The Multitasking Temptation Revisited
Multiitasking has been proven to kill your productivity. Yet, for some it’s a lifestyle and others an expectation. Others see it as a strength.
People are terrible at doing more than one thing at a time, even though many of us are fooled to believe that we are actually good at it. When we multitask, two things occur:
1. We get less done.
2. The quality of what we do is lower.
There’s a recommencement cost of at least several seconds every time you get back to a task that got interrupted. Each time you switch to some other task you risk getting hit with more resumption costs. This loss time adds up and multiplies as you continue getting distracted with interruptions throughout the day.
It is almost inevitable that each individual task will be slower and of lower quality when you are using multitasking as a methodology to try to accomplish more. Likewise, it is acutally faster to do one thing at a time instead of trying to multitask.
Another problem with multitasking is that we are more inclined to make more mistakes while doing multiple tasks simultaneously, especially those that require your full attention or those that are unrelated. As a result, the quality of our work declines.
In a 2004 study at MIT, researchers found (by doing MRI scans on brains of test subjects) that it’s impossible for the brain to think about more than one thing at a time.
Multitasking is an incredible temptation. As a business owner, I struggle with it myself from time-to-time. When I am not fully engaged in what I am doing I often check email frequently and begin responding to incoming messages without completing articles I am writing or blog entries. Fortunately, when I am on the phone with a coaching client, I am not multitasking! However, often when I am participating in a teleconference call or meeting I will see (or sense) others checking their email or messages.
Get Into Focus
To help stay more focused, have clearly defined (written) goals and align your work with your goals.
- Start with a clear vision.
- Write your goals in actionable statements.
- Align your daily actions/behaviors specifically to your goals.
- Execute based on your priorities.
Make Romance a Priority
Romance, in these superbusy(tm) times may need to be a planned event rather than a spontaneous happening. Either planned or spontaneous, here are some simple romantic ideas for little or no money:
1. Write a love note by email, on the mirror, on the kitchen table, etc.
2. Send a greeting card (email or regular mail).
3. Give a warm embracing hug.
4. Give a passionate affectionate kiss.
5. Meet for lunch.
6. Picnic on your living room floor.
7. Kiss hello, kiss goodbye.
8. Take a bubble bath or shower together.
9. Make focused time for each other.
10. And, talk to each other…communicate regularly!
Self-Discovery Questions
Yesterday in my e-newsletter and Blog I provided some practical principles and strategies for self renewal. Here are some questions to help you get started. Working with a professional coach will also help you create the structure and accountability to transform yourself and align with your top priorities. Contact Coach Natalie to discuss how coaching can help you.
Life Renewal strategies
Today in my bi-weekly e-newsletter I provided 6 tips and some additional resources for helping you renew your life. Here are some additional principles and strategies that may guide you in your quest to effectively transform your life.
1. Live a balanced life while you pursue your transformational goals. Allow time out for other interests and pleasures. Insure your personal foundation is strong and can persevere.
2. Avoid energy draining people who do not support your transformational goals. These people will convey their doubt and lack of support almost every chance they get. They will cause you to doubt yourself. Instead, surround yourself with like-minded people and people who support you wholeheartedly.
3. Investigate other’s successes. Explore how others have done what you’d like to do. Interview 3-5 very successful people who have achieved a similar transformation in their life. Discover how they did it, what was critical for their success and what suggestions they are willing to offer you. List the qualities that contributed to their success. Select a quality you know you need to develop and look for practical ways to develop that quality every day.
4. Practice daily habits that support your transformation. Determine your top priorities and specific actions you need to take. Eliminate distractions that may cause you to get off track. Create mental, physical, spiritual, and emotional well-being practices you can do regularly that support your desired being. For instance, it you say you want to lose weight, eat sensibly and do physical exercise as part of your regular lifestyle. Take some actions every day toward your desired outcome.
5. Detach from the outcome. Although your personal transformation may be important to you, want it but don’t need it. Find other ways to get your needs met. Realize that regardless of the outcome, you will still be in a different place for having gone through the process. There are valuable learning opportunities inherent in the process of transformation. Transformation is a spiritual experience that cannot often be intellectualized. It is a feeling that cannot be forgotten or captured in words but is with you for the rest of your life.
