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“Multi-tasking” is part of the modern-day lexicon.  In spite of scientific evidence to the contrary, people who multi-task “well” continue to be applauded as truly accomplished magicians by those of us who struggle whenever too many things compete for our attention.

The Proof’s in the Pudding

The reality is that no one multi-tasks well. Of course, some are better at it than others, but everyone is always less effective when trying to accomplish more than one thing at a time.  There are plenty of readers who will object to this position and begin citing examples of multi-tasking efficiency.  To prove my point, try this simple exercise that I learned from David Crenshaw’s terrific book “The Myth of Multi-Tasking.”

• Take out a piece of paper and a pencil or pen.
•  Think of a longer word, like “impossible” which has 10 letters.
•  On your paper create two lines of 10 dashes each, one over the other, like this:

____  ____  ____  ____  ____  ____  ____  ____  ____  ____

____  ____  ____  ____  ____  ____  ____  ____  ____  ____

• Find someone to time you or time yourself.
• When your timer says “Go!,” begin spelling the word “impossible” out on the top row while alternately indicating the number that letter represents in the word in the bottom row.  It’ll look like this mid-stream:

  I      M      P    ____  ____  ____  ____  ____  ____ ____

  1      2   ____  ____  ____  ____  ____  ____  ____  ____

• When you’re done with the exercise on this first pass, jot down how many seconds it took you to perform it.
• Now, setup the exercise exactly the same way as you did the first time, thus:

____  ____  ____  ____  ____  ____  ____  ____  ____  ____

____  ____  ____  ____  ____  ____  ____  ____  ____  ____

• This time just write the word “impossible” out straight through sequentially on the top line, then write the corresponding numbers each letter represents straight through on the bottom line, so that mid-stream it looks like this:

  I      M      P      O      S     S    ____  ____  ____

____  ____  ____  ____  ____  ____  ____

This is a fairly simple example of doing two things at once - spelling and numbering.  In the dozens of situations I’ve used this exercise it routinely takes people about twice as long to complete the first pass as it takes to complete the second pass through.  The reason is simple enough, you have to refocus your mind on a different activity each time you switch between spelling and numbering in the first pass, but you don’t incur that “switch cost” in the second pass.

Through Clarity Comes Focus

With the urban myth about multi-tasking debunked, we can now get down to business.  And that business is how to truly increase your productivity and, in so doing, increase your command over your workload and your sense of success when getting more done.  We all feel better when we get something done, so why not benefit from that result on the career side as well?

Attempts to multi-task negatively affect our ability to focus.  Focus is at the core of productivity and accomplishment.  The more we can focus, the more we get done. 

Achieving and maintaining a high level of focus in the modern workplace is difficult indeed.  Distractions and interruptions abound, many of them self-imposed.  My work with clients often starts with unlearning numerous bad work habits that actually reduce focus and productivity even though they were promoted as more efficient!  Let’s focus on those, if you’ll pardon the pun.

One is not the Loneliest Number

The exercise above points out that focusing on a singular task is more productive than trying to alternate focus between two tasks.  If you have fallen prey to the multi-tasking myth but are now ready to move to a higher level of productivity and success, these suggestions will help:

• Identify TODAY’S One Thing.  Most of us have dozens of things on our to-do list with more coming in each day.  Of course, everything is an “emergency” with an “ASAP” deadline.  (Note, I have yet to find ASAP on any calendar, so I’m not sure how it can be a deadline, but that’s for another time.)  A simple way to retake command of your workload is to identify the ONE thing that you WILL get done TODAY.  You are determining that this is the very most important thing in your world for today.  Hold yourself to that commitment and start knocking things off your list that you’ve been “meaning to get to” now for days, weeks, and months.
• One Thing At A Time.  This may be obvious, but if you want to increase your focus, then focus on only one thing at a time.  You can accomplish this by doing several things to your workspace.  First, clear a space on your desk (your whole desktop?) into which nothing but your one thing will reside while you work on it.   Move your computer monitor away from this space so that it’s not a distraction or, if your one thing is on your computer, minimize all other screens and turn OFF your new e-mail alert.  Finally, place your phone on Do Not Disturb and close your door.  Now, you can actually DO one thing at a time!  Of course, return voice mails and e-mails as soon as you come back online, but I’ll guarantee you that you’ll get that one thing done faster if you follow this simple procedure.
• One More Thing.  At the end of each day right before you close everything up to go home do One More Thing.  One little thing - return an e-mail (ONE), a voice mail, put something away, send out a quick instruction.  If you do that every work day of the year, you will do over 200 more things this year than last!

