By Kevin M

Last week in The Power of Saying NO we covered how to free up your time and energy for more productive activities by making more frequent use of the word “no”. By saying “no” to the constant requests for help, participation, interaction and other forms of engagement others will draw us into, we can keep ourselves focused on our main goals.

Today I want to cover another common time and energy drain–multitasking. This has to be one of the most over worked phrases in the English language, and perhaps the most draining of all activities. What it mostly implies is that in order to be efficient, we need to spread ourselves wide and thin to do the jobs of several people.

It’s easy to see why multitasking is popular with employers—the more jobs they can get fewer people to do, the less staff they need. That translates to lower payroll and, in theory at least, a healthier bottom line.

But here’s what multitasking does to the individual and, by extension, to the organization:

• Creates an environment of perpetual interruption
• Makes personal and organizational goals harder to reach
• Dilutes (or even erases at the extreme) primary job functions
• Generates needless stress
• Eliminates specialization, or the efficient matching of jobs with personal talent
• Creates confusion—if everyone does every job in the organization, who should be doing which job and when?
• Transfers responsibility for all functions to the highest performers, who become bogged down covering every job rather than the one they were hired to do.

Is that any way run your department? Is that any way to run your business or your career? The goal of every manager, business owner, and employee needs to be to make their primary function the primary function!

Why can’t I make more money, or, Why isn’t my business or department more profitable?

Here’s a clue…if you’re a salesman, you have to sell; if you’re a writer, you have to write; if you’re an accountant, you have to be crunching numbers. The more time and energy spent doing something other than your primary activity, the less progress you’ll make in your career and the less income you’ll earn.

If you’re a manager or business owner and you’re staff is busy fielding customer service calls, filling out reports, attending meetings or planning the next company outing, it should come as no surprise that they aren’t being more productive in their primary jobs. How does that look in the bottom line?

The most important thing any of us can do in any income earning situation we’re involved in is to spend the majority of our best time working in the functions that are most important—and most profitable. Identify the one or two things that you do that are most profitable and concentrate on those first and foremost.

To the degree that we’re drawn away from these functions, our bottom line will suffer.

In his classic book, Looking Out For #1, author and motivational speaker Robert Ringer wrote:

“Get rid of all the garbage and excess baggage and get down to where it’s all at: profit is directly related to the number of uncluttered, creative hours one has at his disposal.”

Concentration…fortunes are built on it—or lost by the lack of it. Multitasking usually has a big, fat hand in the latter.

Daring to concentrate on what it is we do best

Hockey legend Bobby Hull was sometimes accused of “floating”, that is, not giving 100% of his best effort 100% of the time. Capable of incredible bursts of game-dominating drives, he often chose to do significantly less. Now one of the things that had to be admired about Hull—call it a “Hull-ism”—was his ability to articulate what it was he did that made him great, even in the face of criticism. I don’t think it was arrogance, but brutal honesty of the sort we all need to take heed of.

Hull responded that he was a goal scorer, that that’s what people came to see him do, and that’s what it was that he concentrated his efforts on. Back checking, playing defense, or chasing the puck into the corners wouldn’t make his game better–it would drain his energy and prevent him from doing what it was he did best. His performance over his very long career was a testimony to the effectiveness of his conviction.

I have a strong sense that anyone who’s great in any endeavor is doing something very similar, whether or not they can even define what it is. The fact is that even people who are superstars in their fields, don’t have unlimited time and energy. Their greatness is defined by their ability to allocate their time, energy and talents where they’ll have the greatest impact.

Freeing ourselves from the Multitasking Monster

OK, we’re not professional athletes, and no one is soliciting our opinions on how to be great. But how can we be greater at what it is we do than what we are now? By minimizing the paralyzing affects of multitasking from our work lives!

Try one or more of these:

1. Identify the functions in your job, business or career that are most productive and make them your priority. Nothing else you do will have a greater impact on your career or your ability to make money.

