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* Self Improvement and Personal Growth Weekly Newsletter *
Issue #788, Week of October 14-15, 2013
Publisher: David Riklan - http://www.SelfGrowth.com
In this issue:
-- Quotes of the Week
-- Recommended Resource of the Week
-- Article: The Misadventures of Multitasking: How Trying To Do Too Much Makes You Unhappy and Unproductive - Elaine Wellman
-- Article: Life & Work Balance -- Myth or Reality? - By Alyssa M. Johnson
-- Book Review: It's All In Your Mind - By Lindsey Sharratt
-- Inspirational News Story of the Week
-- How to Subscribe and Unsubscribe from this Newsletter
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*** Quotes of the Week ***
------------------------------------------------------------ Many can argue - not many converse. - Amos Bronson Alcott, 1799-1888 Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely. - Auguste Rodin, 1840-1917 Let us follow our destiny, ebb and flow. Whatever may happen, we master fortune by accepting it. - Virgil, 70 BC-19 BC
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*** Recommended Resource of the Week ***
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* Most Personal Development Junkies Miss Out On This Hidden Fortune * Do you love personal development? Does your library of books, audios, and videos rival a small city? Are you independently wealthy with money stockpiled in your bank account? If you can't answer "yes" to all of the above questions, that's because you haven't seen this: PersonalWealthPower.com Is today the first day of the rest of your new life? |  |
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*** Article: The Misadventures of Multitasking: How Trying To Do Too Much Makes You Unhappy and Unproductive - Elaine Wellman ***
------------------------------------------------------------ Yesterday, I made a big mess. I was trying to be Superwoman and get everything done. Instead, I slowed myself down and am still cleaning up today. What does multitasking cost us? Before we explore that, here's a cautionary, humorous, real-life tale. Last night, I had fun plans on the town -- dinner and a show in Manhattan with one of my oldest friend's who is visiting from San Francisco. I had worked hard all day cleaning my apartment and it was time to get ready for the evening. But something caught my eye. Since returning from vacation, I hadn't washed out my swimsuits, which were hanging on the bathroom doorknob. Lightening bulb! I could throw one of them in the sink while I took a shower. So, with a sink full of soapy water and the suit, I jumped in the shower to wash my hair. Here's where it gets amusing. A few minutes later while shaving my legs I caught a glimpse of the sink. (This is a small apartment-sized bathroom so the tub and the sink are nearly touching.) Time to rinse the suit. I reached over and unplugged the drain to release the water and turned it back on to rinse out the suit. Still in the shower, I put conditioner on my hair and went about the rest of my usual cleansing ritual. A few more minutes passed and then I realized perhaps I should check on the sink situation. Yikes! The water was running over onto the floor and both my iPhone and home phone lay on the countertop -- wet. Half of the big fluffy white bath rug below was drenched. Water was all over the floor. And I still had conditioner in my hair. I shut off the water in the sink and tossed the two phones onto the dry section of the small rug (luckily I caught those before any damage was done). Cursing, I rinsed out my hair, quickly finished up in the shower and dried off. I didn't have time to put the towels and rugs in the dryer in the basement of the building so, I set up the drying rack I use for all my "dry flat" laundry in the tub and draped them over it. At least the mess was cleaned up, so I thought, and I could get back to beauty routine without being too late to meet my friend. I'd have to wash the rugs and towels later when I had more time. Then, my kitten Buddha, who had keenly observed the clean up effort, wandered over and started sniffing the area under the cabinet the sink is in. What the heck was he doing? He never did that before. I opened the cabinet and .... more water. There was water in the bottom of the cabinet, and all the various items packed into the one and only cabinet in the small bathroom were also wet. More cursing! I put yet another beach towel on the floor, sat down and emptied out the entire cabinet. Travel bags, sample sized bottles of lotion and shampoo, Q-tips, cotton rounds, alcohol, a hair dryer I never use, sunscreen, a wire shelf .... all were either dried off or tossed onto the towel. I wiped out the bottom of the cabinet and put back what I could. The rest I left strewn across the floor to dry out on various towels. I did make it into the city in time to meet my friend dinner and had an enjoyable evening. But it wasn't fun dealing with the stress of my multitasking mishap. And I'm not done cleaning up yet! After I finish writing this article, I'm headed to the laundry room in the basement. That rug will never dry without going thru the spin cycle. And, I have to either throw out or put back the items I left all over the floor. We multitask because we think we can do everything well at once but the truth is that we can't. Instead, we are switching from one task to another, diluting our attention, spreading ourselves too thin and teetering between different goals.
