Boost Your Productivity & Creativity Without Burning Out

Busy, Busy...

Are you a Type A Entrepreneur feeling overwhelmed? If someone asks you how you are, do you answer: Busy! It's the word many of us use to describe our lives. It's almost a boast disguised as a complaint.

Overachievers brag about multi-tasking, and how much they've gotten done. Many entrepreneurs are trying to pack in so many different activities into one time slot to "save time". But is it efficient? Are you doing all the various activities at your best level of output? Is your performance at the level you would achieve if you were doing one thing at a time? Are you in danger of overwhelm and burnout?

Multitasking is actually responsible for many deaths!

Don't believe me? Consider the highway deaths of people texting or reading incoming texts while driving a car. Your brain can NOT do multiple activities at the same time without each one of them suffering.

Actually, you may think that you are doing them all simultaneously, but your brain is actually shifting quickly between focus. You are not actually driving while you are texting. You are doing one thing, and then another. Your car is NOT equipped with autopilot!

The newest multi-tasking combination that is being touted as the cure for overweight or getting your exercise "over-with", is a combination of work and exercise: the walking or biking desk. The concept is, you walk or ride slowly while working on your computer. And maybe this is fine if you are doing light reading, or even having a conversation with someone.

But multitasking doesn't work when you have to do intense work with your brain. These are the brain's most "heavy lifting" activities:
• Understanding - learning
• Deciding – this can be about prioritizing, and goal setting
• Recalling – we call that memory
• Memorizing – learning and storing facts
• Inhibiting (keeping other thoughts and things from intruding and distracting you)

It uses a tremendous amount of caloric energy to do these activities effectively. If you were walking up a hill and answering complicated questions, it would take too much brain energy to keep your body moving at the same time! You’d have to stop one or the other activity.

If you are depending upon multi-tasking, you might just find yourself stuck! You have so many things that you’re trying to accomplish at one time, that you don’t know what to do first! This can be frightening, and you’ll end up losing time, rather than saving it. Overwhelm can also be one of the causes of procrastination!

So, do you really HAVE to multi-task? The answer is NO. You work more efficiently and effectively; your performance is enhanced when you FOCUS:
FOCUS:
• Fix your attention – to align your sight to a focal point
• Objective – the goal of your actions
• Concentrate – intensify your efforts to fulfill the mission
• Unambiguous – no uncertainty or doubt as to the desired outcome
• Strategy – The plan to accomplish the mission

And, it is actually better for your mental and physical health to focus. You lessen the chance of getting overwhelmed and burned out. That's a big stress reliever!

So give your brain a break; and do one thing at a time WELL. Ignore those Bright Shiny Objects that try to steal your attention! You'll feel a better sense of accomplishment, and do a better job. Then cross one project off your list, and do the next one just as well! Your brain and body will thank you for it!