Time Management and Focus

Content may be king, but its cousin Information has gone slumming and is now available to all.

Having too much to do has become the norm, so how do you contend with that in addition to the information overload? Constant e-mails, meetings, tweets, blog posts, etc.--all necessary for you to stay on top of your job/industry and all vying for the limited time you have. How is one to manage?

Contrary to common belief, multitasking is not the way to go; focusing on one task at a time is. If you try to do everything, you will invariably make mistakes and not do anything to the best of your ability. Instead, choose a system of prioritizing and devote x amount of time to a given task. For example, if you have to read a long report for a meeting the next day, spend an uninterrupted half an hour; or better yet, pick a natural stopping point. When you get to that point, take a break and quickly check e-mail then go back to the report until the next stopping point. This will allow you to be more efficient and thorough in your task since you will not be dealing with distractions.

So similar to my previous post where I advised, based on reading StandOut, that it's best to focus on your strengths and not try to be good at everything, I am now advising to focus on your present task and not try to do everything. What does the common theme mean? Although our world may be getting more technologically able and automated, we as humans are still programmed to focus and until someone can figure out how to reprogram our DNA, we may as well make the best of it instead of fighting it--and failing.