Recalibrate Your Behavior to Regain Command

Over the last 10 to 15 years, the pace at which we receive information has grown in orders of magnitude.  The notion of multi-tasking arose as a method for handling all these inputs.  Unfortunately, we’re just not wired that way and attempts to accomplish more than one thing at a time actually reduce our productivity and increase our stress levels. 

Finding ways to increase our focus will not only increase our productivity, but it will return us to sense of command over our work and careers.  Give the suggestions above a try and I wish you the best of luck!

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It is my humble opinion that much of the woes we suffer locally and globally today come from one simple fact - the abdication of personal responsibility.  Color me a pessimist (I prefer “realist”), but no matter what woe befalls us, it always seems to be someone else’s fault or responsibility.  Of course, when catastrophe strikes, such as the earthquakes in Haiti, we all seem to band together. 

What I’m addressing is the less obvious and certainly more insidious - like our economic situation or efforts at social reform.  For example, when times are good we don’t want anyone interfering with our success.  But as soon as the applecart is upset, we all start pointing figures with our right hand and reaching out with our left, palm up.

The purpose of these short missives is not to chastise people or remedy faults in human nature.  It is to ask you to stop and consider a single thought about how we choose to use the limited and fixed time we have together.  The thought for today is that personal responsibility is a lifestyle choice.  By taking the position that the results and consequences of the decisions we each make and the actions we take are our own personal responsibility, I believe we will experience two things:

• How much value we can create.  Taking personal responsibility generally causes people to slow down their thinking and acting.  More thoughtful behaviors tend to generate better results.  Value is either inherent or added.  Someone who views their actions as their own tends to more clearly recognize inherent value and find ways to further the value that already exists.
• How rewarding our life can feel.  The sense of command and direction people feel who take ownership of their lives is empowering.  Whether they follow their existing path or venture down a new one, those who take charge of things always get to drive.

The next time you launch into a diatribe about how the government is doing “X’ or big business is doing “Y,” ask yourself what you’re doing to change that fact.  I posit that you’ll be surprised at what you might decide to do.

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I attended a memorial service today for a friend who succumbed to the effects of mental illness. It was a staggering loss for his family and friends, me among them. Few knew of Jeff’s struggles, which made the loss even harder to bear.

Throughout the service, many people reflected on how Jeff impacted the world around him. Two themes emerged from this recounting and I believe we can learn from them.

Orient Your Life Around Needs Versus Desires

In all the years I knew Jeff, he lived a relatively simple life. He maintained a meaningful but not overly demanding career that revolved around both the outdoor recreation and retail worlds. His work served his needs, but did not overwhelm the things most important to him: his friends and family.

Jeff was married to a lovely and kind woman. After they got married, twins came along, with one suffering from a rare developmental disorder that required extraordinary attention. Jeff and his wife made sure those needs were met and that their daughter suffered as little as possible from the exclusionary effects of disability.

With friends Jeff was equally giving. Always ready to help others, he routinely volunteered time and assistance to those who needed help with whatever project was top on the list. In his broader community, Jeff committed time and energy to troubled youth. He met the needs of others, always with a warm smile and an outstretched hand.

In the last several years, I only saw Jeff once or twice a year. Our visits were often short, most lasting less than an hour during the rush of the busy day. Yet, whenever I walked into his shop, I was always greeted with that warm smile and a, “What’s up, Pablo?” Always. And then he’d make time to have coffee or talk for a few minutes - meeting my needs to hang with him for a minute or two.

Reflecting on those times with Jeff and hearing the stories others told, it occurred to me that if we focus on our needs - our true needs - then aren’t our desires met? I’m sure Jeff struggled mightily with his illness, but I believe that when he was meeting his own needs - being with and helping others - his desires were being met.

I’m going to think really hard about what my true needs are and see if meeting them does, in fact, result in my desires also being met.

