Newsletter with great talking points about is multitasking is it tru or a myth?

Multitasking: lifestyle or self-delusional myth? I used to believe in my power to multitask AND my ability to do it all well—in fact I couldn’t understand why others couldn’t, wouldn’t and didn’t embrace the multitasking lifestyle. After all, isn’t multitasking required to be a successful business professional these days? When multitasking, we spend a lot of time and energy going back and forth between projects and each time we use too much of our energy just remembering where we are and what we are doing. This leaves us with little left for anything creative or innovative. After a health scare, I realized that multitasking was not only taking its toll on me physically, but also mentally. In fact, when I was honest with myself I realized that multitasking left me was tired, drained, stressed—the opposite of how I define successful. Then I had the good fortune to come across the wonderful book The Power of Less, by Leo Babauta, about doing less AND achieving more. I was intrigued and after reading it I was hooked. Once I put Leo’s theories of time management into practice I was amazed by how much more I was able to accomplish while doing fewer activities. Here is the kicker. It wasn’t that what I was doing previously was bad, but rather that I wasn’t distinguishing between what was important versus what was fast and easy to get done. I had been prioritizing tasks that seemed easy to get off my to-do list rather than focusing on the important activities that would help me achieve my goals. After realigning my focus on what was important to me, it became a lot easier to eliminate the distractions that I had allowed to clutter up my days, my weeks and my life. Now I do a lot less, but what I accomplish is important to me and I am achieving the goals I set for myself and my business. In fact, I was able to triple my business from 2009 to 2010. How? By only working on those tasks that take me to where I want to go and not allowing myself to get sucked into time wasting activities that are always available, but not part of my plan. I spend my time strategically; I choose where and how I will put my time, energy and money so that my life is more productive AND more enjoyable and so can you! And now there are others coming out of the multitasking closet and admitting that doing lots of things at once is not serving us. Last year there was an interesting article in the San Jose Mercury News by columnist Mike Cassidy titled, “We can’t multitask? That’s heresy in the valley.” Mike’s article shared information about the former chief information officer at Google, Douglas Merrill, and his new book on how multitasking does not lead to being effective or productive—at least not as much as we think it can. “It's not really a question of whether or not we can do two or three things at once. Literally speaking, we can do them. The point, Merrill says, is whether we can do two or three things at once and do them well. It's our brains' fault, it’s all about our short-term memory constraint. [Merrill explains] that our short-term memory vault can hold only a few things at a time. When we switch tasks, it must upload what we're focused on to long-term memory to make room for the new task. And when we switch back to the first task, the process is reversed. "So usually what happens," he says, "when you're shoving something from short-term to long-term memory, you drop something or you transpose it or you make some kind of mental error."”  To read the whole article check out: " We can’t multitask? That’s heresy in the valley" Does the idea of only doing one thing at a time give you anxiety? Perhaps you might need multitasking withdrawal. If so, I am offering my upcoming Learn @ Lunch program called The Power of Less in which I will teach you how to realign your time and energy with your priorities. You will learn how to eliminate distractions and find your focus so you can accomplish your dreams—whatever they may be. We will explore our values and, beliefs about how we spend our time while developing new time management skills that will allow you to accomplish your goals more effectively and productively with less stress. The next session begins on Monday March 21st and we will meet every other Monday on April 4th, April 18th and May 2nd from 11:30 am to 1 pm in Los Altos and costs only $299 for all four sessions. You bring your own lunch and I supply the rest! For more information and to register check out: The Power of Less or call 650-248-1545.

·        Multitasking: lifestyle or self-delusional myth? Special Offer My Spring 2011 Program Schedule: • The Power of Less, my time management program will take place on 4 Mondays: March 21, April 2, April 18 & May 2 from 11:30 to 1 pm in Los Altos • Build the Business You Want From the Business You Have, my marketing strategy development full day seminar will take place on Tuesday, April 26 from 10 am to 4 pm Location tba • OverComing UnderEarning a 4 part Learn @ Lunch program on how to earn more money will take place on 4 Wednesdays: May 11, May 25, June 8 & June 22 from 12 pm to 1:30 pm Location tba Pass it on >> If you know someone who may be interested in receiving this newsletter, you can easily forward up to five copies at once. >> Having problems viewing this email? Click here for the web version.