THINKING OF SOMETHING ELSE AS YOU READ THIS?

"Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus."

Alexander Graham Bell, late 19th/early 20th century inventor.

Pretty proud of that multi-tasking you do are you?

Maybe too proud??

HOW YOU WILL GET IT ALL DONE

"Do the duty which lies nearest to you, the second duty will then become clearer."

Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) British historian/essayist.

Good advice when you have much to do.

MULTI-TASK THIS

"The waste of life occasioned by trying to do too many things at once is appalling."

Orison Swett Marden (1850-1924) American author/founder of Success magazine.

We live our lives much faster today than was true when Mr. Marden made this statement.

Multi-tasking is a fact of life.

But there is a point when supposed increased productivity gives way to shoddy work and some unquantifiable price on our quality of life.

THERE ARE LIMITS TO YOUR GREATNESS . . . WHO KNEW?

"The first requisite for success is the ability to apply your physical and mental energies to one problem incessantly without growing weary."

Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931) American inventor

Counter intuitive to self proclaimed multitaskers.

Few have the luxury of doing only one thing at a time, however there is a finite limit to how many things you can do equally well all at once.

Know what that limit is.

THE LIMITS OF MULTI-TASKING

"Perpetual devotion to what a man calls his business, is only to be sustained by perpetual neglect of many other things."

Robert Louis Stevenson

19th century Scottish essayist/poet/novelist

Really, the perpetual devotion to most anything comes at the expense of adequate time for all other things.

You may think you've successfully got all the balls in the air at once but you don't.

In any event not all for long.

They're Called Must Do For A Reason

"The most valuable of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do, when it has to be done, whether you like it or not."

Aldous Huxley

20th century British writer

This is certainly true in business.

If you don't get the essential things done on time, on or under budget, you fail.

I'm Not Afraid Of You(?)

"Be larger than your task."

Orison Swett Marden

Late 19th century/early 20th century American author, founder of Success magazine

I can think of many tasks in my business career I absolutely did not feel larger than; to the contrary I felt overwhelmed.

Part of that is the result of understanding the difference between "being" and "acting" in control, "larger" than your tasks.

I work at it, what do you do?

Me, Me, Do Me First!

"Never step over one duty to perform another."

English proverb

Another one of those on the surface "I get it" thoughts, but think about it just a bit more.

Little of what most of us must do is clearly sequential; we must prioritize to know what to do first and even that often changes.

How do you know what to do, when?

Multi-tasking or Multi-failing?

"The waste of life by trying to do too many things at once is appalling."

Orison Swett Marden
Early 20th century American author

We have little choice but to multi-task, however there are limits.

In this time of needing to get as much done as possible with as few people as possible, how do you decide when too much actually is too much?

Multi-Tasking: Efficient Foolishness?

"To do two things at once is to do neither."

Publilius Syrus
1st Century BC Assyrian Writer

I think it's safe to assume that Mr. Syrus did not believe in multi-tasking; nonetheless I understand his point. Try to do too much at once and you will either get nothing done or much that is not done right.

This really becomes important during times like now where fewer workers are forced to do more. That works, to a point, but there are limits.

How do you determine when you've got too many balls in the air at once, or worse if you manage others, have unknowingly forced them to?