2. If necessary, make a list of all of your job functions, assigning the highest priority to the most productive, and work down from there. Create a hierarchy that will be a personal mission statement that keeps you on track. Avoid allowing yourself to get lost in busyness.

3. If some degree of multitasking is necessary, block out “quiet time” to do your most productive functions. Set it up to coincide with the most productive time of your day, what ever that is.

4. Conversely, run your day with most of your time and effort concentrating on your most productive functions, but block an hour or two to take care of the rest. Try to make it at a point in the day when it will have the least impact on your main productivity.

5. ”Do something great—before lunch time”—I forget who said this, but it’s virtually transformational. I know everyone has different peak production times during the course of the day, but by doing your best, most productive work early in the day, somehow the rest of the day just flows more smoothly. A sales friend of mine refers to this as “make the dreaded call first”—as a salesman, customer contact is the most important thing you do, and the whole day can go better if you make your sales calls first thing. Try it!

6. If you’re a manager or business owner with staff, hire one or two people to cover the multitasking functions—that ability is a talent by itself and should be respected as such. By doing so, you’ll free others to do the jobs they were hired to do. Do you think that might help your bottom line?

Maybe we can’t free ourselves completely from multitasking at some level, but we do need to be intentional at limiting its control over us. Our future success depends on it.

Is multitasking a problem in your job or business? Do you think it’s inescapable? What are you doing to control it?

Related Posts:

Focusing on Your Areas of Brilliance

Is Money Your Obstacle—or Your Opportunity?

Are You Pursuing Your Own Goals – Or Filling Quotas Set By Others?

Can Higher Energy Lead You to Success?

Imagine Being Owned By No One…

Steady Paycheck VS. Self-Employment; Which Is Right For You?

By Jakob Barry

Everyone’s dream job is to be doing something they enjoy but unfortunately that’s not the case for a large segment of the population, especially in these tough economic times. Rather than holding off on opportunities in order to pursue more meaningful ones many people are settling for whatever they can find in order to pay the bills; a fine and commendable decision but it does have a price.

For example, when spending a third of the day or more at the office five days a week personal interests are often shelved for long periods of time -an unhealthy predicament for the creative individual. In order for a person to really shine such interests need to be fed but how is this done with so few minutes in the day?

Even when time presents itself exhaustion or the need to take it easy sometimes coerces us into watching TV shows passing out on our favorite comfortable chair.

To win the battle takes a lot of effort yet surprisingly, the key to making it happen is no secret. It’s all about maximizing time both at work and at home.

Maximizing time at work:

1. Prioritize: Get work done on time and don’t take it home. Set daily goals so when you leave work accomplishments are recognized. Even if you don’t finish what you set out to do, make what’s left a part of the next day’s goals. Bringing work or work-related stress home diverts important energy away from family responsibilities and creative activities. Have a positive outlook that everything is for the good and what you are doing now will benefit you down the road.  
2. Exercise: Many people think exercising is only about loosing weight or competing but the truth is when you feel good physically other faculties are optimized. Whether it’s a short jog, doing yoga, or an actual sport, working out will help you concentrate on the moment. Find time to fit it in.
3. Eat right. This doesn’t just mean eating well. Consuming too much food can make a person lethargic compromising daily goals. Learn to listen to your body when it’s saying “enough.” Also, instead of drinking a lot of caffeinated soda and sugar drinks which can dry you out find simple and healthy ways to keep going.

Maximizing time at home:

1. Prioritize: Don’t come home and spend time thinking about what to do; already have it planned out. It’s a no-brainer that when you come home after a long day you’ll be tired so when family responsibilities are complete regulate personal down time and then get focused.
2. Exercise: Many people think exercising tires you out but this isn’t so. Once a routine is established exercising gets the heart pumping waking you up. Essentially, it’s another tool for focusing. If you can’t exercise in the morning before work, try the evening. A work out and shower will get your creative senses and thinking processes flowing.
3. Eat right: If you intend to maximize your time into the late night eat earlier and try avoiding heavy foods, which will tire you out and most likely contribute to a slow start the next day. Don’t rely on caffeine for that drive through the night. Teach your mind to be your wings and carry you.

