Have you ever noticed how little you actually accomplish when focusing on multiple objectives at the same time? Many people feel they can increase productivity by tackling multiple tasks simultaneously but this is not usually the case! What is actually occurring is that their efforts are usually of lesser quality since they do not stay focused on just one task! Although multiple tasks may be 'completed' the lack of quality in the results is the difference between being successful and being average!
Here is a look at 3 ways to stay focused on just the task at hand allowing yourself a much greater chance of being successful at whatever it is you are trying to accomplish!
Minimize 'To Do' List
Being ambitious is admirable but if you can not accomplishment what you intended why 'schedule' this in the first place? This only opens the 'door' to frustration and doubt and this can undermine your efforts. By trimming your 'to do' list to a more manageable size it will enable you to stay focused on only those tasks you have scheduled for completion. An oversized list will only serve to distract both your attention and efforts!
Work Until Completion
When planning your work commit to completing each task you start before moving on to the next. Being successful at anything is based upon what you have accomplished but if you have a list of partially completed tasks, you really have accomplished nothing! Besides when you stay focused on just one project your ability to work more efficiently tends to increase!
Be Realistic
Assess your skills and plan your accomplishments according to your own abilities. The best way to increase productivity is to be realistic about your expectations. Do not establish goals or plan any work that is beyond your capabilities or skills sets. This will only set you up to waste your time and energy and likely experience nothing but frustration and failure. Continual frustration will then rob you of your ability to stay focused on anything resulting in nothing getting accomplished!
The temptation of focusing on multiple tasks at the same time to get more done only works if you are not concerned about the quality of your results! On the other hand if really being successful at what you do is important to you, it is best to stay focused on only the task in front of you. By doing so you will get much better results. If you think about it the only way to really increase productivity is to get quality results from your own efforts in the most time efficient manner! Our discussion above shows how by narrowing your focus you can increase productivity along with the quality of your own efforts. This seems to be the only sensible blueprint for being successful if of course quality counts for anything!