That thought came to me today in the middle of a snowbiking ride the day after I did an indoor ride where I literally saw the negative impact of multitasking on my performance.
#LEADERS - if we want to maximize our performance, multitasking isn't the way we'll get there. We may feel like it helps at times. We may think we can squeeze in this or that and get more done if we just do a little (more) multitasking, right?!
WRONG.
Yesterday, when I was riding my indoor bike - I decided I'd multitask and read a non-urgent text message from my sister about our father's battle with prostate cancer which turned into a bevy of messages back and forth. I looked up at the screen display of my riding performance numbers and saw they dropped drastically. I put my phone down and got back to focusing on the task at hand knowing it would get my performance numbers back on track AND I could better communicate with her when I was done. Reality is - when I was multitasking in that moment, I wasn't present for my ride nor my sister.
MULTITASKING IS FOR THE BIRDS and that is true on the bike and in work. I found the handy graphic featured below online to illustrate the point.
In work when we multitask, we similarly split our attention and do a disservice to everyone involved including ourselves.
As we go through this week, Leaders, let's make a concerted effort to evolve ourselves by reducing (or stopping) the amount of multitasking we do and note the positive impact on our performance. AND... Note the way the people in our care respond when they get our full attention.
LEAD ON!
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