Focus Time

How often are we taught in our lives that we need to multi-task?

Ever since birth, I have been informed of the benefits of doing more than one thing at a time. It is something that on the surface sounds incredibly logical, as why would you not wish to reduce two half an hour tasks into one 45-minute bubble?

In a society that is cash-rich and time-poor, any savings that we can induce into our laboured days are essential. If only to prevent us from pretending that the five minutes we spent scrolling through Instagram was a worthwhile reward for a busy day.

The benefits of multi-tasking are as clear as the reasons why the Titanic sank. Time savings are essential but is there more than one layer behind this age-old task that we all set for ourselves?

Multi-Tasking at Home

If you are anything like me then you work from home at least three days a week. On these days the focus revolves around your job but you are also distracted by the housework. On Fridays for example, I always look to do the washing, with the washing up also being crowbarred in there every day (as my wife hates it).

These tasks could be saved for the end of the day but again, if you are anything like me then you want to ensure that when you are finished, you are finished.

I often have a catch-up call with my Mum during the week that I do during the day, whilst at the same time writing emails. I am on calls with my manager whilst I am putting the washing away and I listen to videos that require editing/useful talks as the washing up is being completed.

Now everyone has their own way of getting through the working week but for me, this is how I do it. Trying to kill three birds with one stone and what I mean by this is working, completing life admin tasks and also upping my step count for the day and providing a break from the screen.

Multi-tasking here is quite simple and as long as the assigned work task in the background is not too labour-intensive and you do not need to concentrate, then there are no worries.

Multi-Tasking at Work

This is where things get more difficult as the perception is that you should be able to run multiple projects at once and this is true. You can run them all at once but you cannot focus on them all at once.

Going into more detail on this one, imagine if you have an awards event coming up at the end of the month, yet you also need to urgently write up a report and have need of merchandise to be designed. Three tasks with three conflicting priorities.

You can run them at the same time and be thinking about them but to be working on them whilst also answering emails divides your attention.

It is something that I attempted to do for years at work. Answer every email as it arrived to ensure that projects continued to move forward and whilst they did, something felt as though it was missing.

Friends around me seemed to be streaming through their day and when I asked why, they simply said, focus. Ensuring focus on one element at a time and ignoring the rest until that element has been completed.

Whilst I forget the exact number, simply imagine now that you are concentrating on an urgent design that needs to be completed. You are in the zone until you see a notification appear at the bottom of the page, which you answer and then try to get back into the task, only for another notification to appear…now ask yourself, is it better to ignore the emails and concentrate on the design or split your focus?

The Focus Project

I do sometimes recommend books and whilst that is usually related around my personal life, delving into the workplace is essential also. The writer of the Focus Project is one that I would recommend, having also written Socialnomics, a book which focused on the impact of social media.

This book, The Focus Project is all about ignoring what is unessential and focusing on one task at a time, ensuring continued success through taking away what appears to be a quick win and is actually a diversion.

Now, this could sound rude to ignore emails or requests for assistance but you have to ask yourself, are you in the workplace or at school? As much as we want to be good human beings, sticking to your job and focusing down is what you are paid for and most people will respect you for this, lest they need to take a lesson in focusing also.

A Final Thought

Multi-tasking is great but in the right measure. Getting mundane tasks such as cleaning the fish tank, washing, washing up or calling a relative out of the way to free up your evenings is a quick and easy victory and one that I would recommend, whereas at work, the opposite is true.

I love my life, both personal and professional with the sad consideration that I am not perfect and have plenty left to learn (who doesn’t?). I know that perfection is an illusion and for success to balance out failure we all need to learn to focus better, I know that I have to ensure that I have more time for my private life to flourish.

My key takeaway from all of this is this…don’t do too much. We all have a million considerations that are jumping up and down for our attention but when we take a step back and focus on the important areas, we realise what is essential and what is utterly unnecessary and can be forgotten about.