Use Multitasking to Enhance your Focus

Vision, discipline and focus. With these three life skills in abundance, there's very little that we can’t do. I like to think of my life as blank slate upon which I am free to express myself as I choose. But what if you or I lack one of these skills? Does missing of one of these hold us back from becoming who and what we want to become? When I look at them, I can see where a deficiency here does indeed hold me back. For me, its focus. I have always had a distinct vision of what I want to do with my life, and medical school has taught me a lot about discipline (though I'm still learning). What really holds me back from my aspirations becoming reality is my lack of focus. Maybe it’s that I have a touch of ADD, and maybe it’s that I just have a busy mind, but it seems that throughout life, I've had trouble focusing on a task, and completing tasks. Of late though, I've been becoming much more productive through the art of conscious multitasking. This really first occurred to me when I realized that I constantly broke up my study by doodling, or checking on something on the internet, or just walking around my apartment. I just couldn’t seem to focus for more than about 20 minutes at a time. And so, as you can imagine, my productivity was horrible. That’s when I decided to consciously multitask. Instead of just performing random activity when my attention needed to focus, I had other things I could do that would be a productive distraction. Now I can set out things at the start of the day, and when I feel my attention drift, I pay bills, answer email, write my blog post, or study something entirely different for about ten minutes. Even on medical rotations, there is often an opportunity for some calculated distraction (ie, reading a handbook on downtime, etc). This has allowed me to indulge my desire to multitask, and actually become more productive. I realize that not everyone is like me. I have friends who need to be distraction free in order to concentrate. But if you’re someone who finds it maddening to try and focus in a “quiet study environment”, then maybe it’s time to stop fighting your nature. Put on some music, go with your flow, and be productively distracted. [photo via businessweek]

Six Benefits to Creating a Personal Manifesto

“Preparation for old age should begin not later than one's teens. A life which is empty of purpose until 65 will not suddenly become filled on retirement.”

~ Dwight L. Moody ~

man·i·fes·to (mān'ə-fěs'tō) n. pl. man·i·fes·toes or man·i·fes·tos A public declaration of principles, policies, or intentions, especially of a political nature. intr.v.
man·i·fes·toed, man·i·fes·to·ing, Man·i·fes·toes To issue such a declaration.

Although most of us associate manifestos with communist regimes, the reality is that any group party or individual can create one. A manifesto is merely a document outlining principles and beliefs. In this article, I’m going to elucidate the benefits of creating your own personal manifesto. This article will be followed up by a Howto on exactly how to go about writing yours.

Six Benefits of writing your manifesto

1) Know thyself

Writing your principles, goals, and intentions out is a great way to engage in some self exploration. In fact, you may actually be surprised by what you discover about yourself when you actually sit down and make yourself articulate what you want.

2) Solidify what it actually is that you want out of life
Many times we don’t get what we want out of life because we don’t really know what we want. We drift through each day with only a hazy set of goals and aspirations. In such a state, it’s easy to make missteps. Writing out your goals in life is a one effective method to really define to yourself what you want.

3) Reassess your life’s direction
When you do write out your manifesto, you may be shocked to realize that what you want out of life and where you’re going in life are two different things. It’s very common to allow the daily grind to bury our most cherished dreams in a heap of bill paying, careless spending, and just generally following the path of least resistance. Although this realization may be dismaying, it’s a priceless epiphany if you actually want to someday live your dreams.

4) Motivate yourself
Whenever you feel like your life is going nowhere, you can always pull out a personal manifesto and draw inspiration from your dreams. If your grinding through a hard time at work or school, you can look at those dreams and know that the sacrifices you are making in your life will someday pay off big.

5) Keep a record of your personal growth
One of the neatest things you can do is reassess and rewrite your manifesto each year (or every six months, etcetera). After a few incarnations, you will really be able to see your growth as a person. It’s a fascinating and useful tool for introspection that will help you to see the person you were, as well as the person you are becoming.

6) Stay on track.
Take your personal manifesto and post it on your fridge or cubicle wall, and you will be amazed at how much easier it is to chase down your dreams. There’s something about having a tangible representation of your personal beliefs and goals that is very empowering. So go ahead create yours today!