No Multitasking

The main idea of this information is that multitasking often does not work because our brain cannot effectively focus on multiple tasks at the same time. The speaker challenges the listener to focus on one task at a time in order to accomplish more. They discuss the importance of prioritizing tasks and suggest setting time limits for each task. Multitasking can lead to decreased productivity, increased errors, and feelings of overwhelm or stress. The speaker emphasizes the need to give each task the attention it deserves and to work on tasks individually in order to improve efficiency and quality of work. Did you know that multi-tasking often does not work because our brain cannot focus on many things at the same time? So I'm going to challenge you today to a single task at a time to accomplish more. So stay tuned for more details. We'll be right back. Thank you so much for being here. Welcome to the Your Life Now Show, where your life and your business matter. Your host is a certified executive coach and trainer with a passion to help make a difference in the world. Your Life Now Show brings you powerful resources and effective tips to help you manage your life and your business at its best. And now, here's your host, Coach Rhea. Hello, hello, everyone. Welcome to the Your Life Now Show, where your life and your business matter. I am your host, executive producer, and CEO of Your Life Now. Your Life Now is an executive professional coaching, training, marketing, and PR company. On this show, we try to cover a lot of different topics related to our everyday life and business. What's going on in our life, what's going on at work, and how we can make everything better, better and better every day. We have been working on a lot of things here at Your Life Now, and I'm really excited to share a few things with you in the near future and to get you motivated to do and to be more and more every day. Today, we're going to talk about multitasking and why multitasking often does not work. Some people argue that they can multitask. I've argued this for many years, unless we focus on one task at a time, we cannot accomplish things in a more productive way. I'm going to share with you some helpful tips, suggestions on how to challenge yourself to a single task at a time so you can accomplish more. We're going to take a short break and when we come back, we'll get right into our today's show. Thank you so much again for being here, and we'll be right back. Your Life Now Radio Show with Coach Rhea will return in just a few moments. Would you like to grow your business and advance professionally? We would love to be of service to you. We are experts in creating the right solutions for you and for your business. At Your Life Now, we know what it takes to succeed and to increase your bottom line and to grow professionally. For more information, please contact us at yourlifenow.info. Again, that's yourlifenow.info. Welcome back, everyone. You are listening to Your Life Now Show, where your life and your business matter. I am your host and executive producer, Rhea Wilkie, also known as Coach Rhea. Today we're talking about multitasking, and today's show, I'm going to challenge you to a single task at a time so you can accomplish more. How can we do that? What is the thinking behind multitasking? Why some people think they can multitask? I never, never, ever supported that kind of thinking because you cannot multitask and give all the tasks, the focus, and the attention they need so they can be accomplished in the right way. There's the way, and there's the right way. If it doesn't ever work for you, I'm going to challenge you to one single task at a time. So here's my thought about why multitasking does not work. You know, they call me, you know, I'm always thinking about how our brain works and how we, our mind function and why we act and do things in a certain way and why some of us are successful and some of us, they do a lot more work and then they accomplish less and vice versa. So, you heard the word, work smart, not hard, because when you try to multitask, you are forcing your brain to send a lot of information or you're sending a lot of information to your brain and your brain has to process that information to give you the outcome that you want accomplished from those tasks. So multitasking often doesn't work because our brain is not suited for focusing on one, on multiple things. It's really supposed to be suited for focusing deeply on one task at a time rather than splitting all your attention between multitasks. In fact, and you can do your own, you know, do diligent research, in fact, this can lead to decreased productivity when you try to focus on multitasking instead of one task at a time. It increases error, so you are more likely to make errors and a higher likelihood of feeling overwhelmed or stressed. This is my thing. This is like the top of the chart for me because when we multitask, and that's why I'm not a big fan of the to-do list. I always say and I encourage you if you've been following the show or you've been coached by me or you followed my coaching, you know that I focus on priority list and why is priority list really important because you're working one task, one item at a time. You start with the top and you work down and you can rechange the things around or move things around, but you can focus on one thing at a time. Our brain has limited cognitive resources. That's the fact, you know, and when we try to juggle multitask, those resources get divided among all those tasks, so all the resources that you have in your brain and the information that you send out and then what you offer the output, it is really get divided into these tasks and so that means you're not giving attention that every task deserves. And of course, what happens when