The performance value of total concentration

If you want to perform at the highest level, do just one thing at a time. 

Today I had a very successful speech at a financial services conference.  For the last 48 hours, it was all I thought about.  I didn't blog yesterday, my few tweets were actually part of today's talk (making it connected) and I didn't work on any other projects. 

As you know, I'm writing a new book and have a training business too - It's easy to fall into the multi-tasker's trap, seducing myself into believing I can excel at all - at the same time.  To be effective, I need to focus on the thing on deck, and wall out any other opportunities (distractions with upside).  I didn't check my email this AM, and poured all my focus in final rehearsal steps ... then execution took care of itself. 

Now that I'm done, I'll focus the rest of today on one thing - editing a piece of my new book.  That's it.  For authors, I cringe when they tell me they are carving out an hour or two every day to write.  It's not a winning strategy for ultra-high performance.  David Lynch once said that "it takes at least four hours to get one creative hour of work done."  True.  When I write, I block out a unit (1/2 a day) and wall out any other distractions.  Eventually, my subconscious rewards me with insight, which helps the final product sing. 

Try this starting with your next important performance (speech, sales pitch, what ever).  Don't try and balance it between other tasks.  Really, you aren't that good, I know I'm not.  You might say, "well, my kid can email, text, watch TV, listen to music, talk to his friends and still finish his homework."  To that I say, he's been doing it his whole life (unlike you) and he's not performing as well as he would if he applied single tasking focus to his studies. 

Comments

[Chris Young]

Great suggestions Tim! Certain people have different behavioral styles that make it can make it more difficult to focus on one task at a time, and it is important to remind them to focus on one task at a time as much as possible.

I have included your post in my Rainmaker 'Fab Five' blog picks of the week (http://www.maximizepossibility.com/employee_retention/2010/08/the-.html) to remind my readers of the dangers of multi-taking.

Be well!

[Edward J. Bebee]

>You might say, "well, my kid can email, text,

I never think that.

I think about everything I'm not doing while doing the one thing I am doing.

But you're right. It does come down to the discipline of ignoring everything else and blocking time to do the one task you're doing right now.

Good post. Sir.