ACCOMPLISH MORE BY DOING LESS

5 Ways to Stop Multi-tasking!

Sharon hurries home from her son’s soccer practice to cook dinner and start a load of laundry. She checks homework before rushing off to Bible study. While eating lunch at his work desk, LJ works on bills and waits on-hold with a phone call. Janee uses her cell phone to catch up on texts and emails while walking her dog.

We multitask to get more done. However, research suggests multitaskers do less, and do it less well. Here are a few of the many research findings on why we should break the  habit of multitasking.

• Multitasking actually slows you down and takes more time in the end.
• More errors are made while multitasking than when single tasking.
• Spending time on multiple devices such as texting and watching TV can potentially cause brain damage in the brain’s area which is responsible for empathy and emotional control.

If you want to become more productive, try doing one activity at a time. However, it will take some practice and scheduling. Here’s how.

5 Ways to Stop Multitasking

1. Batching – Do you know someone who eats one thing at a time from the plate? That’s batching.

My mom was great at batching. She would cook dinner. When finished with dinner, she might sweep, and after that, do laundry. By 11 a.m., she was ready to sit and watch The Price is Right. 

Practice batching by finishing one job before moving on to the next. Prioritize your work. Avoid perfectionism!  Do your best and leave it alone, or revisit it later.

2. Mindfulness – Are your thoughts always wandering away from what you are doing? Mine are! That’s the opposite of mindfulness.

Mindfulness is totally investing yourself to where you are. Once, as a busy mother, student, and educator, I was having my weekly organ lesson. During the lesson, my thoughts were everywhere because of the hectic week at hand. My music professor said to me, “Be here; now.”

Practice mindfulness by focusing entirely on one task at a time. You may still become distracted. Just keep bringing your mind back to your task. Eventually, you will become more focused.

3. Tech time. – We love our smart phones. However, technology can be a major intruder in your life.

How much of this intrusion is urgent? Little to none. So, let voicemail take your non-urgent calls. 

Break the habit of constantly checking email and texts.
Establish an emergency “chain of contacts” with your loved ones. Then, schedule set times during the day to “check-in” your with texts and email.

4. Alone Time.” Schedule some time alone each day to get yourself going or to unwind!

Again, mom was a wonderful role-model here. By the time the rest of us woke up each morning, she would be sitting, reading her Bible. This was her “Alone Time.”

Enjoy a relaxing bubble bath, meditate, or play a game on your phone. No Facebook and texting right now! This is your time.

5. Time-Out. My daughter, an extremely busy, working mom, will take an occasional time-out. The family will sleep-in and enjoy their day at home.

Try getting your entire family to take a monthly, bi-monthly, or quarterly time-out. Take the day off. Keep on your pajamas. Take naps. Play some board games. Bake some cookies. Catch up on laundry.

It’s amazing how the world can keep functioning  for one day without us!

Finally, changing from multi-tasking to single tasking is possible with practice and scheduling.  Your immediate rewards will include less stress. You will actually begin to accomplish more in every area of your life.

Do you mostly multi-task or single task?  What other advice can you give to those of us who are constantly overwhelmed with too much to do? You can leave a comment by clicking here. Thanks. God bless!