that happens, obviously, it results in reduced overall efficiency because we are not fully dedicating our attention and mental energy to one task at a time. So of course, as a result, the quality of our work may suffer and it can take longer for us to complete tasks than we thought we were able to multitask. It takes longer to complete tasks when you have too many things you have to do in the same time than if you do one thing at a time. Just give it a test and this is what the show is today about. It challenges you to a single task at a time because in fact, it takes us longer to complete tasks than if we were to focus on them individually. That is truly the fact. Check it out. Put it to the test. So when you try to switch between tasks, it can lead you to what we call it task switching calls where time, because remember, time is your assets, so you try to accomplish the whole idea of what people think they can multitask because they think that they have a limited time to accomplish all these things that they want to accomplish but we are really not thinking about how much are we really accomplishing in that time that we want to dedicate to those tasks. So where time is wasted in a result, as our brain transitions from one task to another and further hampering our productivity. So today I'm going to challenge you to a single task and help you stay focused on one task at a time. So let's take another short break. I want you to think about what I just shared with you and then see how you can actually apply what I mentioned in fact, you know, when you're working on your task and see if working one task at a time can help you with your time frame than doing multitasking in that same time frame. So we'll be right back, stay tuned, and we'll be coming right back. Thank you so much for being here. Your Life Now Radio Show with Coach Rhea will return in just a few moments. Welcome back everyone, you are listening to Your Life Now Show where your life and your business matter. Today we're talking about multitasking and my challenge to you today is to a single task at a time. So how do we accomplish that and how can we accomplish more with single tasking? Well, these are tips and suggestions. I am an expert at what I do as an executive coach and I can tell you these suggestions that I'm sharing with you are very effective. So you might want to put them to the test and see if they can help you accomplish more in the same time that you think, again, that multitasking is something that you can do. And I'm going to challenge you to one single task at a time because let's face it, no one can effectively multitask and accomplish things in a more productive and efficient way. Simple as that. You can argue otherwise and I've been in business and corporate and sales and I can tell you my success has been staying focused on one single task at a time and accomplishing more. So I'm going to share with you how I'm going to challenge you to a single task by achieving more with single tasks than you think you can do with multitasking. So again, if you, before the break we talked about priority list, right? So what is the difference between priority list and the to-do list, right? So I think I take the stress out of the whole concept of the list by making a priority. Because if it's on your calendar and it's prioritized, then you're basically going down the list one item at a time. But when you have so many on your plate and you say, I have so much stuff to do, now you get overwhelmed, you are less productive and you think you can accomplish a lot more by trying to get everything done at the same time. It does not work. It does not work. So the first thing for challenging you to a single task game that helps you achieve more is prioritize your task. So again, that's a priority list. So how do we prioritize our task? We start by identifying the most important or urgent task and focus solely and completely on that task. So we can basically make sure that task is accomplished. And we do that before we move on to the next one. So that's the importance of prioritizing a priority list. If it's on your priority list, and again, a priority list doesn't mean that you cannot change your priority list. You can change your priority list based on the most, so you heard me say in the beginning, identify the most important or urgent task that you need to accomplish first. If you look at the task and you see one other item, another task on the, so if you feel another task should be more prioritized, then move it up the list. And work on that solely before you move on to the next one. Now when you do that, you set time limits, right? So when you allocate the specific time blocks for each task, and you commit to working on one task exclusively during each block of time, you're going to find yourself more productive. So that's number two. Number three, try minimizing distractions. Get rid of distractions. Turn off your phone. Put your phone on vibrate, so you're not getting distracted. Don't have your email open. In the same time, all these different distractions that are out there, try to minimize them. So basically what you're trying to do or what we're trying to do here is to create, so basically what we're trying to do here is create conducive work environment by eliminating distraction, like as I mentioned, a phone notification, email alert, a noisy surrounding. A lot of time I find myself more productive when I'm working is to maybe have a study music in the background or something that can help me stay focused, nothing with words or anything, so you're not paying attention to words, so just kind of something that keeps you in the zone of what you're working on and not time that you set for that specific task. So that's number three. Number four, we're going to back to my favorite thing, mindfulness, right? Why