Multitasking versus focus and mindfulness

Multitasking is in many ways the opposite of focus and mindfulness. The ability to multitask has always been assumed (i.e. the ability to walk and chew gum) but it is seemingly REQUIRED in today’s workplace. It is severely overrated and it is the cause a lot of the dysfunction that is obvious without even thinking in “Dilbert mode”. Focusing with laser-like intensity is the way to accomplish the most in the least amount of time.

 

I once worked in a place where you were considered “out of date” if you did not take a laptop into a meeting. What I quickly discovered is that most of the meetings were unimportant. (Holding relevant meetings is a topic for another time.) The actual multitaskers inevitably wasted everyone else’s time with “I missed that, could you repeat?” Again, the subtle message was that the work being done on the laptop (and frequently, it was FaceBooking) was more important than the meeting.

Here are some important points to keep in mind about multitasking:

·         You are not a computer. The circuitry and code of a CPU is designed to rapidly change focus from one job/task to another.  The human brain is not. We must go through the process of finding our place with each switch of focus. This is actually time consuming (which means you can get more done by focusing on tasks one at a time).

·         Benefits of focus in problem solving. Focus allows us to do a better job of sorting out the facts. It might even seem like a focused individual is not doing anything during a very intense session of “figuring things out”.  In reality, they are channeling their inner Sherlock Holmes.  Maria Konnikova has just published an excellent book on the subject of thinking like the famous fictional detective.

·       If a face to face conversation is one of the tasks, doing anything else during the talk is a subliminal message that the other issue (IM, phone, filing papers) is more important than the other person in that conversation. Choose to be present. Choose to tell the other person that you value the fact they made the effort to show up “live and in person”.

·         Increased Stress. Constant, long term multitasking can overstimulate your “fight or flight” responses. This causes several hormones, cortisol, noradrenaline and adrenaline. The stress to your system of these “false fight or flight” responses is bad and there are all sorts of associated health risks that come with prolonged stress.

·         Exceptions that make sense. Simple tasks can be combined, especially if one of the tasks is waiting. A good example is filing while you wait on hold. You know exactly what the next filing task is, so there is no significant effort in finding your place.

Do you remember when multitasking made you mess something up or when focus allowed you to succeed?

Vision from a high fashion model

Kim Luret is currently an American living in Paris, an author, speaker, coach and owner of her own Paris-based modeling agency. She was an international high fashion model for over 12 years on the runways of Paris, New York, Milan, Tokyo and elsewhere. Kim worked personally with icons of the fashion design world including Calvin Klein, Yves Saint Laurent, Giorgio Armani, Karl Lagerfeld, Gianni Versace. 

Helping the latest generation of aspiring models reach their highest potential has been a long time focus and driving passion for Kim. You can read her latest project, Kim Luret's Modeling Success Series, on Amazon Kindle.

Kim graciously spoke with Cliff by phone recently on the topics of vision and overcoming fear. Her story will be a case study in my upcoming book, Become a Change Agent: Drive the Positive Change You want for Yourself and the World! Part Two: Vision.

Cliff Collard – You described discovering your desire to become a model as if the desire “hit you between the eyes”. Could you elaborate?

Kim Luret – It was more like being hit by a mallet. I was 15 years old. When the desire hit me, I just knew it even though I had never thought about it before. This was a mindful revelation. I didn’t know anyone else with such a desire and it certainly was not mainstream at the time. It came out of left field. Prior to that, I said “Veterinarian” any time someone asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up.

CC – Fear is such a powerful de-motivator. Do you have specific advice for young people to overcome fear?

KL - Everyone faces fear. It is up to each individual to make peace with it and accept it. Fear and jitters are the same thing. You need to put it behind you and remember that everyone is afraid or nervous. Spirit never speaks to us through fear. What can change is how we respond to it. It is OK to be scarred but you must act anyway. You will find that the sky didn’t fall. Overcoming fear increases your self-esteem.

CC – Anything specific for peer pressure or ridicule?

