From overcoming distraction to dialing into your creativity were sharing six key takeaways from Nir Eyals and Natalie Nixons keynote sessions at The Future of Event Experience This week we hosted The Future of Event Experience an immersive virtual event that brought thousands of event professionals together to celebrate innovation and discuss the era of Event Experience The Future of Event Experience kicked off with an energetic dance performance filmed in Central Park New York City followed by an inspiring keynote speech from our Co-Founder and CEO Eran Ben-Shushan Eran shared Bizzabos vision for where the events industry is going and how Event Experience Leaders can be successful in 2022 and beyond We also welcomed two more powerhouse speakers who shared their expertise on topics relating to both Event Orchestration and Moments Creation Nir Eyal best-selling writer speaker and investor spoke about leveling up your Event Orchestration by becoming indistractable a term he coined Natalie Nixon PhD creative strategist and President at Figure 8 Thinking shared tips on driving Moments Creation by unlocking your creativity Read on for our six key takeaways from Eyals and Nixons sessions at The Future of Event Experience Indistractable How To Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life With Nir Eyal Event planners meet your new superpower being indistractable No indistractable is not technically in the dictionary But take it from Eyal the guy who wrote the book on becoming indistractable Youre going to be hearing this word a lot more Being indistractable what Nir calls The skill of the century centers on managing and overcoming ever-increasing work and life distractions In this captivating keynote Eyal shared the antidote to distraction 1 The Opposite of Distraction Isnt Focus Its Traction The first step in becoming indistractable is understanding what distraction is and is not Oftentimes the key to overcoming an obstacle is to strive for the exact opposite But that tactic is only helpful if you know exactly what the opposite is Otherwise youre aiming for the wrong target In the case of distraction the answer lies in the root of the word if you take off the prefix dis- you reveal its opposite traction Distraction and traction are both actions we take neither happens to us The difference is that distraction pulls you further away from your goals and traction pulls you closer to your goals Distraction can sometimes be difficult to spot For example just because something is work related doesnt mean its not a distraction If you set the intention to work on a big project but first you check your email and scroll through Slack Eyal said thats actually a more dangerous form of distraction because you dont even recognize that its a distraction We sometimes do easy and urgent work instead of important and hard work at the expense of our lives and career Becoming indistractable starts with choosing acts of traction When you do something you say youre going to do thats an act of traction Just as you can establish trust with others by sticking to your word by showing up for yourself and being indistractable you become more self-confident 2 Distractions Start From the Desire To Escape an Uncomfortable Emotional State Understanding what causes distraction is the second step in becoming indistractable Lets start by debunking the most popular myth Distraction is caused by factors outside of our control The truth External triggers are only responsible for distraction 10 of the time according to Eyal The other 90 of distractions are caused by our own internal desire to escape an uncomfortable emotional state Essentially we distract ourselves to avoid feeling things we dont want to feel such as boredom stress and uncertainty Although it can be difficult to face these feelings Eyal said its important to note that distraction is not a moral failing Becoming indistractable is about removing blame from the equation and looking at the issue logically We must understand what we are running away from in order to master our internal triggers If you dont master your internal triggers they will master you There are three steps to understanding and overcoming our internal triggers Note the sensation Pause for a moment and note the emotion that precedes distraction Then put pen to paper to understand and recognize the uncomfortable feelings Get curious Think deeply about how you want to respond to the feeling There are often two routes people take blaming and shaming When they get distracted blamers place responsibility on outside factors while shamers assume something is wrong with them such as their attention span or time management skills But neither of these is effective The key to becoming indistractable is to be a claimer someone who claims responsibility for these feelings as well as how they respond to them Surf the urge Acknowledge that your uncomfortable emotional state is exactly that a state Just like a wave the sensation is transitory and will subside Embrace the 10-minute rule and give in to distraction for 10 minutes Sit with the sensation get curious about it and then get back to the task at hand By telling yourself not yet instead of no you practice self-compassion and teach yourself that you do have the self-efficacy to delay distraction 3 To-do Lists Are the Worst Thing You Can Do for Your Productivity Do you find yourself starting your day with a few to-dos and ending the day with a laundry list of tasks you didnt get around to To-do lists are notorious for leaving you feeling bad about all the tasks you didnt accomplish But the problem is not your motivation or time management the problem is that to-do lists have no constraints you can always add more Rather plan your day using timeboxing If you dont schedule your day someone else will Timeboxing focuses on planning your time not your tasks Time and attention are inputs and tasks are outputs and you can only truly control the input By planning your day with timeboxing you lower the likelihood of external sources such as your boss your kids social media email