Jim Wyse

Rant & Rave

Mono-Tasking

Posted 2010-12-12
by Jim

Ya, I can do 2 things at once. But I don't really consider scratching my butt and picking my nose at the same time a productivity coup d'etat.

I was at one point drawn into the whole Multi Tasking void.  At the time it sounded like a good thing. Get more done and do it in less time! The whole office was buzzing around trying to do several things at once.  Everyone thought this was great. And then requests started in for more devices and software to be aquired that were marketed to the "MultiTasker". After several years of having each hand on a seperate keyboard, a voice activated headset so I didn't have to stop to answer the phone, and a pager so I could field issues when I was away from my desk, some things started to become apparent.

"I wasn't really more productive. I was busier, but I was getting less done."

After attending a seminar with Tolly Burkin, the lightbulb truely went on. He professed:

"Pay attention 100% to the task at hand. Complete it, and then move on to the next."

But wait, I thought we were all Multitaskers at the core and would be better at our jobs and life because of it?

So I devised a little experiment. I created a prioritized task list for each day. The first day I ran in the usual multitasker format, but I logged the time on each item and marked which tasks were completed.

The next day I did the same, only this time I performed the tasks serially, following Tolly's Mantra: "Pay attention 100%".

Can you guess what the results were? Uh huh! I finished day 2's list with time to spare, while only a few of the items on day 1's list were completed!

Aside from the obvious, this created several things for me.

1. I got more work done, and it was done better
2. I didn't waste nearly as much time
3. Putting attention on one item at a time, provided a greater sense of accomplishment and enjoyment
4. The day wasn't finished with my head feeling like it was filled with wet sand.

In conclusion, being a metrics driven type, only one path became the clear choice. Approach tasks in a serial fashion and get more done, waste less energy, enjoy my work more, and have more time and energy left at the end of the day. I have expanded on this to include almost eveything I do in my daily life, from shopping, cooking, paying bills, and working in the yard. The possibilities are limitless. So nextime you end up with several things to accomplish, try making a list prioritize it, work on and complete one event at a time, then move on to the next.  I assure you that, while you may not finish everything on the list (that is not the goal), you will enjoy it more, get more done, and be fresher for what evercomes next in your day!

Tags: productivity, life

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Embracing Abundance

Posted 2010-04-12
by Jim

Why is it that people fail to embrace the gifts that are presented to them every day while dwelling on the things that they don't have?

It's a parodox I witness everyday, people complaining about the material things that they don't have, something that is holding them back in their job, or about the job that they profess that they love. The list goes on, but you get the idea.

Perspective is everything

One lesson I learned as a child from my father is this.

One day I was complaining to my dad that a wish that I had made didn't come true. I had made a wish for a box full of model airplanes. Dad, being far from a spiritual/philosopher type, imparted a surprising bit of wisdom that has stuck with me to this day. He said, "Take a look back at the models that you have received since you made your wish and add them all together. Wouldn't they fill a box?".

In doing so I realized that my wish had actually come true, just not the way I had originally envisioned it happening.

To this day I take that approach with my own life, hoping I can impart similar wisdom on my own child, friends and family. When things look bad or are aggravating, separate yourself from the situation and observe. What you see, may be far different from this angle.

Attitude of Gratitude

I have had people tell me that I am rich. Can you believe that? "Me rich?" I'd say. But taking the approach above I can find that I look quite different through someone else's eyes.

I have a healthy, happy loving family. A job that I love to go to everyday. I can pay my mortgage, put food on the table and drive a nice car. Several times a month I get to go and play music, and people want to pay me money for it! And there's ocasionaly some money left over for a trip or a vacation. I guess to someone else, I do appear rich, and not just monitarily.

Like everyone else, I can get stuck in the spiral of lamenting all the things that aren't going right; surprise bills, a problem at work, or just the toaster breaking. Taking a step back and observing all the things in life that are in place, while one a time might not look like much. But if you look at them all together, and are thankful for them, suddenly that box of models grows into a truck load.

Tags: life

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