Juggling physical objects takes as much coordination as multitasking mental tasks, projects and goals. Many people pride themselves on the ability to do many things simultaneously, but is there a limit to the number of things a human can achieve at one time?
Ever try to comb your hair and brush your teeth at the same time? Done it.
Or walk, chew gum and Twitter? Okay, that is easy.
How about juggling a chain saw, bowling ball and flaming torch? Seen it and was very impressed.
To juggle many things effectively needs practice or we put our success at risk. Having too many goals can dilute our ability to complete each individual project as fast as it could have been done if it was our sole priority. Giving one or two goals/tasks our full attention, allows these to move forward quicker. What about when there is nothing else you can do at the moment to advance your Priority A goal?
From my own experience, I keep track of the progress of each goal/task to ensure that I don’t fall behind on one because I allocated too much time to the others that I enjoy doing. It’s common nature to do the things you like to do more than those that you really would rather not do.
Having too many goals can become overwhelming and cumbersome. Some goals start out easy enough but when we add more to our mental plate they may overlap or conflict with each other. Ever had two clients or investors want appointments at the same time and date? Quantity of goals can hurt the quality of your goals.
Be like a pro and keep only a few projects moving at once. Choose to put one, two or three in the air at any one time and you will have more success plus complete them faster then if you have ten or more going simultaneously. Your efficiency will go up and your stress will go down.
Mind you, you can have more projects on the back burner and keep shuffling those that become active or have more forward movement then the ones you are focusing on. That way, a project never gets totally cold or dead and everyone knows a dormant project can become the talk of the town once a major element becomes attached (star/director/producer/studio or writer) or media coverage draws heat.
Once a month take a break and assess which of your goals are really worth juggling and in what priority order. Focus on those with deadlines or need to be addressed immediately. The others can be worked on the weekends or in your spare time.
By prioritizing the important goals and spending the necessary amount of time, you will achieve better results faster and more efficiently. Success breeds success and positive attitude, which in turn, leads to more goals being completed faster and so on…
So choose two or three major goals/tasks and put them on the front burners. Move the less important ones to the back burners. Once one is completed, move another from the back burner to the front and repeat.
Don’t get me wrong. Always have seven to ten projects/goals in the fire and deal with the hottest one at the time. You will find that the most important iron may become cold or be on hold until some one else accomplishes something. While you are waiting for others to catch up, focus on your next most important thing on your list and so on. Once the main priority project/task is red hot again, carry on with it.
Of course if you have the people to assign some of your tasks/goals to, then delegate away.
Don’t forget to play hard too. Vacations can freshen the mind and body allowing you to refocus on the tasks/goals at hand even more.
Over time you will actually accomplish more by juggling less.
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Contact Sandford Tuey at info@Playdigm.com and get your questions answered.