The Downside of Multi-tasking: Stay focused to optimize your performance at work
One of the leading causes of car accidents today is driving drunk, but much more commonly, and often just as dangerously, we find people "driving distracted."
Of course, we know the most obvious and dangerous distraction is texting while driving—which is just foolish. But talking on the phone, messing with the radio or even eating while driving can cause drivers to be distracted—which causes accidents.
When we lose focus, the results can be disastrous.
Many of us are "driving distracted" when it comes to our career. Multi-tasking, a seemingly required skill in our culture, actually makes us LESS efficient. We'd do better to focus on one thing at a time, a skill many of us are in danger of losing.
The key to success, most experts say, is to do what you do well, and not try to do too much at once. The key is to develop the ability to focus.
One article on overscheduling said this:
"Performance psychologist Jim Loehr, EdD, author of The Power of Story: Change Your Story, Change Your Destiny in Business and in Life (Free Press, 2008), says multitasking is not the productivity maximizer many think it is. In fact, he says, it works against effective time use. "People get the sense — because there is so much on their plate — that they have to be able to do a number of things simultaneously," Loehr explains. "But the energy signal in a human's focusing system is binary. You are either focused or you are not. If you have 10 balls in the air, nine of them are in free fall." (from http://www.experiencelifemag.com/issues/january-february-2010/life-wisdom/back-on-schedule.php )
We often multi-task because we are responders rather than initiators. We are trying to do everything that everyone wants us to do, rather than focusing on the things we do well. We've forgotten how to prioritize.
Business owner Mark DeMoss, author of The Little Red Book of Wisdom, says focus is critical to success and satisfaction in our work. "Focus—that internal compass that keeps a person on track with his gifts, his purpose, and his goals," he writes. "How rare is that compass?"
DeMoss, who founded and leads The DeMoss Group, a public relations firm, notes that "Focus is the discipline to say no to anything off-mission—and that is true freedom." That freedom sometimes comes at a price, he notes: his company has turned down lucrative contracts because they were "off-mission," but believes staying focused is what has made him successful.
How can you discover your focus? "People who want to claim or reclaim their true north can start by examining their passions, by asking what makes their hearts leap," DeMoss writes.
DeMoss puts his money where his mouth is. His company encourages people to take time just for "thinking" and offers paid sabbaticals to those who've been there five years or more. (from The Little Red Book of Wisdom, http://dld.bz/QWSK )
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