This is a guest post by C.J. Hayden

I came so close, but I missed a golden opportunity. Billie Jean King, one of my long- time tennis idols, was a speaker at a convention I attended. At the end of her presentation, she pulled out her racquet and hit a bucket-full of autographed tennis balls into the audience. Everyone had remained standing after giving her a standing ovation and watched with anticipation to see where her next shot would land.

My seat was quite a distance from the stage, and I felt it would literally be a long shot for one to reach me. I had a notebook and pen tucked under one arm, so when a ball came straight to me, I only had one hand free to catch it. Even at that distance, the ball had some pace on it, and all I managed to do was block it. The ball bounced off my hand, and a woman several rows in front of me, who had both hands free, became the lucky recipient. As disappointed as I was, I wryly chuckled to myself about the message to focus on one thing at a time being driven home in such a clear way.

Although many of us (myself included) pride ourselves on our multi-tasking abilities, we are kidding ourselves when we think we can give full attention to more than one thing at a time. A recent news special cited the terrible Union Pacific/Metrolink train collision of 2008 as an instance of multi-tasking with deadly consequences. Twenty-five deaths resulted from this accident, which was attributed to the driver texting while driving and failing to notice a signal to switch tracks because of an oncoming train.

Driving a car while texting, using a hand-held cell phone, or punching a new destination into the GPS can be equally dangerous. Some U.S. states have banned texting and using cell phones (here in MA this is limited to teen drivers), but ultimately it comes down to self-determination.

When we think we are multi-tasking, we are actually zig-zagging — shifting our attention back and forth between multiple activities. This is really not the most efficient or effective way to get things done. Full engagement produces the best and speediest results.

Productivity experts have found that depending on the complexity of the task and other variables, it can take 4-15 minutes to recover and refocus after an interruption. Some interruptions can be easily managed by using a “do not disturb” sign, turning off the ringer on your phone or the chime that alerts you to an incoming email or text, or escaping to a conference room or library for work that require intense concentration. Others may require changing others’ expectations of your response, and setting and managing your boundaries around them.

For example, a number of my clients discipline themselves to check and answer email only one to three times during the workday. A fellow coaching colleague uses an email autoresponder to inform people that she is taking her own coaching advice and limiting her relationship with email. She shares the two days a week that she responds to email and requests that people call her or her assistant if they require a more immediate response.

Here are some questions to consider about your own level of engagement with what’s important to you:

• Where do you attempt to do too much at once?
• What could you do to become more present?
• What might you win by choosing to be fully engaged?
• When the ball comes to you, you’ll have a much better chance of catching it when you give your full attention to the game.

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Grace has a great article.  What are you focusing on in your life?  Many times people say one thing is important when in reality they are focusing on many others.  I talk about distractions in my book – Get Er Done:  The Green Beret Guide to Productivity.  We went as far as to isolate A-teams from outside distractions during mission planning.   You are not going to be able to isolate yourself, but you can take steps to understand what is important to you and spend more time on that.

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Photo – Flickr:Marc Di Luzio

That’s baseball, and it’s my game.  Y’ know, you take your worries to the game, and you leave ‘em there.  You yell like crazy for your guys.  It’s good for your lungs, gives you a lift, and nobody calls the cops.  Pretty girls, lots of ‘em.  ~Humphrey Bogart

I love baseball.  The strategy, the explosive power the players have to have all make it a great watch for me.  I love the ballparks.  I have learned a lot of great lessons from baseball. The one I was thinking about today was that baseball has a long season.  Too many times we get impatient or think that every time has to be perfect.  It doesn’t.

Each at bat, each game is like an event in life.  I can almost guarantee that you aren’t going to be successful in absolute everything you do. There will be lost games or poor at bats.  The key is to give it your all.  I talk more about this in the video.  Check it out and like it for me.

As in baseball, it is really useful to have a coach in your corner.  A coach keeps you on track, keeping you swinging for the fences while reminding how to improve your approach at the plate.  Check out my coaching page to see how you might be able to work with me.

Mike

BTW I am running a Father’s Day special on Get Er Done: The Green Beret Guide to Productivity.  Limited time 25% reduction on the price of a signed book – details here.

Photo – Flickr:Paul Hadsall

In the immortal words of one of the greatest philosophers of our generation:

Do or do not: There is no try.

–Yoda

Do you find yourself not getting done what you say you want for yourself? Are your excuses outnumbering your successes? You might have an excuse problem. Excuses can get in the way of your productivity.   Check out my video on how to think about excuses.

