| | | Hey Friend,
I went on a rant earlier this week about multitasking and how it's one of the great lies of the Twentieth century.
One that most of the modern world has taken as a truth - that we humans can be more productive and fit more things into our lives because we can do them concurrently.
- Juggling two or three projects at once (my desk is a testament that I fell into this trap).
- Texting and driving (one of the worst examples of "multitasking," IMHO).
-
Holding a conversation while watching TV.
Yeah, people "multitask" all the time, but are they really getting more done?
The answer is no. Because the quality of each activity suffers when it's divided between two or more goals.
You can't do two things at a time. Period.
Sure, I can hear your argument right now. "But Davey, I do it all the time. I can watch TV and read the paper while having a chat with the wife."
Really??
I want you to make a conscious effort to pay attention during a scenario like that. If you're watching the TV, you're not listening to what your wife just said. You heard her, but just that she was saying something and interrupting your attention to the joke Jerry Seinfeld just told.
And you certainly couldn't be reading anything while you were being pulled between the two conversations. Your eyes may have been seeing words, but I guarantee you weren't getting anything out of them, at least on a conscious level.
Hey, I'm not judging - I'm a card-carrying member of the Super-Multitasking Heroes of America!
Yeah, right!
Oh, you've never heard of me? Yeah, that's because I've done many things marginally well instead of one thing GREAT!
It's taken me 50 years, but I'm starting to get it.
Before you go too much further down the road, I want you to get it, too!
We can't actively do more than one thing at a time. I don't care if you're a man or woman - even though I'm still convinced women are better at keeping more plates spinning than men are.
Our brains are designed to focus our attention on only one thing. Sure it can keep you aware of other activities occurring in your environment, but you can only focus your attention on the thing that has it.
What do you use to put out a fire, a wide spray of water or a focused stream?
If you don't learn to focus on your main objective, you are doomed to sub-standard accomplishment - do not pass Go, do not collect $200.
I want to recommend a book I'm reading called "The One Thing" by Gary Keller.
In it he lays out the evidence that proves "multitasking" has worn out its welcome. He also suggests that no matter what your project is or how many separate tasks may be involved, it can always be whittled down to the one main thing you should be doing to move you towards the goal.
Look at every great story in history - one over-riding focus can change the course of mankind.
"One Ring to rule them all, My Precious..."
I agree it's not necessarily an easy approach to adopt - we get pummeled every day with "opportunities" to distract us away from our primary goals in life.
But if you think about it, if you can distill what you need to be doing down to one thing - the most important thing - it's a lot easier to maintain your focus.
Even if you have a number of different things going on, you can take this approach and narrow down to one main thing for each goal. Then prioritize those goals to the most important, followed by the next, and so on.
Then do the first "one thing" on your list. When that is complete, move on the the next.
What's your one thing?
That's a great challenge to implement with The Chord Clinic, don't you think?
I mean, the main goal is to master guitar chords, right? So I'll give you one thing to work on each week to help you maintain the focus you need to get the most out of the program.
While I work on getting The Chord Clinic ready for you, you can always get started with one of the easiest chord forms available - the power chord. Easy Power Chords ebook gives you everything you need to start playing these simple chords right now.
What are you waiting for? Get Easy Power Chords today.
Peace~
Dave |
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