Focus and multi-tasking

We live in a culture that promotes multi-tasking and distractions. We reflexively check our inbox, whether in email or messaging. We text. We tweet. We often do these things while we are trying to do other things and try to split our attention. Tests show it isn't possible to do this, but we keep on trying.

When we focus on a task with our complete attention, we are more apt to be successful. We may find background noise (music, television, etc) relaxing or think it promotes our concentration, but when we are actually working, they are really a distraction. If we are completely focused on our task, we do not hear the background noise. If what we are doing doesn't require that level of concentration, then the background may be a pleasant distraction from a mundane task.

Many people find it very hard to completely focus. Our culture does not really train us to accomplish this.If you suffer from ADD or ADHD, you are often given meds to help with the concentration but more rarely given tricks or tips on how to focus your attention. Most of us need to eliminate multi-tasking to get that serious focus or concentration.

When I am really focused, I do not hear someone talking to me. I do not notice other people in the room. Occasionally, I completely lose track of time and am startled at how much time has passed. This happens often when I read. It happened frequently when I was a PC trainer and creating training material. Since that job, I have more often multi-tasked and hence frequently been less focused on the task at hand.

When athletes have this concentration, it is known as being 'in the zone.' A famous example of this was Ben Hogan who was so focused on lining up a putt that he did not see a dog run across the green. Most athletes in the zone say that they do not even hear the crowd. That is focused.

I view multi-tasking as scrambled priorities. We think both tasks equally important, or one boring and the other interesting but both required, so we try to both at the same time. In actuality, neither gets done as well as both would get done if we did them serially. There have been times when I was so engrossed in a book that I forgot to pick up my daughter from a friend's, or I burned something on the stove. I have learned I cannot read and cook at the same time.

I am as guilty as the next at trying to accomplish something else during a dull meeting. However, if I were more engaged in the meeting, fully present and participating, the meeting wouldn't be so dull. I actually create the environment that drives me to want to multi-task by my own attitude. There are, however, some meeting organizers who really need to learn to run effective meetings. No one can be blamed for tuning out in those situations.

Our technology also encourages lack of focus. I turned off new email notifications so that I would not be distracted and want to check what the new email says. I chose not to synchronize any of my email clients with my phone so that I would not be tempted to be always connected. I did not get a texting plan for my phone so that I would not be tempted to text all the time. I pay for each text-which makes me more conscious of them. Texting, tweeting, instant messaging, and other technologies encourage us to constantly check and reflexively use our phone or tablet instead of consciously. This benefits our carriers as we consume more time, more data, and run up our costs. I do not think it benefits us in being focused on the present. 

On Monday, January 27, Marketplace ran a segment on whether the teen or the parent was more addicted to their mobile phone. The parent used more talk minutes, the teen more texts, and the parent more data because of shows he had watched. Neither can function without the phone-and even when she was interviewing her father for the segment, he was checking his phone. This inability to focus, the need to be doing many things at once, is why so many people who know better will text and drive. Really, how bad would it be to wait 15 minutes to answer a text?

If you want improve any skill, you must focus on it and practice. That includes the skill of focus. You probably want a quiet environment free of external distractions. That might mean turning off the phone (gasp) or shutting down email. If you are in a cube farm, it might mean wearing noise canceling headphones. Amazingly, focus is a skill you can strengthen with practice. When you do so, you will find that your results also improve. This is true whether it is for work, school, in relationships, games, or specific skills. An additional benefit of such focus is less stress. Switching back and forth between tasks is also more stressful than completing one and moving on to the next. If you drop multi-tasking and focus instead, you become more productive and have less stress. To me, that is getting into the 'zone' and winning all around.