Did you know there is no such thing a multitasking?  According to neuroscientists, our brains can focus on only one thing at a time.  When you are multitasking what you are really doing is switching your focus from one thing to another, and then another.  Sounds inefficient, doesn’t it?  I’ve read several studies recently that found that we can be much more productive if we start a task and stick with it until it is finished.  Hummmmm.  I certainly need to be more productive. 

I decided to conduct an experiment and try out this new technique of intentionally  ‘focusing-on-one-thing-at-a-time.’   For the past three weeks, I’ve spent the first 10 minutes of every day writing down my top three priorities for the day.  I then list all the other stuff that I want to get done.  My primary goal each day is to complete the top three tasks on my list.  Then, if there is time remaining, I work on the other tasks.  In the past, I had a tendency to spend most of my day doing what was easiest or the most enjoyable.  At the end of the day, I’d marvel at how little I had actually accomplished.  I knew I had been busy all day.  The problem was that I had spent most of the day doing the unimportant or urgent stuff – surfing the internet, reading and responding to email, and the like.  The tasks that I found more difficult or not very pleasant weren’t getting done.  And, often those were the very tasks I needed to be working on.

During my three week experiment, I have been pleasantly surprised at the impact this prioritization process has had on my productivity.  I am accomplishing more of what is really important to my business.  And, I’m being more efficient in accomplishing personal tasks.

Are you realizing, like me, that multitasking is a myth?  If so, what are you doing differently now?