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| Dr. Anthony Paustian Provost at DMACC West Campus |
Booze, Sex, & Money
Three ways to focus and improve
the quality of your work
By Dr. Anthony Paustian
If you’re like most people, odds are you’re swamped;
so much to do and so little time to do it. We go through our days trying to
balance ever-growing responsibilities, which, if done simultaneously, make us
feel more productive. We call this “multitasking,” and people believe the
better you are at it, the more effective and efficient you will be. We tend to
view multitasking as a positive, frequently sought-after attribute. In fact, as
many of you read this, you’re also responding to text messages, watching the
news, eating lunch, reading the paper, and planning the rest of your day.
However, multitasking is a myth. Sure, you
can chew gum while walking, listen to music while vacuuming, eat while reading,
or fold laundry while talking on the phone. But these activities don’t require higher-order,
problem-solving skills or much brainpower of any kind.
Psychologists have studied the concept of
multitasking for a long time. What they found is the brain is unable to focus
on more than one thing at a time. When people multitask, they are actually
shifting their attention from one thing to another at fast speeds, and each
time they switch their focus between tasks, their minds must reorient to cope
with the new information.
According to Earl Miller, a professor of
neuroscience at MIT, “People can’t multitask very well, and when people say
they can, they’re deluding themselves . . . Switching from task to task, you
think you’re actually paying attention to everything around you at the same
time. But you’re actually not.”
There are several reasons for this, but one
is that similar tasks have to compete to use the same parts of the brain. For
example, talking on the telephone and writing an email are nearly impossible to
do concurrently because of what’s called “interference” by neuroscientists.1
Both involve communication skills and contend for similar space in the brain.
Multitasking doesn’t make us more productive;
in fact, the quality of our efforts suffers rather than if we focus on each
task individually.
Another major downside to multitasking is the
negative effect it has on our stress levels, as trying to balance a multitude
of simultaneous activity makes us feel overwhelmed, drained, and anxious.2
Stop the Madness!
Although I don’t claim to be a model of
efficiency (I get sucked into the false hope of multitasking with the best of
them), I have learned how to effectively maximize my efforts and accomplish
large tasks and projects. I have also realized time is finite, and we all have
the same amount of it (24 hours per day / 7 days per week). In order to
maximize my productivity, I adopted three strategies that greatly impacted not
only the number of positive outcomes I can accomplish but also the quality of
my work.
1. Set Aside Time
It’s human nature to deal with things as they
come. Our days have a tendency to fill up on their own; as a result, we find
ourselves constantly “putting out fires” (to use a common metaphor), becoming
regularly distracted by the constant change in events.
Therefore, to do anything of quality and
significance, proactively schedule time (even if it’s short amounts of it) when
you will work on ONLY one task and nothing else. To write this piece, I had to
schedule four hours on a Sunday afternoon when I would do NOTHING except write.
I made sure I let the dog out, I took care of my physical needs, and I had a
beverage by my side prior to working. I did nothing else during those four
hours. I have employed this strategy for virtually every task of significance
whether it was writing a book, designing a project, preparing a presentation,
or creating a strategic plan. Not only was I able to accomplish each, but also I’m
certain the quality of my work was much, much better because I was focused.
2. Find a Sweet Spot
I spend the bulk of my life in some
unproductive locations. Whether it’s my office at work, my office at home, or
home in general, these locations are ground zero for dealing with a constant
stream of distractions. For me to be truly focused and productive during the
time I set aside, I must work away from the normal, daily distractions at a
secondary location where I feel creative and energized. For me, those places
involve local restaurants and vacation spots. I wrote my entire doctoral
dissertation at Applebee’s, my first book at Chili’s, and my most recent book, Beware the Purple People Eaters: A Personal
Look at Leadership, at Subway (and most of the planning, outlining, and
researching for that book was done poolside in Las Vegas). For whatever reason,
these places allow me to focus, energize, and be creative. Find your place(s),
and go there EVERY time you set aside time to focus (in fact, as I write this
I’m sitting at Subway).
3. Go Off-Grid
Like an addict goes to rehab to cut off
access to addictions, productivity needs to be cut off from distractions. Even
if you set aside time and go to your sweet spot, it will be for not unless you
unplug and disconnect. I’m convinced distractions will follow you if permitted.
The phone will ring, text messages will appear, and emails will pop into your
inbox, all of which are huge temptations screaming for your attention. And like
most addicts, we are frequently unable to resist (did I mention booze, sex, and
money?). Turn off your smartphone and disconnect your laptop from the Internet.
Short of an emergency or crisis (which seldom happen), everything can wait.
These three simple actions have a huge
positive effect not only on my productivity, but also on the quality of my
work. They allow me to focus intently for scheduled blocks of time while
putting my best efforts toward the desired task. Although they might be simple
in concept, they aren’t always simple to do. They require discipline and, most
of all, frequent practice. Start by creating a routine and setting aside small
amounts of time. You might be shocked at what you can accomplish when highly focused
for only 30 minutes a day.
For more information on this topic, see the upcoming
fall issue of Celebrate! Innovation Magazine (www.dmacc.edu/ci/magazine2013/welcome.html) available early September.
For more on this and other topics, please visit www.adpaustian.com.
©2013
Anthony Paustian. Used with permission. All rights reserved.
2Multitasking: Can It Help You Get More Done? Retrieved May 9, 2013, from the Mind Tools website: http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newHTE_75.htm
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