Learn to spend your time on one subject at a time
I'm currently reading through the book 'The One Thing' by Gary Keller, where he speaks of only focusing on one task at a time.
When we attempt to multitask two things at once, we do poorly at best and fail utterly at worst. We aren't designed to have our focus on two different things at once.
In the book, Gary Keller says that the word multi-tasking originally came about when computers could do multiple tasks on the same processing unit. However, the term multitasking wasn't the right word for what it actually did. The computer couldn't actually do two tasks simultaneously; it would switch between two, giving the illusion of being able to work on two at the same time.
He talks about how there is always one most important thing to do, never two. He gives the example of his business where he had a meeting with his team, and they put together a list of 100 things that would put them on the map in their industry. The next day they narrowed this list down to 10 things, and finally, 1 single thing that they all agreed would work. That was writing an expert's handbook to the industry they were in. Because of that, they moved up to become one of the top names in the industry.
By focusing on one task at a time, we can move forward on our goals. We are not able to divide our focus into several areas and expect any half-decent results.
Looking at my own life, I've found I make amazing strides when I have no more than one big area I focus my complete efforts on.
Key takeaways:
1) When we divide our focus, we get poor results at best and complete failure at worst
2) Learning to focus your efforts on one area at a time will allow you to make greater strides
3) Multi-tasking is a myth and one that needs to be dispelled