Finally, it’s understood not everybody’s schedule is the same but these suggestions can be applied in different ways through various formats. The most important thing to remember is even when life appears to have made it almost impossible to move forward creatively, don’t give up; keep following your dreams.

Jakob Barry writes for Networx.com, a growing community of users sharing home improvement projects and monitoring new ones in real time allowing homeowners and contractors to get the most from their resources. He covers various home improvement topics, including green lighting ideas, reducing household allergens, and home safety awareness.

Related Posts:

Are You Pursuing Your Own Goals – Or Filling Quotas Set by Others?
Manage Your Distractions to Take Control of Your Time
Can Higher Energy Lead You to Success?
Majoring on the Majors by Learning to Say NO
Focusing on Your Areas of Brilliance
Imagine Being Owned by No One…

Better control of your time means more control of your income and your finances

By Dave Kelly

So, I have been thinking about this… wait just a minute, someone is calling me on my cell phone. “Hello, this is Dave Kelly. Yup. Um-huh. Real World: Motivational Speakers? I like it. Send me an email. Thanks.”

Sorry about that. Anyway, I was going to say… wait, now my phone is buzzing. A text message. Oh, that’s good. Gotta text back. “U R kidding. LOL. HA!”

So, the thing with distractions is… A tweet! Let me see, what is my friend, who tweets his every move fifty-plus times a day, up to?

Getting the point?

And that is just from one medium of distraction, my cell phone.

What else do you have going on? Video games? Facebook? TV? Boyfriend – girlfriend – husband -wife? Multiples of those?

No matter what your distractions are, choose to manage them in an intelligent way. Just because your phone rings, you DO NOT have to answer it. That is what voice mail is for. Do you spend all day checking email? Really, are you that important that the latest set of joke motivation posters can’t sit in your email box until later in the day? Set aside a certain time or a couple of times per day when you will check email. If something is urgent, let the person call you.

We have fallen into this “you’re it” mentality with email wherein if I send you a message about something, it is now your responsibility. Other than in a work hierarchy, do not let people do that to you. Remember, “Failure to plan on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.”

Love “Family Guy”? That’s OK, it’s fine to have programs you enjoy. They are great for relaxing and forgetting about the day. However, that program comes on in Atlanta from 7-8 pm on “Peachtree TV”, some nights from 8-10 pm on “TBS”, and from 11 pm-midnight on “Cartoon Network”. If you sit there for all five hours, taking in “King of the Hill” from 10-11 pm as a sorbet, who is in control? You or the electronic device that you bought?

Have you fallen madly in love and found your soul mate? Great! You want to spend every waking minute either with them/talking to them/thinking about them/texting them? And, at the same time, maybe not so great (but certainly understandable). You have to take control of those feelings in order to be productive. Put your soul mate’s picture on your desk and limit your contacts to either certain times when you can talk or a maximum number of texts per day.

You control your time, if you choose to. You can make it productive time or you can let it get away from you.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go watch Jack Bauer save the world (“24”, everyday at noon on the Crime Investigation Network). Hey, it’s my lunch hour!

Do you need a great inspirational speaker for your next event?

No matter what you call it, I am available for your next conference, convention, conclave, convocation, reunion, rally, workshop, ed session, orientation, meeting, before/during/after breakfast/lunch/dinner, gathering, commencement, groundbreaking, team building, staff development, leadership retreat, continuing education, ceremony, assembly, congress, council, confab, forum, roundtable, symposium, opening session, closing session, or any session in between. I present practical information in a fun and informative manner with humor, stories of overcoming obstacles, and with anecdotes about cats, football, and biscuits and gravy (among others). I can entertain and inspire your audience for 15 minutes to as long as you need me to. Please call or email me and we can easily work out the details! To see what dates I have available, feel free to contact me via email.