Kim – Remember that if people try to put you down, the real thing they are trying to do is tear you down to thier level. In most cases, if you remember that they can’t do it, peer pressure gets quickly put into perspective. People think mostly about themselves, they typically could care less about you.

CC – How about fear of the unknown?

KL – Accept the fact that there will always be the unknown. It is ok to have a problem. It is not OK to let the problem have you. Faith in God is an important key.

CC – Could you describe how you tried to kill your dream of becoming a model?

KL – Emmitt Fox said, “Take the unknown to the extreme, what if the world ends? Well, you won’t be around to care now will you?”

I was extremely self-conscious about my looks. “I’m not attractive. My braces are ugly, I’m too tall. My hair is frizzy.” I tried to ignore it. I only told 5 people and only my friend Marian was supportive.  Most responded with “Are you kidding? “So I drifted to college with no plans other than a degree in psychology and nothing I did caused me to get the “passion” bug. I let 4-5 years pass and time suppressed my interest in modeling.

CC – In the end, what (in addition to the Modeling School Director’s encouragement) triggered your inner voice?

KL – I really have no idea what the trigger was. I heard a voice, “Only you can make your dreams come true. Fan the fire of your dream. Own it. Never doubt it!” This Voice came out of nowhere and was clearly not my own, nor did it sound like anyone familiar to me. This happened as my roommate was dialing the number to set up her own interview for a modeling school. That voice made it imperative that I go to the interview as well. I then met the Director and her words of confidence made me understand the voice must be heeded.

CC – How do you encourage others, particularly strangers?

KL – I tell them you have to “Bring It” constantly. People will believe about you what you believe in yourself.  It is important to have a clear, strong self-image. This is the alpha and omega of making peace with and getting along with yourself.

CC – any final thoughts?

KL – Rumi said, “The one important thing in this life is your reason. If you accomplish 100 other things in this lifetime, they are only of peripheral importance”

CC – Thanks Kim! I think your experience will provide a valuable model (pun intended) for others.

KL - Thank you for your time and the opportunity to share thoughts and ideas with you.

 

The Cycle of Civilization in 33 Words

This sequence is thought provoking.

It takes 3:07 to watch.

What do you think? Which of the words best describes our current situation?

'Time Banks' Help Spaniards Weather Financial Crisis

 

With the financial systems in the balance, people are looking for all sorts of alternatives to get the services they need.

Time banks are where people exchange time instead of money. Work and hour and someone works for you for an hour. It doesn't have to be the same person.  For example, I could earn an hour by tutoring math to person A and then consume that hour by getting housekeeping services from person D.

Everything is done on a gifting basis, so there is no tax involved.

It is making life possible for the people in economically ravaged Spain:
http://www.npr.org/2012/09/22/161380937/time-banks-help-spaniards-weather-financial-crisis

It is available in Austin:
http://www.austintimeexchange.org/

It is a great idea!

What services can you trade?

Vision>Strategy>Tactics

These three words get thrown around a lot. How do they relate? Do other words have almost the same meaning? The basic definitions clear up a lot!

A vision is a set of ideals - not a set of laws or rules. It is the overall goal of your efforts. Vision is immensely valuable in times when the obvious path is not clear. It is a guidepost or beacon to keep us from losing our way. Two upcoming parts of my Become a Change Agent book series deals with vision.

Strategy is a general plan or way of actions to achieve the vision. A strategy explains how advantages in resources are to be best used against vulnerabilities in barriers to reach objectives.  A vision needs one or more strategies. They are also called business models, distribution channels and lines of business in the commercial world.Step 1 of the Change Agent: Framework includes developing a strategy.

Bill Carson has an excellent blog on strategy.

A tactic is the tool to implement strategy. A tactic is specific action plan implemented as one or more specific tasks. Tactics are sometimes called other names like tools, methods, templates or processes. Steps 3 and 4 of the Change Agent: Framework go into tactics.

An Example

Rapid software development is the vision. Agile Development style is the strategy. Scrum, Pivot and Iterate are tactics. I write a lot more on this subject in my upcoming book, Become A Change Agent: Drive the positive change you want for yourself and the World! Part 3: The Framework.

