you wake up and get out of bed. The thought sets the course for the day, helping you avoid the instinct to reach for your phone, start complaining, or let your mind grasp any random thought. Take time the night before to write down what you would like your silent statement to be.
• Quiet time—a.m.: Establish a set period in the morning, usually 15 minutes or more, dedicated to mindful reflection, contemplation, daydreaming, planning, thinking, silence, and/or prayer. It needs to be treated as a scheduled appointment for you and your thoughts and is non-negotiable, meaning it never gets canceled.
• Read time: Set aside exactly 10 minutes every day to read. Build a reading list and pick a book and read a little bit every day. It fuels the mind to focus on the things that matter in different parts of your life. You’ll be amazed not only by how many books you can read in a year but also by how hard it is to stop when the 10 minutes are up.
• Daily scan: This is a brief moment during the day, about one to three minutes, to quickly reflect on your day ahead and to repair the one behind. It’s essential to be mentally ready for what’s coming toward you while also reviewing your past day. Determine the best time for you to do this, whether it is morning, mid-day or at night.
• The big moment: There is always one moment of the day that stands above the others. Given your specific roles in life, determine what that moment is and be ready to throw your mind and body into focusing on making that moment really matter. This moment may stay the same for a while or change day to day.
• Quiet time—p.m.: Establish a set period in the afternoon or evening, usually 15 minutes or more, dedicated to mindful reflection, contemplation, daydreaming, planning, thinking, silence, and/or prayer. It needs to be treated as a scheduled appointment for you and your thoughts and is non-negotiable, meaning it never gets canceled.
• Final thought: When you go to sleep, determine what your headline should be for the day. It is a definitive moment to conclude the day, no matter how it went. Checking your phone shouldn’t be your last thought.

“Specialty”—Ongoing behaviors

• Presence of mind:  Catch the thoughts that cross your mind during the day, whether willful, inspired, or accidental. It means keeping your head in the game by consistently asking yourself “What am I thinking about?” “What am I focusing on?” “Where’s my mind?”
• Rhythm of repetition: Utilize an adage, quote, thought, mantra, or concern that is repeated inaudibly, yet purposefully, throughout the day. It helps you stay focused and centered on what’s most important to you, given your role that day. Let yourself repeat it and don’t worry about how many times you say it.
• Mute more often: Say “no” more often to the disruptions and distractions that are all around you. When you notice the noise start to build, use this to defeat it before it weakens you. No is a strong weapon, so choose to use it.
• Take 5: Set aside exactly five minutes to tackle a specific thought or task. Don’t deceive yourself into thinking that you can successfully juggle many things at the same time. There are moments that demand intense concentration, so set the timer. When it’s up, pause before proceeding.
• Present listening: Improve your quality of listening given to someone in the moment. Though it’s hard sometimes, choose to pay closer attention to what’s being said, without an agenda. It means listening not to respond, agree, fix, or solve, but to understand.
• Brevity: Practice clear and concise communication, both written and verbal. So much poor communication is the source of noise, so decide to become a lean communicator in moments that really matter. Brevity builds clarity.

This is a simple list, so live it. Live “the lineup” daily and see how your focus improves. You can go to www.thebrieflab.com/tools and find this tool (and others) in the resource section.

The noise definitely needs abatement, so make that your mission.

It’s surely mine. No more noise.