I am the first to say I “was” a big offender of multi-tasking and working on getting better every week.
What I learned over time was that putting 20% attention to five different activities gets you nothing!
The switching cost from moving focus on one activity to the next drains your mental battery.
On average it takes 15 minutes to refocus from task to the next.
Have you ever been part of a meeting where someone is speaking and everyone is typing away?
- Have you been a typer? How engaged are you?
Have you been the speaker and you have very little eye contact with the audience?
- How does it feel?
What is the solution?
- Ask for lab tops down as a general rule for team meetings except for the presenter
Why?
- It respects the speaker who put the time together to share their thoughts with you
- You will learn to respect yourself…and offer up what you would expect as a speaker
What is one thing you can do to be more present this week?
Colin
The kick in the pants you need. Sign-up for a better start to your work day.