is it so important to be mindful, to practice mindfulness? Because when you practice mindfulness, you are in the present moment. Again, people always maybe criticize my company name. Why do I call it Your Life Now? Is it just like a coach? No. When you focus on the now, your present moment, you're actually more focused and more focused on what you're doing at that time, so that's mindfulness, keeping and being and practicing mindfulness. So what you're doing here, you're training your mind to stay present and focus on the task at hand by simply practicing mindfulness techniques. Some of the things that I do, even now that I'm recording this show, sometimes I feel like I need to pause for a second so I can kind of generate because I don't script my shows. Take a deep breath. Let's practice that right now. Deep breathing is so important because it just kind of gets us more centered. Here we go. One, two, three. We hold at five and then we release. One more time. And release. See how you feel? Kind of more calm, right? Because remember, when we multitask, we get anxious. We feel overwhelmed. We don't want that feeling. I've never worked under pressure because people say that they work under pressure better. No. I like to be challenged because when I'm challenged, I do better. But not being overwhelmed and stressed doesn't work for me and I feel like, you know, it's really just something mind over matter how we deal with things. So again, practice, practice mindfulness. So like when we take, you know, we set goals and this is really similar to set goals, right? So we set goals, we recognize, you know, what obstacles, what's going on. So let's just compare the task to a goal, right, that we want to achieve. So we got the task. We see that we have everything that we need to accomplish this task, right? Is there anything hindering or anything stopping us, any obstacle? And within that issue, you know, within the process that you're trying to accomplish that goal or that task, you try to come up with some small action steps to overcome the things that you need or you don't have to accomplish the task. So breaking tasks into smaller steps makes it more doable. Enlarging tasks into smaller, more manageable steps can help you maintain focus and prevent being overwhelmed. Simple as that. Again, we are trying to reduce stress here and try to be more productive at the same time. How do we do that? Break the task into small, smaller steps. Now number six on the list of things that make it more doable to do one task at a time is to use productivity tools. We got a lot of tools at our hands. And I would say it's like this is the best time to be alive because we do have a lot of tools at our disposal that we can use. I teach what I practice. I make a priority list even when I travel, you know, not to the places where I'm going to go visit because I like to be spontaneous. I might just do the basic things that I have to do as far as the task, maybe hotels, airline, you know, so and so, but I leave myself open to explore as I go and I get there. But basically I do the basic things ahead of time. But I list everything that I'm taking. I list everything that I need, I don't need, and I go through the list and then I try to minimize the things so I don't over pack for instance. So this is for travel, just to give you an example. But when I'm doing work myself, again, that applies to the same thing professionally. We try to accomplish things when you use productivity tools like your calendar, right? So your priority list should be on your calendar, right? So you put it in there, that's one of the tools. Utilize tools like task list, right? So I even have that on my phone. Even when I go shopping, you know, I have that on my phone so I'm like, okay, this is what I need and I go down the list, right? So this is just a list. But this is actually tools that can help you also put your list somewhere, your priority list somewhere, your task somewhere so you can go through that one task at a time. Calendar, as I mentioned, there's a lot of productivity apps out there. So whatever you use, iPhone, you know, Android, whatever you use, you're going to find an app that will help you support. I do a lot of things on my phone so I find myself doing a lot of things ahead of time before I start my day so that way I'm ready to go through my task and through my priority list as I have it listed and then if I need to change, I can also still do the change. But with doing all these things, what's really important, regardless of what tools you use, is to stay on track with single task and goals, right? So again, single task and goals, goals that is. So we talk about tasks. So if we stay focused on that, being mindful, recognizing what's going on and what we need and what we don't need and then go down that list and stay on track, we can basically go to the next one and so on and so forth. So one more important thing. One more important thing to keep in mind is to give yourself a break. Don't forget to take a break. Take breaks. Allow yourself a short break between tasks because now you're clear in your mind, you finished with one task, you know, be happy, recognize your accomplishment, whatever form, but then take a break before you move on to the next task. Short break, 15-minute break, whatever, 10-minute break, just take a break so you can recharge and refocus. Because again, if you're still thinking about the first task that you just finished, you're still in that mindset, so we want to change it to move on to the next task, which could be completely different than the one that you just finished. So taking a break allows you to recharge, to refocus, and in process, you can improve your overall productivity and concentration, as simple as that. So let's take a short break again, and when we come back, we're going