Tired of not doing what you say you are going to do?  Tired of not having what you say you want for yourself, your  business?  Work with Mike to start Getting Er Done.

The dog needs a walk. Your leg hurts. The dishes/grocery/laundry needs to be put away. You really should change your email signature. Is it time for a new header on your site? Maybe another color background for your Twitter profile page…

If you let the voices in your head – what esteemed writing teacher Natalie Goldberg calls your monkey mind – take over, you will have a very clean kitchen floor, but not much else to show for your work day. Distractions are everywhere, and you must guard against their infiltrating presence as firmly as you would guard against a thief in your home.

From email to laundry to researching your dog’s itchy ear on petcare.com, the tasks that pull us away from our goals aren’t inherently bad – and that’s the problem. They seem like good, productive activities, something any fine upstanding home- or pet-owner would do. But there’s only one problem: They aren’t moving you closer to your goal. Instead, they’re taking you farther away.

If you want to make big progress, you have to cut the distractions – no matter how worthwhile they seem. Here’s how to keep your eyes on your prize and your seat in your desk chair (or wherever it belongs):

1. Make a list – and stick to it. The to-do list is like marching orders from your general. Make it and stick to it. You can rearrange the spice cabinet or de-tick Fluffy after you’ve finished your daily goals.

2. Do the tough stuff first. Get the hardest (and usually most value-packed) tasks out of the way early in the day. That way you won’t be distracted by the minutiae of daily life that seem to breed and multiply with each passing hour.

3. Give yourself regular breaks. Sometimes, some of that “life” stuff has to be taken care of. Give yourself regular mini-breaks of 10 minutes a few times a day to take care of calls to the vet, kitchen floors, etc. But set a timer and drop what you’re doing when your 10 minutes are up.

4. Keep a list of short tasks.One of the reasons we get pulled off track is that we come to a standstill. We’ve completed a big task and have yet to start the next round, or we’re waiting to hear back from someone before we can proceed. These natural lulls are common places for our monkey mind to sneak in. Instead of allowing your imagination free rein, have a ready list of activities related to your goal that take less than 15 minutes. Pull out the list and knock something off instead of getting pulled away.

Be ruthless about banning any distractions from your life. Each minute you reclaim is like a huge stepping stone towards your goals.

Photo -  Flickr:underminingme

If you’re finding yourself mired in muck, longing to jump forward to success, it could be a matter of not having strong enough motivation, or not reminding yourself of why you want to achieve your goals. As a result, you can start slacking, skipping your workout, sleeping in instead of writing your daily five pages on your novel, or just existing when you could be excelling.

In the inspirational movie, “Invincible,” walk-on Philadelphia Eagles player VincePapale keeps a heart-cutting note from his ex-wife in his locker. He regularly takes it out and reviews it – not to beat himself up, but to remind himself in a very visceral, emotional way why he must succeed.

While I don’t necessarily recommend that you encourage your friends and family members to write you letters, telling you what a loser you are, there is something to be said for negative motivation.

Equally inspiring, however (and somewhat easier on the ego) is positive motivation. Knowing you want to send your kids to private school, look great at your high school reunion, or send your parents on an all-expenses-paid, first-class trip around the world can all keep you focused and moving forward.

Here are some ways to keep your goals in front of you:

• Create a vision board. Cut photos, words, and other images from magazines and glue them, collage-style, on a piece of posterboard. Hang it somewhere you can see frequently. (Hint: You can do the same thing digitally by creating an electronic vision board and using it for your desktop wallpaper.)  Here is a good source for a digital dream board – Genesis Dream Board.

• Write it big. Write your goal on a large piece of paper, or on the whiteboard in your office. Keep it in front of yourself constantly.

• Write it everywhere. Put post-it notes on your car’s dashboard, on your bathroom mirror, on your checkbook, in your day planner or calendar. The constant visual reminder will keep you focused.

• Go audio. Record your goals on a digital voice recorder and play it back, or read it out loud each morning and evening.

• Make it vivid. Like Papale’s note, make your reminders emotion-laden. Picture your kids in their school uniforms. See your parents on their trip. Feel how your body will be lighter and more healthy. Post a photo of the Eiffel Tower on your bulletin board. The more completely you can view your future, the easier it will be to latch onto it and use it as a guiding light.

One of the keys here is experimentation. If you’ve always tried positive motivation, maybe it’s time to change things up and brandish the stick instead of the carrot. You may even want to review your “patterns of success”  for keys to your personal motivation recipe.

How do you motivate yourself?