On page 44 of SOGR is the paragraph "The cause of failure is doing too many things in an inefficient manner and not doing enough things in an efficient manner." I suspect that when we do too many things we tend to do them inefficiently. Perhaps we would be better off doing fewer things so that we could do them more efficiently. What do you think? Joan

These are good words for us to consider, Joan.

I have been packing my stuff these days and most "stuff" comes with "work". I notice that I have a tendency to want to do more projects than I can do. This upcoming move is a great opportunity for me to take another look and make a few decisions.

And I used to be so good at multitasking. But then I read an article about how it was overrated and I stopped doing it for a while.
Enjoyed the experience so I doubt if I will ever go back to the old way. Just because I can be good at something. Does not mean that is exactly what I must do. Especially if there is little joy in it (except of course the stress hormones and the thrill of seeing myself cope with all those demands at the same time).
Rushing and multitasking might seem efficient. But I feel much better now that I allow myself to move slowly.

God bless you,

Caroline
My Gift To You: 50,000 Guaranteed Visitors To Your Site

Interesting thought Joan.

I recall many times when I've had to multi-task and from what I can remember of those instances, yeah maybe you can get more done, but the quality of the finished job suffered.

It would be fair to say that there wasn't a lot of enjoyment in working like that either, because it does place extra stress on you while doing the job. In many instances, you know the job is not 100% but because of deadlines or whatever reason, you persevere with putting out shoddy work at times or as you say, we do the jobs inefficiently.

I know at times that when I was obliged to work like that, because of other uncontrolable circumstances, it resulted in inefficient work practises and shoddy work. It can also be very de-motivating to know that even with all your gallavanting about the place at 100 miles per hour, the actual quality of your work is below standard.

So, yep, took me a long time to finally figure it out and just slow down and don't take on so much.

It adds up to less stress and a wonderful pleasing to the mind, body and soul feeling, that the finished job or article is done efficiently and is of high quality.

And what more satisfaction can one ask for than that.

Blessings
Anaru

I think it helps if we remember that we are actually doing one thing at a time even if we are changing what that is every few seconds. I get a lot more done when I remember to focus on one thing at a time and not switch so frequently.
Joan

Hi Joan
Great point, something to ponder over. I have developed a way of doing this in sequence, first thing in the morning I look at yesterday's list and prioritize the things that weren't done. Then I make my list for today. Soon thoughts arise about something else that need to be done so I add to the list and if time permit I get to it, otherwise it might go on tomorrow's list. That seems to take care of these things that come to mind and feel urgent that are not indeed. That way I can get things done faster better and often things get taken of the list they become unimportant or replaced by something more important.
Works for me.
Thanks for the reminder.

Here's a great quote that sums it up for me:
‎"The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one." - Mark Twain