The law of attraction instills the idea that what we focus on expands.
So the concept of what constitutes optimal productivity has seemed to come up everywhere lately. Just in time…since I have been feeling way more scattered, forgetful and overwhelmed with the “to do” list and multiple projects on which I am working.
I invited Certified Productivity Coach Caroline Donahue (www.RemabulousCoaching.com) to our First Tuesday Womens’ Group Professional Lecture Series (www.FirstTuesdayLA.com). She took us through a series of exercises, where we focused first on one thing at a time and then on multiple things. I was blown away when I was focusing on multiple things, how my mind got confused while my hands felt like they were writing in slow motion!
Soon after, in O Magazine’s November issue, I read an article called “Plugging IN” by Catherine Price, who shared how she quit her multitasking habit and regained her focus – one single task at a time. She quoted Ada Gazzaley, MD, PhD, assistant professor of neurology, physiology,and psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco: “We’re all novelty junkies and multitasking is a great way to get a fix.”
Maybe, like me, you relate to having thought with pride: “I’m a great at multi-tasker!” Price pointed out how “recent evidence suggests that multitasking with unrelated activities can impair short-term memory and interference with mental processing.” So no wonder I’ve been having trouble remembering the author’s name I was just reading! I thought I was managing time wisely by “killing 2 tasks at the same time,” but actually it slowed up my brain and productivity for way too long.
So here I go….ending 2010 and beginning 2011….focusing on one business call, one email, one article, one meeting, one brilliant idea, one “something” at a time.
I invite you to do the same. Let’s finish one task before beginning another. I’ll begin by beginning and completing one blog post rather than having 5 going at one time that are half done…….that’s the ticket!
See you on the other side of Powerful Productivity. Let’s rock it!
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