Focus Tasking
Written by Julie Taylor
“To do two things at once is to do neither well"... Unknown
With many serious physical traumas, including brain injury, we are already multi-tasking because we have to consciously pay attention to much of what most people do automatically (with the autonomous nervous system perhaps) and take for granted… There are so many 'brain games' available to increase focus or attention and you will find a sample link to a free game here that donates 20 grains of rice (through United Nations) to the third world for every correct answer you give! Card games and crossword puzzles are other good practice.
Contrary to what everyone says I think the brain injured are just as able to multi-task as everybody else… We just can’t do any more because we are already doing so much…
Think of a computer... Certain programs run in the background - and they're essential - and the software you're using speeds along. After a brain injury our brains may no longer have programs running quietly in the background. These essential programs have to run concurrently but in the foreground together with our other software. The result is a much slower system. Which is exactly how it is with computers too.
You're working on a project that requires creativity, such as writing your e-zine or designing a marketing campaign, and suddenly the phone rings, jolting you out of deep concentration. Even if you don't answer the phone, it takes a few beats before you can re-anchor into what you were doing before.
That time lapse is your "mental CEO" shifting from one task, with a specific goal and set of "rules," to another, with a completely different goal and set of rules. That shift takes time. The more complex the tasks, the longer the shift takes.
What else are you trying to do while reading this article?
Sure, we can multitask. We might even believe we can do it without losing efficiency. But we would be fooling ourselves.
It has been proven in scientific studies that toggling between tasks slows the brain down. In effect, multitasking makes us momentarily stupid -- unable to establish priorities, focus, or integrate anything new.
We all know that multitasking has real costs. And I believe the brain injured are lucky because we know better than to even try and do it…
Unfortunately multi tasking has become de rigueur and even necessary in the minds of a lot of people in society today. It’s a valued ability to a prospective employer.
Something to boast about… It's ingrained in our habits. All the "time-saving" devices of our technological age encourage us to be distracted and lose the ability to focus. And that's a significant loss because focus is what brings prosperity. Distraction keeps us from it.
Focus means your full attention. Here are five daily practices to attain pinpointed focus and stop multitasking.
- Clear your desk of anything unrelated to your current goal. Things command attention. The less you have before you, the less likely you'll be distracted.
- Schedule your time into blocks so that you can focus in on one individual task at a time. Include separate blocks for completing high payoff actions, emailing, working with clients, planning, etc. Then set sacred boundaries around those tasks. Complete one, then move on.
- Do the most important thing first. High payoff actions are the things that will have the biggest positive impact on your success. What will bring you the results you want most quickly? Put that first, always.
- Take short breaks away from technology between time blocks or tasks. Take a walk around the block, play music, do something physical or creative. This will clear your mind and help your mental CEO recalibrate to the next task.
- Plan for tomorrow. Schedule 1 to 3 high payoff activities for the next business day.
Become a master single-tasker!
Take the next 30 days and replace your multitasking habits with these five daily practices and see how much more you accomplish and with less stress.
These are great tips for everyone – and just perfect for the brain injured! Set yourself up for success…
If we stop thinking of all the things we can’t do and instead just think of new ways of doing these things – and better – we may well find success. I know many brain injured – including myself – who have been told repeatedly that we ‘can’t’ do certain tasks (like this) and who have stuck at it and managed to do them…
Hang in there! Check out with others on the forums to see how they are doing with remembering and new strategies…
It’s not that you ‘can’t’ do it. You can. You just need to find out ‘how’. And keep practicing!