to summarize all of it, and then I will share with you how you can get a hold of me directly for more information on how I can be of service to you or to your organization. Thank you again for being here, thank you for listening. We'll be right back. Your Life Now Radio Show with Coach Rhea will return in just a few moments. Would you like to grow your business and advance professionally? We would love to be of service to you. We are experts in creating the right solutions for you and for your business. At Your Life Now, we know what it takes to succeed and to increase your bottom line and to grow professionally. So for more information, please contact us at yourlifenow.info. Again, that's yourlifenow.info. Welcome back, everyone. You are listening to Your Life Now Show, where your life and your business matter. I am your host and executive producer, Rhea Wilkie, also known as Coach Rhea. Today, we're talking about multitasking. No multitasking. And actually, this is the name of my episode today, again, no multitasking. Why? Because when we focus on one task at a time and block time for that task, we can actually literally accomplish more than trying to multitask because our brain cannot focus on everything at the same time and give the attention to each set task that deserves that attention. So let's recap what I shared with you here. So basically, where I mentioned that I'm challenging you today to a single task at a time so you can accomplish more because our brain, like as I mentioned, are better suited for focusing deeply on one task at a time rather than splitting our attention between multiple tasks. I also shared with you some helpful tips on how to actually start working on single tasks at a time and see how that works for you. We talked about prioritizing your tasks, set time limits so you can allocate specific time blocks for each task, and commit to working on one task exclusively if you run out of time. So minimize distraction, phone distraction, email alerts, any noise around you, surrounding noise. I also shared with you, you know, I find myself like if I'm studying or I'm trying to focus on one thing or I'm working on something, maybe like a study music background or something like, you know, you can go to some of the apps like YouTube or whatever, you can find it. It's very kind of subtle music, not loud. It just keeps you focused, right? So that's minimizing distraction. I also talked about practicing being mindful. Mindfulness, practice mindfulness because it's really important because when you are mindful, you are present, you are focusing on what you're doing right now. And then I also mentioned by breaking our tasks into smaller steps, we can manage those tasks better. And we can prevent being overwhelmed. Sign me in. Never like stress or being overwhelmed. So what do we do about that? Again, one step at a time. Also, you know, we have a lot of tools out there that we can use to help us accomplish our task and we can call them productivity tools, right? So you like some of these tools, like I said, I mentioned like a task list, right? Calendar. There's tons of apps out there that helps you organize your task and stay on track. So check them out. I'm not, you know, promoting anybody so I'm not going to say that calendar is something we all use. That's one place that I can tell you it's really important that you have your task on your priority list and your task in your calendar. And most importantly is to take a break. To allow yourself a short break between tasks so you can recharge, refocus, and improve your overall productivity and concentration. So by incorporating these strategies into your daily routine, you can gradually develop a habit or the habit of single tasking and reap the benefits of increased focus, productivity, and effectiveness. There's more to share, but this is a start. So I'd like to challenge you again to that single task, to put it into a task and see how that works for you. And I'd like you to contact me and tell me how's it working for you. And what do you find yourself, you know, because if you are coming from a place of thinking that you can multitask, it's hard to kind of, you know, they say some habits can be hard to break. I'm not going to label the habits. But, you know, you have to change your mind. If you change your mind, you change how you do things. It's simple as that. And so when you change how you do things, you get different results. Practice is what makes us perfect. So practice being mindful, staying on one, you know, one task at a time and give yourself a break. All these things, when you incorporate them, these strategies in your daily routine, you can see different results. So for more information, for more detail on how I can be of service to you and or to your organization, please feel free to contact me. You can go to our website at yourlifenow.info. Or you can reach out to me on LinkedIn. I am very much into, you know, professional apps and stuff like that that I work with. So contact me there. Connect with me on LinkedIn, on other social media, whatever place that you can find me, Rhea Wilkie, you'll find me everywhere. And again, a simple way is to go to our website with a contact app or page. Send your contact information and I'll be more than happy to contact you there. So until next time, stay brilliant, stay mindful, stay focused, and reduce the stress and accomplish more. Much love to all. One more thing is take collaboration and mutual agreement to make the impossible possible. So go ahead and collaborate with like-minded people who support you and who are and want to do business with you. Look for insight and see what you can do with these insights. Learn from your mistakes. Don't repeat the same mistakes. Learn from them, honor them, so you can move on and move forward. Thank you. Thank you.