Manage your time
You can replicate the message that the speaker was trying to explain.. All you need is the stop watch function on your phone., First of all, time yourself counting to 26. I got 9 seconds. Secondly, time yourself reciting the alphabet. I got 8 seconds. (As an aside, this was disappointing. Infection control people have told me that I should wash my hands for a minute and the best way is to sing the alphabet. It is much less than a minute.)
Finally, say the alphabet again, but this time, count 1 to 26 after each letter. So, it should like this, A1, B2, C3, D4, etc. Time yourself doing that. I got 25 seconds. Don't worry if you are not that fast. I was the guinea pig at this workshop so I've done this before.
It is a simple but powerful experiment that shows when you focus on one task at a time, the total time is 17 seconds. When you multi-task by trying to do both tasks at once, the total is 25 seconds.
We all think we have to multi-task all the time, but the truth is that it is not an effective use of time. I know that is an impossible concept for mother's to understand, but if you want to be your most effective, it is better to give your full attention to one task at a time.
Governments recognize this and that is why we have strict distracted driving laws. Distraction is very broadly defined and can even mean engaging in a passionate discussion and not paying attention to the road. I used to put on my make-up as I was driving to work. I stopped a few years ago. A couple of months ago, I was late and decided to try it. I simply could not do it. I needed to pay attention to the road.
I had a boss who said she was a great boss because she was proficient at multi-tasking. Her door was never shut because she never wanted any secrets. So, if you wanted to talk to her, you had to do so carefully so that others didn't overhear. You would have to compete with people walking by and her waving and saying hi to them. She would be talking to someone else on her blue tooth, so you never knew who she was talking to. She also would be texting and have her computer open to several windows at a time answering emails, participating in a webinar, calculating vacation hours, etc. When I had to go see her, it was a bit of a gong show. I would come out not knowing if I had even gotten an answer to my question or if she even knew what I was talking about. Guess how often I talked to her? As little as possible. It wasn't because she wasn't good at solving problems, she really was, however, I felt so insignificant to her. Not a good way to feel.
When she responded to my emails, it was obvious that she had just scanned my email and picked out a word here and there, and replied.
She felt that because very few people came to talk to her that this was indicative of her being a great leader. She took credit for empowering her staff. The truth is she was a horrible leader. You had the same odds of getting direction from a magic 8 ball than you would from her.
Being a great multi-tasker is not necessarily something to be proud of. People usually do better when they give their entire focus to one task.
Also, and most importantly, people aren't tasks to be checked off your "to do" list. People are people and are worthy of respect and dignity. Be the kind of person that is honoured when someone reaches out to you. Don't short change them by scrolling on your phone in their presence. Give me your full attention. Be the somebody that makes everyone feel like a somebody.
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