How do you maintain your focus in accomplishing multiple tasks ? PART II

How do you maintain your focus in accomplishing multiple tasks ? PART II

See: How do you maintain your focus in accomplishing multiple tasks ? PART 1 for Step One.

Step Two: "Mise en place". (Meez-un-plahs) That's french for "everything in (it's) place". Good cooks get EVERYTHING necessary for the meal preped before they begin cooking. They make sure the ovens are on. They make sure they have all the necessary utensils. They cut and chop up everything that is needed for the dish and then they start cooking.

For you this means plan tomorrow's work today.

At the end of your workday take 15-30mins to plan out the next day in detail down to the hour. A lot successful people from all walks of life plan their days down to the quarter hour!Take into account things you normally don't pay attention to. Like your relaxation time or the time you spend talking on the phone.

Also, check the equipment that you'll need for the next day. I use my digital recorder a lot, so I always check the batteries at night. That way I won't have to interrupt my day to make a trip to get some batteries. Or even worse, realize that I need some batteries 5 minutes after I get back from Wal-Mart!

After you figure out what you want and need to get done tomorrow-prioritize. As best you can, get the high priority stuff and tasks that take the longest out of the way first. High priority items have a tendency to pop in and out of your head all day, interupting your concentration during other tasks.

That's why the turkey goes in the oven early. Although you may have to keep checking on it, once the turkey is in the oven your mind-body is a little more relaxed because the most important thing is already being handled.

You might want to plan for what I call make up time. A time of the day you set aside to make up for all the interuptions that ocurred while you were trying to get things done. This way interuptions won't be so irritating or disheartening.

This type of planning frees up your thinking, reduces emotional whiplash, and reduces stress so that you can be more focused on the task at hand. No, more "I know I was supposed to be doing something else but I can't remember what it was." See, one way or another you're going to plan. Why not get it out of the way so that you can focus on the actual tasks?

Bonus tip: I don't know who said this but it's powerful. "You make living from 9Am-5PM; you make a fortune from 5PM-9AM" You have the least amount of distractions when everybody else is sleep. Working three hours earlier or later 5 days a week will add a week and half to your month!

As you can probably tell, I can go on all day about this time mastery thing so I'll cut it off here. Besides all of this talk about food is makin' a brotha hungry!

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Al Duncan: The Millennial Mentor™, is a World-Class Motivational Speaker, an author, and a renowned Youth Speaker. Visit him online at www.alduncan.net