Productivity 3 of 7: Stay 'On'

There you are in the ring with your trainer, practising that weaker jab. The breathing is hard and the blood is dripping into an eye reducing visibility. You've been at it for 40 hard minutes and the legs are losing their nimbleness and once or twice you've been caught with your hands down and not protecting your face.

ENGAGE shouts your trainer. DON'T ZONE OUT.

It happens in business so easily. Long poorly focused meetings, pages of e-mail junk, simple lack of fresh air: we 'zone out'. Slip into a trance, de-focus.... Wake up, look up, breathe: stay engaged. Otherwise you'll take a hard punch and maybe be out of the game.