MULTITASKING VS. ABSOLUTE FOCUS
This is a topic that I touch on a regular basis. But this time I want to take it to the next level. Imagine for a moment, do you multitask out of fear?
Despite what todays hectic society and the frazzled people around you want you to believe, we as humans are not wired for multitasking. Multitasking indeed has its place, but not when it comes to productivity and creativity. Performance wise we are at our peak when we’re focused. When we’re really focused and we’re leveraging our God given skills, talents and creativity in a way that is challenging, It stimulates us to be at our best and eliminates all the ancillary noise. It allows us to recognize our fears and immediately rationalize them. In turn putting them in a manageable “box”.
We all can relate to the feeling of being so into the task at hand that you lose yourself in what you are doing. Your sense of time is diminished or even nonexistent, any sense of nervousness or anxiety completely diminishes and trivial thoughts not related to the task at hand evaporate before we even are fully aware of them. You become who you are naturally. No fear, no unknown feelings of “why”. In that moment in time you create success. That is where the “Genie in the bottle” begins.
So how do you actually get and even more importantly stay focused? What are some practical ways to get this focus, even what some people call “insane focus” in your life?
Here are a few simple points that you can begin implementing today.
The key to focusing and becoming more productive has everything to do with eliminating or at least minimizing distractions. Ask yourself what are your distractions? What keeps you from being focused?
Make A Distractions List… Take a few minutes and write down your major distractions. What are the things that are keeping you distracted in whatever area of life you want to achieve more focus in? What’s distracting you at work? Is it friends or a significant other who calls or texts often during business hours? Is it your email notifications? Is it a client who is unreasonable and is negatively affecting you? Is it your Facebook notifications? Is it a associate that just comes in to your office and sits down? You need to get very clear and honest with yourself about what’s really distracting you.
I’ll bet that once you get your distractions identified, that what you will find is that one of the biggest culprits that sucks the energy out of you and that makes you the jack of all trades and the master of none, is multitasking. You’re attempting to do multiple things at once.
Distractions are the antithesis of focus. When you’re attempting to do several things at once, you are by definition not focused. You are dividing your focus and attention. When you divide or divert your attention you will never perfect the task at hand.
When your attention is scattered and not focused you become much less effective. If you want success in every aspect of your life, you must be focused on it.
“If it is worth your time doing, then make your time worth it.”
Your undivided attention has to be focused on whatever it is you’re doing, if you expect anything worthwhile to come from your efforts. You can’t do that effectively if you’re always trying to multitask. Make no mistake about it, multitasking and the “I’m very busy feeling” that you tell yourself all too often when you have poor time management, is just that, a ridiculous feeling. It’s a productivity dirty bomb that has you fooling yourself.
Being busy is in no way the same as productivity. If you take the time to honestly analyze the perfect transaction from beginning to end you will discover it’s the exact opposite. You didn’t feel “busy” or crazed at all. You most likely were in a rhythm of what makes you who you truly are. You were relaxed. You were singly motivated to accomplish what you wanted and didn’t allow the noise to effect you. You may have appeared busy to the outside world, but on the inside you were actually at ease, to the point that other actually say that you made it look easy. All the moving parts came together because you focused and orchestrated every move.
As I have said time and time again. Multitasking is for those who “need” to feel busy as a sense of accomplishment. They simply do not measure results in the truest sense of the word.
The introduction of the calendar
Yes I know the Egyptians invented it first, but I want to believe I am perfecting the use of it.
Establish set times where you tackle a specific task. Repeat those times on a consistent basis.
Focus your full attention only on the task that you set for yourself during that time. Your calls can go to voice mail. The emails can wait. Your Facebook can wait. Then let the people around you know that you will be unavailable during those times.
When you schedule time for everything you have to do during the week in order to achieve your goals, you will become focused, what you’re going to discover is that you have more time then you used to have. You are no longer so “busy” that your time management is no longer an issue. You are working your calendar and time is not working you.
As you develop a discipline of working your calendar you will also find that you’re really preventing yourself from unconsciously multitasking. You’ll be getting things done in a more timely and effective way. Your energy will be supercharged and you will be on top of your game. People will take notice and before you know it they will follow your lead. Then you have achieved the ultimate goal. A culture in all aspects of your life that follows you around.