The truth is Multitasking: Slows You Down -- we do it because we think can get more done in a shorter amount of time but in fact multitasking costs time. Studies show it takes longer to complete activities when multitasking. The smart way to work is Time Blocking. Time blocking is completing things in batches: pay all your bills at one time, then reply to all your emails, then turn to the next project. That allows you to get into the mindset groove each activity requires. Causes You to Make Mistakes -- As my bathroom debacle proves, studies show that switching between tasks can cause a 40% loss in productivity. And the more critical thinking that is required for the tasks, the greater the error for mistakes. Stresses You Out -- Remember the cursing? Making mistakes and wasting your time cleaning up the mess causes stress and unhappiness. Enough said. Makes You Miss Out on Life -- In today's hyper-connected world, few are stopping to smell the roses ... or even catch a glance at what's going on around them. Research shows that people who are busy doing two things at once don't even see obvious thing right in front of them. Remember the video of the woman talking on her phone in a mall who tumbled head-first into a fountain? Researchers call it "in-attentional blindness," and note that although people are technically looking at their surroundings, none of it actually registers in their brains. Diminishes Your Creativity -- "A ha" moments are reduced when you're multitasking according to research from the University of Illinois. It requires a lot of "working memory" or temporary brain storage and when that is all used up, our ability to think creatively is taken away. There's just too much going on in our heads for daydreaming and blue sky thinking. Makes OHIO Impossible -- The "only handle it once" rule of productivity goes out the window when you're multitasking. In fact, you're likely to have to handle it five or six times. A definite time-sucker. Multitasking can also: - Hurt Your Relationships
- Cause Overeating
- Be Deadly The evidence is strong and it is clear. So the next time you catch yourself answering an email while you're in the middle of watching a pod cast and on a sales call, STOP. Do yourself a favor. Catch yourself and reset your priorities to finish one task before moving onto the next. Me? I've got to do laundry (the rug), finish cleaning up the bathroom floor, wash out my other swimsuit and assemble my new desk chair -- in that order! (Hey do you think I can wash out the suit while I'm cleaning up the rest of the mess?)
** To comment on this article or to read comments about this article, go here.
About the Author:
Elaine Wellman helps women entrepreneurs create their big juicy vision by tapping into what brings them joy, mastering the skills that lead to happiness, and applying that to all areas of their lives. She is an expert on happiness and success and a certified life coach. For more information on committing to your happiness and success and a free copy of Elaine's workbook The #1 Secret to Happiness for Successful Women, check out http://www.elainewellman.com.
* Most Personal Development Junkies Miss Out On This Hidden Fortune * Do you love personal development? Does your library of books, audios, and videos rival a small city? Are you independently wealthy with money stockpiled in your bank account? If you can't answer "yes" to all of the above questions, that's because you haven't seen this: PersonalWealthPower.com Is today the first day of the rest of your new life? | | ------------------------------------------------------------
*** Article: Life & Work Balance -- Myth or Reality? - By Alyssa M. Johnson ***
------------------------------------------------------------ "Is it even possible to achieve life & work balance?" bemoaned a client of mine a few months ago. She was running herself ragged trying to juggle about 15 plates at once. She'd hit a wall and wasn't even sure where to go from here. She was exhausted, short-tempered with just about everyone she cared about, doing a rotten job at work and anxious a lot of the time. Best of all...She was done living like this and ready to make a change! Music to my ears!! This is what I love to do! I began by asking "What is important in life for you?" She shrugged her shoulders and in frustration said, "I don't even know anymore! All I do is run from one thing to the next without having much of an opportunity to even think." It's a common situation. As women, we want to help. We want to make everyone's life happy and easy. And we want to look like we have it all together. But it's just not humanly possible to keep that pace up long-term. Like my client, eventually things start breaking down. It may be your marriage. It may be your job. It may be you! I calmly answered her initial question and said: "Yes. It is possible to have life & work balance in your everyday living. But you have to be ready to make some decisions and some changes."