By Kris

It seems that in our professional lives, we’re constantly reaching for more and always looking for ways to push ourselves harder and increase output. Our seemingly insatiable need to force just a little more productivity from ourselves and from our employees can backfire though and leave us looking and feeling like tyrannical taskmasters. However, there are ways to stay productive that don’t always include longer hours, drooping eyelids, and angry employees. Whether you’re an entrepreneur with only yourself to keep on task or you have a staff to keep motivated and productive, these tips can help reduce expenses, increase profits, and keep your business operating effectively.

1. Effective Time Utilization

Not everyone works at the same pace and not everyone needs to. One of the most frustrating aspects of the typical 9-5 job, or 40-hour workweek for some people is that they might only need half that time to do their job effectively. The other half is spent killing time and generally being unproductive, and if other employees are affected by this person’s boredom, it decreases their productivity as well. If this is the case, it might be beneficial to review their job duties, description, and responsibilities and consider adding responsibilities or changing their position to part-time.

2. Keeping Time

Clocks are important reminders of deadlines, schedules, and effective time utilization. Your workplace should not look like a Vegas casino, devoid of timekeeping devices. Using clocks around the workplace (especially in offices and break areas) can serve as constant reminders that break time is over, you’re late for a meeting, or subconsciously, that time is money.

3. Work Environment

Making a work environment comfortable, but not distracting is one of the toughest balancing acts in the workplace. A comfortable atmosphere can make employees more productive by relaxing them or less productive by distracting them. Things like radios, windows, and plants can be distracters but at times are necessary to relieve stress, calm anxiety, and actually increase productivity. Your best bet is to keep work spaces open and well lit so that the opportunity for drifting, dozing, and other productivity killers, are eliminated.

4. Restrict Internet Access

Thousands of hours and billions of dollars each year are lost to workers surfing the internet. Consider restricting access to the internet on office computers. While you certainly don’t want employees to be restricted in their ability to do their jobs, it’s important to help them avoid the temptation to become distracted along the way.

5. Enforce Hours

Force yourself, and/or employees, to finish the day within an allotted timeframe. Allowing employees, even yourself, too much leeway when it comes to a work schedule promotes misconduct and lower productivity. If you haven’t already, consider utilizing a time clock to punch in and out, even for upper-level and non-hourly employees. You might be surprised at what inconsistencies and deviations you find.

6. Breaks Are Breaks

Everyone needs to step away from it all occasionally. Breaks are important in allowing us to clear our heads, regain focus, and take a breather. To maximize the effect of break periods, ensure they are not interrupted with work related matters – then they aren’t really breaks. Try to place break areas away from phones, computers, and similar items that might interfere with a rest period.

7. Proper Tools

It is important in increasing productivity and eliminating down time that employees have what is needed to do the job. There are few things more detrimental to productivity than getting rolling on a job or project only to find you have to stop to find supplies or order the materials you need to finish your work.

8. Emails and Phone Calls

Checking emails and making phone calls can eat into a large chunk of your day if you aren’t careful, especially if you’ve set your computer up to automatically notify you of each incoming email. To avoid these types of distractions, attempt to set aside certain times of the day that you know to be slower periods to check and write emails and make phone calls. Doing so, can save you time, minimize distraction, and ultimately increase productivity.

9. Productivity Standards

Whether you are your own boss or the boss of many, no matter how disciplined you are when it comes to work ethics and productivity, it helps to have goals and standards to compare productivity levels to. Without productivity standards, it is difficult to determine whether you are achieving your business goals.

10. Assessment and Evaluation

Measuring productivity won’t do much to decrease waste and inefficiency if you don’t analyze your results. Assess your standards periodically, comparing them to what you’ve achieved. If they aren’t where you’d like them to be, make changes based up on the data you’ve collected and the trends you see.

About the Author Kris writes about making money and managing finances for an Australia website where you can compare the best credit cards from various providers including ANZ and Aussie. As this article would suggest, he is also a total productivity freak.