The ability to focus is one key factor that sets apart the top performers in society. The demand for our attention from numerous sources limits our ability to execute any one task. Most people’s performance doesn’t suffer from a lack of effort, but from trying to do too much at one time. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg understands the need to focus on the most important tasks in his day. When asked why he wears the same style t-shirt every day he responded, “I really want to clear my life to make it so that I have to make as few decisions as possible about anything except how to best serve this community… I feel like I’m not doing my job if I spend any of my energy on things that are silly or frivolous about my life.”
In the book Organize Tomorrow Today, Jason Selk put together a strategy for handling what he deems our “channel capacity,” which in short, is our capacity for handling multiple tasks at the same time. He puts this simply, “The best time management plan in the world, or the best calendar, or the best device, or the best app, doesn’t address the fundamental problem of channel capacity. If technology were the answer, success would be as simple as flipping a switch…. Fitting more pieces into the puzzle won’t make you more successful.” He goes on to explain the way to embrace and maximize your channel capacity is to “learn how to make decisions, establish priorities, and light your own motivating fire instead of continuing to chase the counter-intuitive concept of multitasking.”
In our experience, those who enjoy the most success are the ones who do the best job prioritizing their day and accomplishing the right tasks, not the most tasks. The following are three quick tips that will help you make the most of your day and maximize your success:
For Additional Information on How to Prioritize Your Day, Read Organize Today Tomorrow by Jason Selk