6. Stay in the present. Enjoy your life today and don’t wait for the transformation to finish before you are happy. No one can predict the future, so, delaying your happiness and personal fulfillment to a future state will not be effective. Bring joy and gratitude into each day. If you aren’t happy with where you are today, you’ll need to learn the lessons involved before you will be able to move on. Acknowledge and reward yourself along the path of your transformation. Celebrate who you are becoming.
Stay tuned tomorrow for some empowering self-discovery questions! Come back often for more tips and strategies!
A New Year
Wow, time has flown since my last blog entry!! I can’t believe that it has been over two months. So, you may be wondering what I have been doing during that time.
Like you, I have been SuperBusy. In an effort to align my skills, talents and interests where I can make a tremendous difference, I have been researching new markets. What I have found is that small business leaders, owners, entrepreneurs have a lot on their plate. Too often, even when they have staff, they have a hard time of letting go of some of their tasks. Sometimes, although they have specific goals each day, they are pulled off task by urgency’s or other important matters that draw their attention.
Therefore, I will continue my research and I will continue working with my current clients to help them focus on their priorities both at work and home. One of my clients recently told me the power of living without the sense of chaos and stress as a result of working with me on a regular basis every other week. Another client had me help her through an important career decision so that she made the decision for the right reasons for her rather than putting others first yet again.
I am poising for growth by working on the infrastructure of my business: the systems and processes while preparing some new programs to meet the growing needs that I have learned about. With so many people focused on the economy, the crises, and the job situation, I intend to focus on the hope and the positives that will bring each individual and this country forward. Negative energy is contagious; what positive thoughts will help you achieve what you want today?
As always, I love to hear from you! Let me know your thoughts, challenges, needs, and opportunities. I am hear to support you growing to your fullest potential!
Yours truly,
Natalie Gahrmann
The Priority Pro
Workforce Reductions
The work place is changing rapidly! Reductions in the workforce are dangerously leading to increased work overload. Fear is permeating the work environment as survivors are concerned about being axed next. Businesses are in danger of failing if leaders are not able to successfully quell employee anxieties, stress, disengagement and burnout.
One of my coaching clients shared with me that it is rumored that her employer will be undergoing major cutbacks in the upcoming months. Although nothing has formally been announced, employees are communicating informally, through the grapevine. They have been told that they will no longer be able to telecommute, as well. The assumption is that they want them all to be at the office location so that it’s easier to lay people off and escort them out.
How organizational change is managed and communicated is essential to operating the ongoing business. The most successful businesses engage employees in the process and keep them informed about the status of things.
Employees naturally fear the unknown and react heavily to speculation and negative rumors. When employees feel threatened, their daily working lives are effected as energy is expended on fear and worry rather than achieving business results. Employees may quickly become paranoid and distrusting. If communication is not done in a timely fashion, by the time employees hear the news, productivity has already taken a downturn.
In contrast, necessary layoffs are understood if clear, honest, compassionate information is conveyed, adequate notice is given, outplacement assistance is provided, and fair severance packages are offered, and if those who are to be retained are assured of the security of their jobs and given assistance in adapting to change.
Avoidance Tactics are Really just your own Distractions at Work
I have found that there are certain tasks I really do not enjoy doing. Most of these things are those items I am really not naturally very good at. For example, managing my bookkeeping is something I dread. I usually avoid the electronic files and just cannot seemed to get focused to do them. In my mind, I am just not good at it. So, I avoid it. I really hate doing it!
Avoidance is a distraction in itself. By avoiding doing these tasks we are actually procrastinating! In most cases, procrastination is letting the low-priority tasks get in the way of high-priority ones. For example, it is socializing with colleagues when you know that an important work project is due; watching television rather than doing your household chores; or talking about unimportant things with your partner rather than discussing your relationship concerns or other important issues. In my case, it is more simply ignoring the low priority activities with hopes that they will eventually just go away!
So, in the meantime, my standards have declined. I used to keep an absolutely clean home and well organized office. Instead, I let it slip because I was focusing on my higher level priorities. I also realized that my standards were set too high and were unrealistic. Unfortunately, though the result is that I zap a lot of my energy working in a cluttered space and being dissatisfied about how my house or office looks. One solution is to hire someone else to do it; this is called outsourcing. However, these are things I do not want to outsource because I like to handle them myself and have the family share in the responsibility.