Things aren't perfect, but she's well on her way! Wanna know how she did it? Good! I thought you might... Life & Work Balance Tip #1
Scale back to the bare necessities -- I had her commit to taking 1 week to just observe all she was doing. The assignment was to carve out 15 minutes before her head hit the pillow, in exhaustion, to write down every place she went that day and why. The "why" was an eye opener. It helped her to begin evaluating her motives (something she'd never taken the time to do before, because she was so busy). Next to each activity, I asked her to rate it on a scale of 1-10 (1 lowest, 10 highest) as to how much she enjoyed it. Life & Work Balance Tip #2
Manage the damage -- After that week was done, she began observing the damage that was occurring due to the schedule and lifestyle she was trying to maintain. This included damage to herself emotionally, physically & spiritually. But it also included damaged relationships with others. For example, if she was harsh and knew she hurt someone's feelings, or too tired to do a good job at work and let someone down. We spent quite a bit of time in this area, working on negative beliefs she held about things she "had" to do and comparing them to the damage. But once she was able to see these situations differently and accept that the pain of the damage was worse than some of the fears she had, she was ready for.... Life & Work Balance Tip #3
Do more of what you love -- I had her go back and look at her initial list and its ratings, as well as make a new list of any other activities that she knows are good for her and her family. She was able to begin being creative about ways to let go of those activities she didn't like, or at least ask for help or support in getting them done. This freed her up to do more of what she loves. It was a long road and a lot of work, but life & work balance IS possible. We just spent some time reviewing where she's at now compared to where she used to be. Here's what she said, "While it was tough getting to this point, I'm such a better mom and wife now and now I know life & work balance is a possibility rather than just a myth people dream about." How about you? Do you feel life & work balance can be a reality for you, or does it feel more like a myth? ** To comment on this article or to read comments about this article, go here.
About the Author:
Feel guilty about not being the wife/mom you want to be? Tired of saying "yes" to things you don't want to do? Know there's got to be more to life, but can't find it? Visit http://www.VibrantlyLive.com for more great info to help you vibrantly live rather than just go through the motions. Be sure to pick up my free report: Stop Trying to be Perfect! 4 Easy Ways to Enjoy Your Life while you're there as well!
* Most Personal Development Junkies Miss Out On This Hidden Fortune * Do you love personal development? Does your library of books, audios, and videos rival a small city? Are you independently wealthy with money stockpiled in your bank account? If you can't answer "yes" to all of the above questions, that's because you haven't seen this: PersonalWealthPower.com Is today the first day of the rest of your new life? | | ------------------------------------------------------------
*** Book Review: It's All In Your Mind - By Lindsey Sharratt ***
------------------------------------------------------------ The book explains, in simple, understandable terms, why we become the person that we are -- how our beliefs and emotional responses are created in the environment of our genetics, our thinking processes, and our social environment. When people gain an understanding of why they believe, think and respond as they do, they can identify the underlying issues and problems which are preventing them getting the results they want. "It's All In Your Mind" was written for anyone who wants to make positive changes in their life, both in their material world and their mental world. It explains how to identify both conscious and subconscious data in our minds that is holding us back, and how to make the necessary changes. It provides a simple, step-by-step plan to bringing about the transformations you need in order to be the person you want to be.
*****
The list price of this book is $18.24. To purchase it from Amazon.com at a price of $16.42, a 10% discount, go here.
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*** Inspirational News Story of the Week ***
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* Stranger Pays for 'Special' Family's Dinner, Leaves Touching Note *
A dinner out turned into an experience of a lifetime for a North Carolina family thanks to one stranger's heartfelt gesture. Go here for the complete news story. | 
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