How Multi-Goaling Beats Multi-Tasking Every Time

Of course you have multiple things to do. That's a good thing. In fact, if you didn't have multiple things to do you might be coming near the end of an active life. Even if you've lost your job, and I know what that one's like, you still have multiple things to do.

More accurately stated, you have multiple goals you are seeking to accomplish, each of which requires multiple tasks in order to complete.

Can you hold multiple goals at the same time? Of course you can.

Can you work on multiple goals at the same time? Of course you can.

Can you work on multiple tasks at the same time? Well, that's another story.

Last week we talked about how multi-tasking often turns into "half-tasking." Over the years, I have coached many executives who consider themselves to be "power multi-taskers," apparently able to keep a whole lot of balls in the air at the same time. Now if keeping the balls in the air were the goal, that would be great.

However, those balls are simply actions that need to be completed for the real goal to be accomplished. Keeping actions in the air, or juggling multiple actions at the same time, is not the same as completing those actions.

Many multi-taskers I have worked with tend to get part way into one task, then notice a sticky note by the computer and start working on that one, when the next email ping shows up and they start on that one, when the teleconference starts, etc. You get the idea - the multi-tasker will often sit on the conference call while answering email while working on the budget.

Many of these multi-taskers, often wind up at the end of the day with an interesting conflict: whereas a number of tasks have been completed, a handful that were started in the morning, wind up still incomplete at 5:00 pm having been juggled all day long. The person "worked" all day long, is often tired, and feels a bit frustrated.

That's because they were "half-tasking" not "multi-goaling."
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