Some people are proud of their multitasking abilities.
And in today’s world there are many opportunities to do it.
We’re tempted all the time to look at our phones when we’re doing something else…like listening to a friend tell us something important.
There are times when multitasking is advantageous.
But it turns out that most of the time multitasking is bad, very bad.
And that is just for health reasons.
When it comes to work or other important areas of life, the quality of what you’re doing will suffer unless you focus on one thing at a time.
Here are a few steps to follow to improve your focus.
Step #1. Schedule Your Days
This is a big one. I’m always a little surprised at how people spend their days. Just kind of aimlessly going through them and doing the same things.
Sure, there is some schedule to it. A few tasks that have to get done.
But what I’ve found to be successful for productivity is to really break the day down into segments. Either with tasks or by hours.
And it’s not the repetition that’s bad. You want that. It can lead to better focus.
But you want to audit your daily tasks every few months. Break the routine and take a look at what you’re doing vs. what you should be doing.
If you’re not getting done what you need or want to be getting done you need to break your daily habits.
Step #2. Embrace Your Toddler Sense Of Wonder
Have you ever seen a toddler?
Most of us have. It’s amazing to watch how they view the world. A butterfly leaves them in awe. Hearing a big truck roll by leaves a huge smile on their face.
And a new challenge gets their entire attention even if it’s only for a minute or two.
As we get older we lose that sense of wonder. We get the feeling that we’ve seen all their is to see. And that’s especially true with our work. We get bored by doing the same things.
But you can flip the switch back to your toddler years. You can look at each task and work on noticing all the nuances.
The more you treat tasks as being brand new and the more you focus on all aspects of the tasks the more consumed you’ll become. And the less distracted you will be.
Step #3. Remove Distraction
This is the obvious one. It’s really challenging today.
You’ve probably read all the advice for this one before:
- Turn off the phone
- Put the phone in airplane mode
- Remove all social media apps from your phone
- Close your email tab in your browser
- Close out of Slack
- And on and on…
It’s all obvious advice. But it’s all good advice. It’s just more challenging today. There is so much temptation when it comes to our attention.
Step #4. Repeat
By this I don’t mean repeat the steps above.
I mean repeat the task.
Read the instructions for doing something. Then instead of getting right into the task, reread the instructions. Notice what you missed the first time.
Walk through the office and observe what others are doing. Then do another lap around the office and notice what you missed the first time.
Watch a business video on YouTube. Then watch it again and notice what you miss.
The more you repeat things like this the more you realize how much you miss even if you are paying attention. It can be alarming, but it often sends you into a more focused state of mind.
We don’t like missing out.
Conclusion
Focusing on one thing at a time is a huge challenge. And it’s not going to get any easier in the future. The competition for our attention is at an all time high. It’s not anybody else’s job to make sure that we don’t lose focus.
We’re responsible for ourselves.
