Focus on one thing at a time
The mind prefers not to multitask. It focuses attention to one thing at a time and switches between topics.
Think about your task list for today. Now think about your last holiday.
You need to stop thinking about the task list to think about something else.
We’ve all had days – perhaps weeks and even months – when we can’t seem to focus on anything. One minute you’re reading an article online, the next you’re typing e-mails and before you can send them you’re instant messaging a co-worker, checking on the stock market or jotting down notes for an upcoming meeting. The end result: It feels like nothing’s getting done.
This may be contradicted by the fact that we can drive and have a conversation at the same time. The one activity is automated. It is so well practiced that it needs little brain resources to do. A long-haul truck driver can drive for hours at a time as most of the skill is automated and the conscious mind is not actively engaged.
Our brains try and turn as much as possible into automated functioning as this is energy efficient. When we talk about multitasking, we are not talking about things you know really well. It is when you have to make decisions, work with something new, be innovative and consider future consequences that we need our minds focused.
Splitting your focus on more than one conscious mental task at a time leads to significant decreases in performance. Studies done where participants had to press on a machine that measured the amount of pressure, found that when the task of pressing was combined with a simple task of adding two single digit numbers, performance dropped by as much as half. A better description of multitasking is task switching. It takes lots of energy to create a state of focus but less energy to stay in a state of focus.
For peak performance Professor Csikszentmihaly speaks about flow. This is complete immersion into an activity. It takes energy to switch focus because we activate a whole new set of neural pathways with each change. It is a bit like having five tasks to do, each in a different room. Imagine the energy in running from room to room doing a little bit in each, versus finishing one task before moving to the next. We are likely to be a lot more tired at the end of a day that involved multiple switches of work than longer stretches of focussed work.
Distractions can be external. Think about e-mail, phone calls, interruptions like “I just need a second of your time”. The brain prefers to focus on what is right in front of you. We love novelty and our curiosity is tweaked by the unknown. Did the deal come through? Who needs me now? Is Sam really leaving John?
Internal distractions can be just as disruptive. Spiritual Guide Angajan speaks about the monkey mind. Hopping from thought to thought with little apparent control or purpose. This is normal as there is a constant processing, connecting and configuring happening. Random thoughts appear and disappear within seconds. The challenge is when thoughts intrude and the narrative builds up steam. These are the stories we tell ourselves. Some of these are true, some have elements of fact and some are complete figments of your imagination. It is amazing that when you think something long enough, it becomes true for you. These narratives can evoke the original emotional state and even create emotional states over events that have not happened.
Hopping from one chain of thought to another can be exhausting. So stop doing that. Focus on one thing at a time.
*Mariane Vorster is a life and business coach. Her passion and focus is on providing strategic leadership development, concentrating on the transfer of skills and knowledge. Click here to get in touch with Mariane.