There is always talk of living a balanced life can be succeeded by
multitasking. Having a good balance between your work and home life, and even
a balance of responsibilities in both places is not always possible. Studies
show this is not a practical approach. Instead, we should live intentionally
unbalanced all the time and focus on one thing. This means that you must give
up certain tasks in your home life and in your work life because balancing too
many things at once will hinder your success.
The reason is simple. We have learned that multitasking is actually a horrible
idea because it is the killer of productivity. The human mind can only focus
on one thing at a time and do it well, and every time we shift focus we lose
efficiency and clarity because we have to shift back when we return to the
previous tasks. The more tasks we have going on at once, the worse this gets
for us.
Read more: Making The Most Of Your Potential Starts By Reading This Article
Multitasking
usually happens when we are trying to balance too many things at once.
Ignoring the noise and focusing instead means that being intentionally
unbalanced in that moment or period of time, and moving to another state of
imbalance when we start the next task. This may seem counter intuitive, but
actually very effective.
One Thing At A Time
This mentality of one thing at a time takes away from the glorification of
busy, and the bragging rights that seem to come with multi-tasking. But the
real results of that behavior is that some things, in fact many things, don’t
get done as well as they should. They end up being mediocre.The alternative is
to focus on one thing at a time, and doing it well. This means that your
results in each area will be better. This means of course that some small
things will get neglected along the way.
For instance, if you are creating a website, there are dozens of tasks that
must be completed. You must choose your domain name, determine how you will
handle hosting, create graphics and content, establish good SEO practices, and
market your site in a number of ways.You could do all of those things
yourself, but you probably cannot do all of them equally well. You have
strengths, and others do too. You need to delegate or outsource, and focus
only on the things you do best.
Focusing on doing your best rather than what you can just do well, or even
just complete means everything you do will rise to another level of quality
and efficiency. Collaboration will become a necessary part of everyday
operations if you focus on one thing at a time, but in the long run that
will benefit everyone.
Work Focus
In a practical sense, what does that look like at work? While the formula
sounds simple, it gets complex quickly. Why? You have a lot to do as an
entrepreneur, and some of it cannot simply be left behind. Many times, you
will be called upon to make key decisions, and those times may not come at a
time when you are not doing anything else. How do you keep your focus when
everyone is demanding your immediate attention?
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Don’t be afraid to say, “not now.”: Even though something may
seem like a crisis to someone else, most of the time it can wait half an
hour or until you are free. Feel free to say, “not now” to certain
decisions, and let the person asking know they will have to wait. -
Empower others to make decisions: Another simple way to avoid the
immediate decision dilemma is to enable your employees and those who work
with you to make decisions on their own without your input. You hired them
because they are smart and talented, let them use those qualities to free up
your time. -
Endorse Failure and Learning from It: This Empowerment is going to
result in failure from time to time. Things will not always be done exactly
as you want them too, and people will make mistakes. Make those failures
about learning and moving forward, and don’t associate it with shame. Your
business will be stronger, and so will your relationships. -
Allow Yourself Freedom to Break Focus: If there is a crisis, if there
is a decision you must make, allow yourself to break focus for things that
really do matter. Never multi-taking will never be a perfect system, so you
need to work within the imperfection.
Work focus can be challenging, and you may not always succeed. That is a tough
position to be in, but by setting strong boundaries you can avoid a large
number of interruptions centered around things that are not really a priority
so you can focus on what is.
Home Focus
Focus at home needs to follow the same principles, but it is of course
different. One of the primary things is to not let work invade your home life.
When you are at home and off the clock, be present.
At the same time, your home life will have priorities from time to time as
well. One day might be focused on time with your partner or spouse to maintain
your relationship, and another might be dedicated to cleaning the gutters and
preparing the house for winter.
Both of those things matter, and on any given day might even matter equally,
but you have to focus on one at a time, so that you can give your partner and
your kids the attention they deserve (if that is your situation).
How to Succeed In A Multitasking Society
Everyday, we hear of new changes that are being made. New technology, new
devices, and new gadgets that are introduced. The primary goal of these
introductions is to help to save us time, and increase our productivity, and
ability to tackle daily tasks more simplistically. Most devices do save us a
lot of time, that could be spent doing secondary activities to improve our
lifestyles.
