Leadership Expert Scott Love Shatters Myth of Multi-Tasking

Multi-tasking is a myth and limits the effectiveness of managers.

(PRWEB) November 23, 2004 -- It was early in the morning in my hotel room in Milwaukee and I was running late for the driver to pick me up to take me to the airport. I thought Id try to make up time by drying my hair with a blow dryer and brushing my teeth at the same time. Have you ever tried this before? Hey, look at me. I can do both, I thought to myself. I was surprised that I was able to do both at the same time, but I didnt exactly get the quality that I was hoping for. In fact, the outcome was just one notch below mediocre. Both my dentist and Fonzie would have been disappointed in the results.

Welcome to the life of being a manager. As a manager you must multi-task, all the books say. You can certainly multi-task, and thats an option if mediocrity is acceptable. But if you want to win, if you want to reach your peak performance level, then you must limit your fighting to only one battle at a time and devote all your resources to it. As it turns out, multi-tasking is a myth. In a time when managers are starting to realize that results are what count, people are finally starting to accept that they are mere mortals.

When you feel the stress from competing time demands, follow these steps to prioritize and execute:

1. Recognize that you have limits. Theres nothing wrong with thinking big and having a grand vision, but your action steps, your goals, must be within easy reach and achievable.

2. Understand the difference between a vision and your goals. The vision is what keeps you from falling asleep at night because its so exciting. A long term vision of a team should be almost within reach. Its the same level of excitement that you feel when you come off the first whoopsidoodle on a roller coaster. Its not scary anymore and youre starting to have some fun. The goals are the easy part. Set the vision high, enough to even scare and excite you a bit, but make each step on the action plan easy and realistic.

3. Limit your success to two or three per day. Ask yourself this question: If you could accomplish only two or three outcomes today, what would they be? Thats all you have time for anyway. Admit that you cant do it all and make sure you actually accomplish something by the end of the day by limiting your results to only two or three things.

4. Get your time back. Heres an easy way to get at least ten or more hours back each week: quit watching television. Theres nothing good on anyway. On a recent trip I confirmed this by watching a reality TV show that dressed up men as women in order to help men understand women. So I switched the channel and saw another reality TV show that had women in bikinis eating insects. This proved it: theres nothing good on anyway. Dont be so passive and start relating with your family again. If you cant go cold turkey, limit your watching to only two shows per week. Identify those two shows that you love to watch the most and plan for them. All of a sudden youll get time back to start relating with your loved ones, and that gives you energy and fulfillment which also helps you perform better at work.

5. Do more by doing less. How many committees do you have to be on anyway? Are you the one who has to head every insignificant program that comes into your office? Cant you let someone else take the lead for a change? Leadership is worthwhile but should be limited to the point that it doesnt pull us away from what matters. Identify those areas in your life that mean the most and put your heart and soul into them. Get rid of everything else. Youre not going to be that effective with it all anyway, so do more by doing less. Do more of what matters. Do less of what doesnt. To test your priorities, use this question: ‘Does this bring me closer to or further away from what I really want?

Keep the focus of effectiveness and execution a priority. If you do this, then youll get more done at work and always have good hair and a bright shiny smile.

Copyright © 2004 Scott Love

Scott Love improves employee performance by showing managers how to put meaning into work, how to build authentic employee motivation, and how to lead. He is an author, consultant, and professional speaker. To book him for your next corporate, franchise, or association meeting, call him at 828-225-7700 to check his availability. To visit the archive of his nationally syndicated leadership colummn, visit www.scottlove.com.

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