and more taking control of your time Plan the time not the output According to Eyal studies show that people who measure themselves on the single metric of doing exactly what they said they were going to do for as long as they said they would do it without distraction actually accomplish more in a day Replace your to-do list with timeboxing and you will be well on your way to becoming indistractable The Creative Core of Event Experiences With Natalie Nixon We know that creativity is a powerful skill to have but oftentimes event planners feel like they dont have the time space or guidance to truly tap into their creative potential But the most meaningful event experiences embed creativity at their core So how can organizers become more in tune with their creative side to design more compelling event experiences In this engaging talk Nixon shared her own definition of creativity and specific tips to help Event Experience Leaders start with creativity and innovation 4 Creativity Is Our Ability To Toggle Between Wonder and Rigor To Solve Problems and Create Novel Value For Nixon creativity is our ability to toggle between wonder and rigor to solve problems and create novel value The key word is toggle The ability to toggle really means being in a constant state of flexibility which Event Experience Leaders are already great at If creativity is simply being able to move between the states of wonder and rigor then organizers are by nature creative people and only need the time and space to tap into this creativity they already have Wonder relates to curiosity questioning and inquisitiveness According to Socrates Wisdom begins in wonder Knowledge doesnt start with answers it starts with questions However its human nature to seek out answers Our brains drive us to look for resolutions We like suspense and surprise because we enjoy the closure that comes after To unleash your creative potential try valuing questions over answers and look for wonder before rushing to conclusions Rigor on the other hand relates to commitment and discipline As Leonardo da Vinci said Every obstacle is destroyed through rigor In a state of rigor we become unrelenting in achieving whatever it is we set out to achieve or whatever problem we aim to solve By constantly moving between curiosity and wonder and a relentless pursuit of answers we can better solve problems and create valuable event experiences that amplify purpose delight and aha moments for participants 5 Creativity Is the Throughline Between Productivity Technology and Experience Creativity happens when productivity technology and experience are aligned Productivity Nixon said that creativity is a productivity play meaning creativity and productivity are two parts of a whole Just like any other skill creativity is a core competency that can be continuously refined by being productive As Pablo Picasso said Inspiration exists but it has to find you working Technology Technology allows us to do things we never thought possible and has limitless applications Creativity is amplified by technology which arms people with the tools and means to bring any vision to life Creativity and technology are symbiotic because creativity plays a big part in the ideation and execution of new technologies Experience If creativity is a muscle that can be trained and strengthened then the more we exercise our creativity the better well get Therefore experience is an essential precondition for creativity Experience can come from many different places and the more differentiated your experiences the more inspiration you have to draw from 6 There Are 3 Major Shifts We Must Make To Become More Creative Most difficult things can be broken down into smaller more manageable pieces The same goes for becoming more creative To make it easier to tap into creativity there are three major shifts we must make The first shift is going from certainty to inquiry and curiosity The reason curiosity is so important Nixon said is because its the precursor to empathy Empathy is a valuable human skill and its going to become increasingly crucial to success In fact according to Googles Chief Innovation Evangelist Frederik Pferdt Empathy is the skill of the future But before we can empathize we need to be curious Curiosity primes us to seek questions rather than answers and according to Ray Dalio at investment management firm Bridgewater Associates Great questions are a much better indicator of future success than great answers The second shift requires moving from planning to improvisation which probably seems counterintuitive to an Event Experience Leader After all youre not an event improviser youre an event planner But the fact is that plans are fiction because they have yet to happen By realizing this organizers can be more adaptive Improv is something we all do every day without realizing it Children create forts out of pillows and blankets and adults hack their dinner by improvising with whats in the pantry The best way to make the shift to improv is by embracing prototyping and being okay with being a clumsy student who is ready to build test learn and iterate The third shift is from rationale to intuition Contrary to popular belief intuition is not an unexplainable ability to guess well its actually rooted in patterns Rather than using reasoning or logic to come to a rational choice leaning into intuition will produce even better results The good news is that intuition is not something you either have or dont have its a skill that we can refine through practice Start documenting times when you followed your intuition or gut feeling and over time youll see patterns emerge that will help you become more intuitive Get Started Learn How To Be Indistractably Creative Natalie Nixon and Nir Eyal brought powerful insights to The Future of Event Experience These takeaways are just the beginning of the powerful message they have to share Learn to harness the power of indistractability and master the art of creative thinking by watching the recordings on-demand Stay up to date with Bizzabos latest You may also be interested in