Technology is great, and the world has undergone many changes and advancements
because of its assistance. In fact, we now have robots and small machines that
can even help to remind us of things we need to do. But, we must reflect upon
how this technology can alter us into different humans than we once were in
the past. Now, technology has increased our ability to multitask, and it comes
with many positive benefits and negative repercussions.
A Multitasking Society
With the introduction of smart phones, comes the additional connection to the
outside world. Think back to a decade or two ago- when phones were not able to
have wireless capabilities. Phone conversations were limited to just one area
of the home or office. Now, we have smartphones that feature over 1 million
apps, texting, and social media connections.
Whether it’s at work, or on the road, being connected to such devices forces
us to multitask, at an exponential rate. Whether it’s a phone call from work,
a text message from Mom, or your friend sending you a Facebook message, it’s
nearly impossible to completely avoid focusing on just one thing at a time.
Not to mention, it’s completely dangerous. Thinking about the texting and
driving issue facing many across the globe, it’s hard to imagine what further
distractions might be introduced within the next decade.
Multitasking Affects A lot
Multitasking in an ever changing society affects more than just your safety
and driving ability. It affects personal relationships with friends and
significant others. Being on your phone, or laptop when you should be, or are
simultaneously “spending time” with others decreases your focus to enjoy the
company of others.
In addition, some friends or family members may become irritated and find it
somewhat rude to constantly be around someone who feels they must check their
Facebook feed every ten minutes. It makes others around you feel as though
your phone, or other distractions are more valuable than cherishing the time
spent with them.
Multitasking also has long term effects. It’s been known that those who grow
up in an environment, where multiple distractions and tasks are introduced to
them are less capable of taking the time to concentrate on one thing at a
time. Though a simple idea, many younger adults today have a difficult time
with completing one task at a time because of this learned behavior. It’s no
wonder the ADHD epidemic is on the rise, and is an overdiagnosed issue among
many.
Improving Yourself To Achieve Success
Do you own a smartphone? Do you own other devices that commonly catch your
attention or engagement while you should be focusing on something else? Do you
commonly find yourself having to multitask to accomplish all of your daily
goals? You are not alone. A large percentage of the world’s population feels
the same way, and it’s only on the rise. There are many practices that can aid
the ability to achieve success, without multitasking.
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Take one step at a time: This is an old, but very valuable
lesson that many of us forget about. Focus on your primary objectives of the
day, and finish them completely. Don’t allow yourself to start on another
task or start something else until your task has been completed in its
entirety. This requires self-discipline, but practicing this on a daily
basis will help your mind to form a new way of tackling tasks, with daily
practice. It’s important to stick to this idea, and practice it daily to
achieve your maximum success. -
Clear your space, and put things away: Do you work at an office
or cubicle everyday? Having a cluttered space, or home can take away from
your ability to complete tasks, and makes you less productive. Put your
smartphone completely away, and clear off unnecessary clutter when focusing
on a task. Once the task has been completely finished, reward yourself with
five minutes of time on your phone or laptop. Plus, limiting your time away
from your task at hand will help you to temporarily take your mind off your
task at hand. -
Practicing through communications: When you are out, or engaging
with friends, practice looking them in the eye, and speaking clearly. Take
your time listening to what they are saying, and respond directly to their
question. Don’t let your eyes venture off and observe things around you that
might be distracting. Don’t think about anything else, but the conversation
in front of you- that is considered multitasking, too! Plus, remaining
engaged with your peers shows respect and courtesy to the conversation at
hand.
Avoid Multitasking
As you can see, there are very simple ways that we can reduce our multitasking
issues, via very simple processes. Though smartphones prove to be one of the
largest distractions and causes of multitasking, practicing effective
communication skills as well as clearing your space are other simple steps we
can take to become more successful, by avoiding multitasking. It’s always been
known, those who focus on one thing at a time generally come out ahead, and
achieve optimum success in the long run!
The Real Deal with Multitasking
The real deal with multi-tasking is that it takes away from our focus, it
makes us inefficient, and it means we are sacrificing quality for quantity.
That never produces the best results. While we may never achieve perfection,
we also should never settle for less than the best we can do in that moment.
Staying focused on one thing, whether at work or at home means we will be
better at everything we do, and living intentionally unbalanced will bring us
greater success.
What are some ways that you have found help to reduce your multitasking issues
at home, or work?
