Empower Newsletter – June 2016
Welcome to the June 2016 edition of the Empower Newsletter. This month the focus is on getting better results by focusing your attention on one thing at a time!
Did you know? |
‘multitasking is not efficient’
Multitasking is well known and something I thought was a very efficient way of getting things done. It came as a surprise to hear that it is not always good as we can really only focus on one thing at a time.
It was explained to me how we actually multitask, or more to the point, how we can’t really multitask and give our full attention to everything we are doing at the same time. Whilst we may be able to do two things or more at once, we can only give our focus to one thing at a time.
I thought to myself that I multitask successfully all the time until it was explained to me that we often do things on auto pilot, that is we don’t have to think about what we are doing or how we are doing it.
The example given to me was talking on the phone (hands free of course) whilst we are driving. We don’t have to think about driving because we do it all the time, we are on auto-pilot which allows us to focus on the phone call. It’s not until something out of the ordinary happens like traffic stopping suddenly in front of us that our attention automatically changes away from the phone call and back to driving.
This made me think about the many things in our lives that we are not giving our full attention to because we are continually busy multitasking. Things like relationships, careers, friendships, hobbies and even relaxation.
There has been many times where I have been talking on the phone whilst doing other things around the house or at work like cooking, cleaning, watching television, reading emails, filing, etc. By giving my full attention to the phone call I would have been more present and taken in more, and therefore retained more for recall later, not to mention giving the person on the other end the respect of my full attention.
How much better would we be able to perform if we focus wholly on what we are doing at the time? If it is important enough to us to do or have, surely it is important enough for us to achieve the best results we can by giving our complete attention. That is to make the most of every moment and/or opportunity to get the best results possible.
Definition |
Multitasking
Human multitasking is an apparent human ability to perform more than one task, or activity, over a short period of time. An example of multitasking is taking phone calls while typing an email and reading a book. Multitasking can result in time wasted due to human context switching and apparently causing more errors due to insufficient attention.
Something to Ponder |
“Multitasking is a myth. The human brain cannot perform two tasks that require high level brain function at once. Low level functions like breathing and pumping blood aren’t considered in multitasking, only tasks you have to “think” about. What actually happens when you think you are multitasking is that you are rapidly switching between tasks.”
Quote of the Month |
“Your conscious brain cannot multitask. If I’m speaking to you and checking my iPhone at the same time, I’m doing neither. This is why our society is frazzled; this misconception that we can consciously do more than one thing at a time effectively.”
~ Deepak Chopra ~
Affirmation Corner |
‘I give all of my focus to what is in front of me.’
Newsletters | Di | 
June 2, 2016 6:11 pm
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