Successful Entrepreneurs Say “No” to Multi Tasking

by Art Barron

In the hectic world that we live in today, you’ll probably think that multi-tasking is a skill to be admired, something that’s even necessary! If that’s the case, then this article probably isn’t for you. True, there are times when there are just too many things to do and multi-tasking seems like the only way to get them done. But for the things that are really crucial, focus and concentration is the name of the game, particularly in business.

Serious entrepreneurs the world over will all say the same thing: a truly successful entrepreneur does not multi-task!

Multi-tasking, by definition, is said to be the act of simultaneously doing two or more tasks in hopes of doing the most number of tasks in the least amount of time. Simply put, it’s the most you can do in the fastest way you can do them.

An example that many of us do without even noticing it is listening to a news report while sipping coffee while reading the newspaper while keeping an eye on your kid or sibling while they finish their breakfast. Without even intending or noticing it, that’s four things at once! Cool, right?

In the short-term, multi-tasking is okay, as long as what you’re doing is fairly routine and technically simple. These things are so complex that an irregularity in performing here or there will severely damage the whole process. This is called “continuous partial attention”, and it is okay for those everyday, mundane situations. However, the life of a successful entrepreneur, especially when it comes to business, is anything but mundane.

What a successful entrepreneur needs is full concentration. Just imagine yourself talking with a customer. It wouldn’t be nice on their part if you were talking to them and at the same time doing something else like checking your phone, or reading an e-mail.

The Switching Cost: What it Takes To Switch from One Task to Another

Experimental psychologists have long been studying the effect of multi-tasking on productivity. Numerous studies have shown that there is a “switching cost” every time you change from one task to another. This means that you need as much as four minutes to go back to maximum productivity on a task after an interruption. Now, if you’re trying to juggle four tasks, you lose as much as sixteen minutes in one cycle of task-switching alone. Such a waste of time, huh?

Knowing that, would you still think that multi-tasking is a good thing for you and your business? True, a serious entrepreneur just has too many things to do, and sometimes 24 hours a day just isn’t enough.

Any serious entrepreneur would agree that they are more productive when they finish a task one at a time. Think of the advantages of doing such. You will surely get less stressed out since you have focused all your thoughts on one thing. As you tick off items from your to-do list one by one, you have lesser things on your mind. You know, this could even be the secret to become the most successful and most serious entrepreneur!

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