On the other-hand, managing my books and database is something that can be outsourced. I have taken some classes, updated my programs, and had some 1-1 but still feel resistant to doing these tasks. These are the types of activities that are essential for me to do as a business owner.
Delegating and outsourcing are great solutions for those tasks you really don’t want to do! Now it is time for me to follow my own advice and hire (or barter) for these services. Anyone know a good administrative assistant?
Economic Worries are a Major Distraction
As the economy takes a roller coaster ride, concern about losing their job and the declining value of financial investments are distracting many employees. The current economic uncertainty has threatened workforce productivity. Not surprisingly, 81 percent of Americans indicated that they are worried about something related to their jobs, according to the 2008 Workplace Insights survey done by Adecco USA. The areas most highly rated in job-related worries include:
- High gas prices (25 percent)
- Stagnant pay checks (13 percent)
- Work-life balance (12 percent)
- Rising health care costs (9 percent)
- Job market instability (7 percent)
- Opportunities for advancement (6 percent)
- Outsourcing of jobs (4 percent)
- Other worries (5 percent)
These worries affect you potentially at every level of your being. Do not panic and withdraw your funds from your 401K. Do not worry about things that are totally out of your control. Worry, stress and anxieties take a huge toll on your mental, physical, emotional and spiritual well-being and can exacerbate your situation. Unfortunately, when employees are worried and feel anxious, they tend to put in less effort, perform less efficiently and lose focus more often, resulting in more fear and anxiety. These employees may seem distracted, disengaged or distant.
Be aware of your thoughts and worries. Realize that 87 percent of what people worry about never actually occurs. Worrying it and of itself only produces more worry and fear. Instead, spend your energy taking deliberate focused action toward your goals. Surround yourself with positive people. Denying that the fears and worries exist will not remove them. You actually need to allow the fear and worry to engage your brain, body and heart simultaneously and move through it using efficiency, confidence, clarity, and ease.
Realize that worrying and being fearful is actually a choice, as is choosing to release them. You do have control over your worries, fears and anxieties. You can replace the behaviors, habits and patterns that are not serving you with ones that are more productive.
Lazy or bored??
I wonder how many lazy people are in fact bored and might benefit from more work rather than less?
Too often, people are labeled as lazy when they’re caught searching the Internet or gazing out the window. Problem is that without being mentally challenged, they are distracted and bored. This leads to lower productivity and decreased job satisfaction.
There may be extensive consequences to your behavior and it may easily be misconstrued. Many of the reasons people get fired are related to the perception that they are lazy. If you can’t stay motivated about your job and focused on your work, you’re in trouble! Being passionate about your work will bring the greatest levels of success.
Be a big picture thinker and connect the work you are doing to the bottom-line. Rather than getting bogged down in the details of a boring task that feels meaningless connect it to the bigger picture. Keep abreast of your overall goals and realize that your current task is just a small step along the way to accomplishing your bigger goals, whatever they may be. If you’re not busy enough, or the majority of your work feels meaningless, volunteer for other projects and opportunities. Align with the company’s goals and get noticed for doing quality work rather than goofing off.
Limit your time on social networking sites, surfing the Internet, socializing, visiting message boards, and personal phone calls. When you’re bored (or possibly avoiding work you don’t want to do—we’ll talk about this in another BLOG post soon!), you are much more likely to peruse these sites and get absorbed into their content.
Lastly, if you’re still feeling a little bored or even lazy either take a walk to help you re-focus or do a quick breathing exercise. A breathing exercise I use and teach during some of my seminars is to:
- Close your eyes if you can.
- Take a slow deep breath in (at least 5-count) and let if fill your abdomen as much as you can. (You’ll know you’re doing it right when you see your belly rise; your chest should not inflate.)
- Hold for a count of 3-5.
- Exhale to a 5-count through your mouth. (You should feel the breathe blowing out of your mouth)
Be aware of how you spend your time throughout the day. Be careful of the perception you might be giving out to others. Is this what you really want to be communicating?
