The Game of Tag and Multitasking

     Envision yourself at the playground as a 10 year old playing tag. You are IT! There are two kids out there that you know you can handle and run down with ease. The problem is that they take off in opposite directions. You have a choice to make: chase both, chase one, or chase the other. As long as you choose one or the other, you are in good shape. If you decide to chase both (which I am not even sure is possible) you don't stand a chance of tagging one "IT". This is your brain when you multitask.

     Pubilius Syrus was born in 46 BC. He is quoted as saying, "To do two things at once is to do neither". These words still ring true today. The average human brain goes through 4,000 words per day. It is no wonder that we try to multitask and attempt to do more than one thing at a time. The problem is that there is only so much brain capability. If you divide it between two tasks, all you end up doing is giving yourself an opportunity to screw up two things at once! This is not to say that we can't do two things at the same time. After all, we can all walk and chew bubble gum (at least I hope we all can). What it does say is that we cannot focus on two things at once.

     The brain focuses on one task at a time. When you multitask, your brain switches back and forth between one and the other. It takes time and energy to start and restart a task so when the switching between tasks occurs, loose ends pile up. Researchers estimate that we lose up to 28% of an average workday to multitasking ineffectiveness. So how do you fix it? Live by the Three P's: Purpose, Priority, and Productivity: Identify your purpose at home, school, work, etc; Prioritize what you have to; and then put all your attention on getting things done one at a time. Until you get one thing done, everything else is a distraction!

Happy Halloween everyone!
Chris Fluck

Keystone Habits

     "All our life, so far as it has definite form, is but a mass of habits." 

     These words were spoken in 1908 and over one hundred years later, still ring true today. Habits emerge because the brain is constantly looking for ways to save effort and look for shortcuts. The habits we develop never really disappear. They are encoded into our brains, and that’s a huge advantage for us, because it would be awful if we had to relearn how to drive every time we got behind the wheel of our car. Unfortunately, the brain can’t tell the difference between good and bad habits, and if you have a bad one (which we all do), it is always there lurking! BUT, fortunately for us, there is an answer to this problem. It is the introduction of new habits. If we learn to create new routines that overpower the old behaviors, we can force those bad tendencies into the background!

     The best way to replace habits is through the use of keystone habits. This term was introduced to me by author Charles Duhigg in The Power of Habit. So what are keystone habits? They are "small changes or habits that people introduce into their routines that unintentionally carry over into other aspects of life". These small changes create small wins for the individual. A keystone habit is the drop of water that ripples through the surrounding area. It provides a system that changes unproductive habits and drives new and improved habits into other areas of life!

     Humans are creatures of habit, automatically repeating past behavior with little regard to current goals. Every habit, no  matter how complex or difficult it may be to overcome, is completely malleable. The most addicted alcoholics can become sober. The most dysfunctional companies can transform themselves. A high school dropout can become a successful manager. To modify a habit, you must decide to change it. You must consciously accept the hard work that is behavior modification. Once you understand that habits can be rebuilt, the power of habit becomes easier to grasp, and the only option left is to get to work!