Consider The Breadth Of Success, Not Just Its Height

Success is generally viewed as a height, often referred to in that form of measure - being “on top,” reaching “the pinnacle,” having “mountains of cash,” etc. As I experienced Jeff’s service today, I began asking myself whether success might have another dimension - one of breadth. Can success be wide in addition to or instead of tall? Can someone’s success be measured in terms of affect?

The answer, of course, is yes. There are many famous people who have postively affected the lives of thousands, even millions, and they have been recognized for their efforts. Mother Teresa and Nelson Mandela are two that come to mind. But why not us mere mortals? In other words, should we measure and remain cognizant of how much positive affect is occuring when considering our own success or that of others?

The answer, again, is yes. But if it’s that obvious, why don’t we? And, more imporantly, how can we?

I don’t have the answers, but I know that when we lost Jeff we lost the personification of the breadth of success.

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Like most, I’m staring down the long corridor of the new year.  Numerous hopes and aspirations fill my mind as I consider what 2010 may hold. 

Currently, I’m in the throws of two huge development projects.  The first is the implementation of an SaaS ERP platform for our online kayaking gear business - www.outdoorplay.com.  The other is the finalization of the QuietSpacing(tm) On-Demand streaming video series.  Once the dust settles from those efforts, I’m sure there will be other matters needing my immediate attention.

In spite of the stress and frantic pace, I often remind myself that

Memories are the currency of life

Simply stated:  We have now and we had before.  (We hope to have later.)  Some of what we do now is what we’ll remember later.  Consequently, when viewed as a continuum, the things we do that create memories are how we will gauge the success and quality of our lives.  The more good memories we create, the more successful and happier we’ll feel.

So, when you’re racing headlong into the day, the week or the month, take a moment once in a while to ask yourself what you’re doing to create the kind of memories you’ll look back at and smile.

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I’m not that old.  I grew up with microwaves and color television.  When I started working full time, we had fax machines, overnight mail services and voicemail was gaining acceptance.  However, as the world began to move faster and faster via technological advances like e-mail, the Internet and smartphones, our workflow processing behaviors took a turn for the worse.

The Way it Was and What’s Gone Wrong

You see, “back in the day” we started our days by looking at what had to get done … first. Then we started doing.  Today, it’s the opposite.  We jump to the doing - replying to e-mail and driving ahead - before considering what’s already on our plates. 

The purpose of these old-school review periods was to organize and prioritize our tasks, folding into the mix our appointments and other things that needed our attention.  Then we would move forward into the day and deal with what came our way.  This surveying behavior was usually repeated around the lunch hour and just before going home.  Functionally, we were keeping an eye on the big picture while dealing with the day-to-day details of our work.

This surveying process has largely been lost in today’s frenetic working world.  We’ve become addicted to “right now” - checking our e-mail on our smartphone and constantly seeking updates on various things via the Internet.  Most people have reviewed the latest e-mails that arrived overnight, often making commitments in response to them, before even reviewing what’s already on today’s to-do list!  This mindset - needing to stay Über-connected and ultra-”responsive” - is dramatically affecting our productivity, as well as our piece of mind.

Retake Command of Your World

This is a subject deserving of much more than a mere missive on corrective action.  Alas, I fear no one would read it due to the lack of perceived available time!  Consequently, I’ll keep my directive short:

Review What’s On Your Plate Three Times Each Day - Morning, Noon and Night

This is just common sense, but it’s not generally followed very much anymore.  All I’m suggesting is that people review the commitments they’ve already made before jumping in to the next batch of requests (e-mail, voice mails, meetings, etc.).  The more you know about your existing level of commitment, the better-able you’ll be to accurately judge and manage new commitments.  Moreover, when you start with “What’s on my plate?” you are taking command of your world.  When you’re waiting with baited breath of the next e-mail to land in your Inbox, you’re at the mercy of others.  It’s neither productive, nor enjoyable.

Just take a few minutes first thing in the morning, at mid-day, and just before going home to conduct a complete survey of everything on your desk or in your Inbox.  Consider what, if anything, needs to be re-prioritized and feel good about the things you’ve checked off the list.  In the end, you’ll see that this old-school behavior still drives terrific results in this modern-day world.

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