Permission to eliminate and the myth of multi-tasking

If you’ve been following along, you know I’ve been sharing my insights from Rory Vaden’s book Procrastinate on Purpose. 

Vaden talks about 5 permissions to procrastinate, the first being the permission to eliminate, or ignore.  He asks us to consider all the things that we are doing, but shouldn’t be doing.

Sounds simple, right?

He shares a long list of likely candidates – revisiting decisions we have already made, attending unnecessary meetings, alternating between activities, watching TV (did you know that, according to A.C. Nielsen Co., the average American watches more than 4 hours of TV each day, which in a 65 year life span means 9 years!?), gossiping, volunteering too much, and the list goes on and on.

One of the ones that really jumped out at me, and I wager I’m not alone here, is switching between activities, also known as multi-tasking.  I must admit, I’ve been proud of my ability to multi-task. Many of us have - it’s become a cultural badge of honor.

The fact is, according to neurological research, multi-tasking is actually a myth. We are not mentally capable of doing two things at once, we are actually just switching back and forth between tasks very quickly.

Multi-tasking, despite its elevated stature in our hyper-paced society, is stressful and anxiety provoking, harms our creativity and concentration and actually costs us time, energy and efficiency.

I think it’s actually an addiction.  I mean, let’s be honest, how long can we go before checking our email or our smart phone?

So, what’s the answer?

Here are two suggestions that I am implementing:

1. Be the boss of your technology.  I, for one, must admit to being a slave to my cell phone ringer… What if I miss something important?  So here is a radical notion; turn the ringer off for periods of time so you can actually concentrate on what you are doing.
2. Focus on one task at a time; keep doing it until you have completed it before starting another. If you were to peek at my computer screen, you would probably be horrified to see how many screens I have open at once. No more!

I’m already feeling withdrawal pangs…

How about you,  what can you eliminate today so you have time for what really matters?

On getting in our own way.....

"Life didn't get in the way, you got in the way. Stop saying yes to so many damn things." Kim Klaver

I heard this on a master mind call today. I don’t know about you, but it’s the kind of message I can’t hear too often.

Sometimes it’s just so darn hard to narrow our focus to the things that truly matter.

It’s just so dang easy to say yes. I mean, there are so many cool things to say yes to, right?

Every morning my inbox is flooded with interesting things. You click one link and zoom – down the rabbit hole you go… to end up an hour later goodness knows where.

It takes discipline to stay focused. It takes renunciation. Now that’s a concept – not a very popular one I bet. Renouncing the fascination with the new shiny things that tantalize us from the endlessly fascinating world we live in, where everything we could possibly want to know is a mere click away.

It takes choosing to stay true to our commitment,  staying faithful to our passion and our goals.

It’s a good reminder for the likes of me, perhaps you too, who like to wander in this every expanding universe of possibilities.

How To Increase And Sustain Productivity When Working At Home

"I get to work in my pajamas." How often have we heard that phrase as an advertisement for the benefits of being self-employed and working from home? It's a great statement, implying having your own schedule, only having to commute as far as your home office from your bedroom, not having to worry about what you look like.

The down side of working in your pajamas 
As someone who works at home though, I can tell you that the down side of "working in your pajamas" is that it makes you feel, well, like lounging on the couch with that second cup of tea while catching up on the day's news. And then maybe, the bed looks really inviting and you think, well... I'll just take a little nap. Before you know it, the day is half over and your productivity is shot.

Put on your running shoes 
So, my best advice for being more productive when working from home? Get dressed as if you're going out to work. No, that doesn't mean you have to don a suit and tie or panty hose, but it does mean being showered, hair combed, dressed, and - I don't know why this is so important - but wearing sneakers, as opposed to flip flops or slippers, just makes me feel energetic. Don't believe me? Try it!

Four tips for making the most out of your workday at home
A few other tips that I find useful to maintain and sustain my productivity when working at home: 

1. Focus on income producing activities first. Leave those "busy" tasks (like cleaning out your inbox) to later in the day.
2. Turn off Facebook and email notifications while focusing on a task. It's even more tempting to take frequent social media breaks, which can easily lead down the path of hours wasted, when there is no boss looking over your shoulder.
3. Unless you are expecting an important business call, turn off your cell phone ringer, or better yet, leave your phone in another room. Does the very idea make you break out in a cold sweat? Just try it for small increments, say a half hour and gradually build up. Like detoxing in reverse.
4. Use a timer for daunting tasks. You can do anything for 15 minutes. And then another 15 minutes. Before you know it, you've made a good dent in that project you'd been putting off because it felt too daunting. 

Get ready, get set, go 
In summary: get dressed, put on your running shoes, turn off distractions, pace yourself and have fun being productive and basking in the glow of one more important income producing activity you can check off your to do list.

You might also enjoy reading "What's happening on this blog?"

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