Be One With The Postage Stamp
Linda Ratner
Helping business owners leverage a unique and data-centric approach to minimize complexity, maximize growth, and love their work.
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November 8, 2018|TIME MANAGEMENT, PRIORITIZING
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It's a well-known fact that humans are not good at multitasking. In fact, what we're doing when we try is serial tasking, which means we shift our attention from one task to another. Doing this decreases our efficiency and the ability to concentrate. Therefore, our output is suboptimal, and we waste precious time. In a previous blog, I mentioned that it takes us nearly twenty-five minutes to refocus when we divert our attention to something else whether by choice or not; such as an interruption. So, how do we handle all of the tasks that are competing for our attention and get through the day feeling like we have made a dent?
We need to prioritize and decide what's important because if we continue to try to do it all at one time, we will fail to bring our best to the task at hand and accomplish very little. Think about this, "If everything is important, then nothing is important." Once you've prioritized, stick with that task until you are finished or need to get input elsewhere. Rinse, and repeat until you see positive changes on your to do list.
Interruptions that occur due to phone calls, electronic pinging of emails/ texts, and humans should be eliminated during the time that you are working on the task at hand. Turn off notifications and fight the temptation to click on other pages while on the Internet. Ask your team or family to give you a specified amount of time to work without any distractions. This is where good leadership skills such as deliberate comunication with your employees and team will come in handy. The more you can stay focused on one task at a time, the better your output will be both in terms of quantity and quality. Therefore, act like a postage stamp and stick to one thing until you get to there (Josh Billings)!