Concentrated Focus Beats Multi-Tasking

In our effort to get more done in less time, the quality of our efforts is often compromised.

One notably bad result comes in the form of death on the highways - the result of people trying to drive while composing text messages on their cell phones. The ultimate case of Multi-Tasking gone wrong.

While that rare and most serious result gets the headline, there are millions of other small compromises going on everyday that go unnoticed.  But the combined and compound effect of all these small quality lapses adds up.

The individual, business, and society lose out in the long run.

Yes, we are incredible human beings, capable of doing many tasks at once. But we are not capable of doing each task to the best of our ability when we squander our attention upon many things at once.

On the surface it appears we get more done. But how many times do we (or someone else) have to go back to re-check or re-do our work because our multi-tasking failed to pay adequate attention to detail?

Ultimately, time and money are lost. Perhaps worse, you develop a reputation for being careless or sloppy in your work.

Way back in the early 1900's a well respected executive and consultant by the name of Ivy Lee suggested to Charles Schwab, then a top executive in Andrew Carnegie's steel empire, that Charles implement a system to get more done. And Ivy Lee said, "Don't pay me now for this system, but try it out and then pay me what you think it's worth."

After using the system for one year, Charles returned to pay Ivy Lee $25,000. That was a whole lot of money back then - for one simple idea! But that idea made Charles Schwab, and later May Kay Ash and hundreds of other entrepreneurs, millions and millions of dollars.

Doing one thing at a time was a vital component of his system. Focused attention was key to the success of these prosperous individuals. The key wasn't how to get more things done - the key was to get the most important things done first.

Don't discount the difficulty in this. With all the distractions going on around us, continually, it takes great effort to concentrate your focus on one task until completion. It requires discipline, but the rewards of focused attention over multi-tasking have been proven time and time again.

"One thing at a time, and that done well, is a good rule as I can tell"  Theron Q. Dumont

Tomorrow, we'll take a closer look at discipline - and how it just might be the bridge you need to succeed.

 -LEGO photo above from page 34 of "Building Blocks of Prosperity"