Visions, strategies and tactics have something in common: they are meant to be used over and over again.

What is your personal vision?

Annie Griffiths is a Change Agent

I was privileged to attend a program by National Geographic photographer Annie Griffiths last night. She has single-handedly done more to advance peace and ease human suffering than most of us can even imagine. Her photography reminds us of the beauty this World has to offer.

Annie has photographed people and nature in more than 100 countries. Her portfolio is so huge that it is virtually impossible to look at her work without recognizing at least a few of the photos.

She discussed finding your vision and your passion. Her talk titled "A Camera, Two Kids & A Camel" was captivating!

An interview

Introduction to Leadership

 Part One of Become a Change Agent: ended by describing vision as the cornerstone of your leadership. Part Two dives straight into the nature of a vision because you can’t lead without an idea of where you are going! This series of blog posts will act as the bridge between Parts One and Two.

Chapter 3 even lists the negative trends that we readily see in today’s institutions and the “leaders” that manage them. Now is the time to ask…

What is a leader?

A leader organizes and directs people in a common direction. It may be toward a goal or a series of goals. Leaders and Managers are different; even though there is some overlap for managers of people. It is possible to manage a process, a service or inventory. You can only lead people. Managers have titles, budgets and infrastructure. Their authority is granted from a higher authority. Leaders have followers and their authority stems from their actions and skills. Leaders have roles.

Leaders lead from the front. They are doers, not managers. Those that follow them know they pull their weight and give more because they can see what the leader is doing – not cowering in a corner office. True leaders embrace their followers as equals. They celebrate the accomplishments of those they lead and freely give away credit.

Two critical components of leadership are transparency and the ability to present a coherent message. The leader’s vision may be huge and complicated. Presenting the parts in “digestible” pieces is key. At the same time, the pieces must both make sense and fit together in an easy to understand and follow format. This is the message or the vision in an easy to communicate form.

Transparency means that people know what a leader is doing. There are 2 levels of transparency, internal and external. External transparency is communicating concrete and verifiable facts that indicate the leader and organization are playing by the rules and executing on their plan/vision.  This must be balanced against the needs to protect the confidences that have been entrusted to the leader. Leaders cannot openly talk about the organization’s “special sauce” – the special knowledge that makes the group’s deliverables unique.

Yet another aspect of transparency is a leader that openly owns his/her own mistakes. This has the added value of helping the group avoid repeating that mistake!

 

Leaders must vigilantly guard against falling into the ego trap. True leaders are constantly complemented because they are effective. Flattery can be addictive to the ego. The best way I know to preserve humility is to understand where the ego fits in the self. (A description of this is found at the end of my report on Models. You can get a free copy by subscribing to my mailing list.)

 True leaders lead with passion and love. Passion is an intensely positive attitude toward the leader’s vision and goals. Love is the genuine affection the leader feels for his followers. Leaders that fake either of these traits will be exposed in the long run!

Is there more than one kind of leader?

The short answer is yes, there are several kinds of leaders. Here are a few of the important types of leadership.

Business leaders lead organizations that produce goods and services for a profit. The leader may be over a small business or a specific unit of a large business. Large organizations tend to be run by professional Managers that don’t necessarily fit the description of leadership listed here.

Non-profit organizations are also run by leaders. These organizations tend to provide services that cannot be expected to earn a profit as defined by Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. They must operate by a specific set of rules to qualify as non-profit organizations.

Community and political leaders tend to have common goals. They organize for the good of a specifically defined group such as the citizens of a city or a defined interest group. Their primary concern is the well-being of the people they both lead and serve.

Thought leaders strive to be at the cutting edge of new ideas. They both observe and create new methods and technologies. Thought leaders are recognized for innovation by their peers, typically in a specialized business environment. Most people additionally consider thought leaders as mentors that deliver value to customers in the form of innovative ideas.

Want more about Leadership?

Kevin W. McCarthy has written a couple of great books on the subject. He takes the subject of both personal and team leadership on in much more detail than I do.

On-Purpose Leader

What is coming in the next post in this Leadership Series?

The next post deals with visionaries and why they never go out of style.