We live in a hyper-stimulated world where every second holds many opportunities and tempting as well to explore and nobody wants to miss out so, they try to delve into so many things at the same time otherwise known as multitasking.
Multitasking is the simultaneous execution of multiple tasks or the practice of handling more than one task at time, multitasking has always been part of human’s function, I mean we walk and talk simultaneously, we type on our computers and stay on the phone at the same time. Ever wondered why most people never reach their goals? It is not because they are not capable and it is not because they don’t have the required resources but it is because they keep distracting themselves all the time by doing so many things at the same time and never reach their goals.
However, it has been documented that the human brain cannot multitask in the true sense of the word that is doing two tasks simultaneously unless those two tasks are very highly practiced. We live in a society where countless possibilities abound and there is need to achieve more in a short time, but in order to succeed in a chosen field in the contemporary society we need to bend all our energy and effort towards a single goal at a time, this common culture many of us have embraced is disturbing because it is closely linked to “reduced effectiveness” in our everyday lives, but you and I call it (multi-tasking).
Furthermore, several studies have found that multitasking can result in wasting around 20-40 percent of our time depending on what we are trying to do, for instance it would be almost impossible to write a good quality presentation while having an emotionally charged conversation with a friend. Also a study at the British institute of psychiatry showed that multi-tasking decreases your IQ by 10 points, that is a the equivalent of not sleeping for 36 hours and more than twice the impact of marijuana. In our everyday live we engage in multiple activities almost at the same time, ignorantly thinking that we are achieving much in a short time or worse still at the same time not knowing that we are on the decline path of ineffectiveness and aimlessness which all comes back to lack of focus as result of engaging in multiple activities at the same time. By focusing on one thing at a time you are compelled to be disciplined and stay the course rather than wander around many things at same time. Essentially, our brains can only process information at a finite rate so switching between multiple tasks inevitably has a lag time. Zigziglar once said “lack of direction and not lack of time is the problem” being focused on a particular goal gives you a defined direction to follow and achieve your goal on time.
If we take a retrospective look at some people who have learned to harness the power of focus we will embrace the importance of staying a particular course at a time, for example when you hear of Warren Buffet you think of Investing, Wole Soyinka –Literature, Donald Trump-real estate, Ali Baba-Comedy, Mercy Johnson-Acting, Tiger Wood-Golf, Serena Williams-Tennis, Thomas Edison-Invention. The pattern here is that all these people have chosen to focus on one subject or given area of interest and keep at it.
Staying focus involves channeling all your energy into achieving a desired objectives, focused behavior does not happen by chance, it happens through conscious effort many start out with clear objectives at the beginning of the day, new week, new month or a new year but find themselves inevitably distracted by the other emerging subjects or tasks. What happens when we lose focus? Trying to multi-task such as studying and watching TV simultaneously leads to decreased performance on each task, we start going in multiple directions toward multiple goals and end up doing nothing well, we essentially invite failure by dividing our focus and effort on too many things, if you are putting both time and effort into doing lots of different things you could easily wind up doing them at best in an average way that offers no competitive edge.
So, how do you stay focused?
The best way to stay focused is to review your main goal(s) each day and always prioritize your goal(s) and attend to it in that preference, stay the course –one at a time and the benefits are enormous because it will allow you to efficiently exert your energy in one direction at a time and ultimately achieving your goal(s).When a man’s undivided attention is centered on one subject his mind will constantly be suggesting improvements of values which would escape him if his brain was occupied by a dozen different subjects at once – Barnum & Bailey.
FOCUS…FOCUS…AND ACHIEVE YOUR GOALS
By: Lucas Rafique –
