We’ve all experienced seen it, someone driving, drinking coffee and talking on the phone, or worse yet also putting on makeup or shaving (hopeful not BOTH!). Or maybe you’ve done this…had a glass of wine and e-mailed (this is a REAL bad combination by the way).
Then there’s the person at work; on the phone, e-mailing, IM-ing and talking to someone at their desk.
This is insanity! We are so caught up with trying to do more that we are missing everything. This is why I like to hold firewalks, it teaches people to pay attention, to be here now!
With all the new technology available we are making ourselves more and more accessible. But that doesn’t mean we HAVE to respond for the requests of our time. My belief is that this obsession with MT (multitasking) has to do with thee main issues:
1. Fear of lack of time
2. Projecting into the future
3. I want to feel important
Fear of Lack of Time – This is really the cornerstone to the disease of MT. We ALL have the same amount of time in the day. We’ve all heard this, but how many are living it? The reason we feel that there isn’t enough time is mainly time is due to the deadlines or “to do lists” that WE have created. If we are the author of the deadlines and lists, we can adjust them or even remove items from them…after all it is OUR list and we can do what we want with them.
I know, I can hear you saying, “But my boss is telling me what to do and by when.” Yes, this is correct and it doesn’t mean it’s true. When people tell us what or when to do something, we still have to agree to it.
Projecting into the Future – The other reason why MT is so heavily utilized is that we are projecting into the future that we have more to do. We only have ‘now’ to perform a task. If we stop projecting our made up “to do list” and the deadlines into the future and concentrate at the task at hand, we would release this constant feeling of being in a hurry
I Want to Feel Important – As a friend of mine, (Michel Neray) suggests, replacing the words, “I’m busy”, “I’m swamped” or similar with “I’m important”…go ahead and try it. Instead of responding with “I’m busy” when someone asks how are you, say “I’m important” …talk about a shock! After all, isn’t that’s what we’re really trying to do by MT…is look (and feel) important?
There’s a phrase that I have fallen in love with, it’s an acronym FOCUS. It stands for Follow One Course Until Successful. This is SO powerful in so many ways, if we could only adhere to like other accomplished individuals.
Think about, how would feel if you had to have surgery and the surgeon had his or her Blackberry, a book and PC (for pay bills) in the operating room with you. You’d probably think multitasking is a bad idea!
Look at the people how are excellent in their fields:
• Specialized Doctor’s
• Elite Athletes
• Craftsmen
• Warriors (especially in battle)
All of them practice FOCUS.
Why is there never enough time to do a task right, but always enough time to fix it?
If we, as a society, would concentrate on the single task at hand and complete with excellence, we would produce outstanding products and services. We would then be able to decide what is really important and what is “window dressing.” We would be forced into making decisions about where we put our attention and energy instead of doing a lot of things at once…poorly.
Yes, this takes mental strength to do, and that comes with practice. So, my request for the next day is to FOCUS – follow ONE course until successful and sees how that feels.
To Your Inner Strength,
Gregg
PS: This post was to get you to think and question the self-imposed importance put on multitasking and “doing more”. I hope it stirred up something inside of you. If so, please let me know on my Facebook page : http://profile.to/mindcoach
Success in life is not about luck! It’s about managed thoughts, focused attention and deliberate action. Personal success and personal failure all start in the mind. Tap into the power of your unconsciousness mind and eliminate negative beliefs that have been holding back from reaching your personal goals.
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