The Multitasking Myth

Ever been guilty of answering text messages during a meeting? Or checking email while you’re on a video call?

MOST OF US do it.

And if you said yes, who could blame you? Growing and scaling your business comes with a seemingly never ending to-do list.

In our minds, it’s simply smart thinking to make the best use of our time, right?

When your company is growing fast, we’re forced to find ways to “fit it ALL in”.

But here’s something that may shock you…

On average, people who try to multitask take 50% longer to complete a single task and make 50% more errors in their work than people who stay focused.

Suddenly multitasking doesn’t sound like such a great way to get more done, does it?

But, we were brought up believing that in order to be productive we must learn to multitask to reach our goals and get things done…At least I was.

Here’s the problem with that…

When you are moving the needle on multiple projects at one time instead of focusing on making significant headway on one or two, you’re less likely to reach the goals you’ve set in the time frame you’ve set for yourself.

All those little strides you make for each project become shorter and shorter until you are now moving at a snail's pace to reach the END result of each.

Plus, when you only focus on one or two projects at a time, it's amazing how clear priorities become. Your mind is forced to choose which projects are most important and you can stop allowing the small stuff and “noise” derail you.

I know you’re thinking…. “But…I’m really busy!”

Trust me, I get it.  Being as busy as we are, there will always be temptations pulling at our focus…

Emails, text messages, other opportunities, “do you have a minute” meeting requests, etc.

These are called distractions, and we will always have them.

The key is to limit distractions as much as possible.

Think about it this way. There are distractions within our control and there are distractions out of our control.

Here’s a few things I do that help me eliminate the distractions I CAN control:

1. Put yourself in an environment that is distraction free. If I need to focus, I’ll turn my phone off or leave it in another room so I won’t be tempted to answer calls or texts that come in. If you have an iPhone, put it in Privacy Mode as I learned how to do last week. I’ve also been known to close my office door so I’m not distracted by sounds or commotion going on in other rooms in the house.

You know what distracts you. So make a conscious effort to remove them altogether, or remove yourself from their presence.

2. Set 3 main objectives for the day. By limiting the number of daily “goals” to 3, you’ll know exactly what your focus is and you’ll work with greater intention towards achieving those objectives.

TIP: I like to set my goals for the day the evening before, that way I know before I go to bed exactly what I’ll be focusing on the next day (this also allows my subconscious mind to work on those goals while I’m sleeping).  When you wake up, work on the most difficult project first, even before calls or checking your email.

3. Give yourself a shorter time frame to accomplish things. Parkinson’s law states that “work tends to expand to fill the time we have available for its completion.”

What happens is, the more time we give ourselves to complete something, the more likely we are to fill any time remaining with distractions.  Our mind is programmed to conserve energy when possible.

And speaking of mastering your time, one great tip a colleague shared with me a long time ago was a process called the Pomodoro Method.

It’s an exercise that helps train our brains to stay focused by gradually working up our concentration. The goal of this method is to strengthen one’s ability to focus for longer periods of time.

How it works…

Basically you set a timer (start with 30 minutes and gradually work up to 45 minutes). Within that 30 minute time frame, completely focus on the task or project at hand with no interruptions or distractions.

After the 30 minutes is up, allow yourself a 8-10 minute break (In a 45 minute stretch, you allow yourself a 15 minute break afterwards). Challenge yourself to work diligently on your task or project until the timer goes off, then give your mind the break to indulge on whatever distraction you’d like! Continue practicing this until it becomes a habit. Then, gradually increase your focus time from 30 min to 45 minutes.

Avoiding distractions will definitely help you increase your accuracy and ability to complete tasks and projects faster…

When you integrate some of the tips I just mentioned, you’ll be closer to focusing on what you really need to be focusing on to move the needle in your business at an accelerated pace.

Here’s what I know…People aren’t really pulled in a hundred different directions. They allow themselves to be pulled in a hundred different directions.

They know exactly what they need to do.

They just need to TAKE ACTION and change it.

To your success,

David

P.S. Recruitment and Hiring is the #1 Entrepreneurial Blind Spot which is why most avoid it like the plague…

Let’s face it, the entire process can be utterly frustrating & time consuming, AND often results in attracting and hiring the WRONG talent for your team and/or business.

But what if ALL the heavy-lifting was done for you, and you were only handed the highest qualified candidates that checked every box you were looking for?

Head to this link to see if Nitrogen Hiring Network™ could be your talent recruitment solution.

P.P.S. Not sure how to find and attract more of your ideal clients? If you have a proven high ticket offer, we know EXACTLY how to fill your pipeline with a constant stream of qualified and highly-motivated leads through our exclusive Leads on Demand™ program.

Simply click this link for more details.

Digital Marketing Expert

Is your team scrambled eggs or an omelet?

When making an omelet, you definitely need eggs (it’s the key ingredient, right?).  You also need a stovetop, a pan, oil, and any preferred ingredients like pepper, salt, cheese, peppers, etc. 

It’s not a technically an omelet without all those other ingredients…

It can't be cooked without heat…

And a pan puts it all together…

You need all these things, or you just end up with scrambled eggs. 

While eggs are the main ingredient, the other ingredients are pretty indispensable in the process (if you truly have your heart set on an omelet). 

I’m going to use this same analogy when it comes to a company structure. Let’s think of different talents on your team like different “ingredients”.

Different talents are needed in a company to make the business “work”. Just like different ingredients are needed to make a proper omelet. Each ingredient has a “job” just like each person on your team has a “job”. 

For example, the marketing director on a team has a completely different set of job responsibilities and skill sets than say an implementation or project manager does.  

All these different team members (each with their unique set of abilities), are the ingredients, and therefore become crucial to the company’s sustainability and growth. 

Oftentimes, Entrepreneurs don’t hire the right talent for their teams (which can be just as dangerous as missing the right talent for their teams).

Not hiring the right talent can be the result of many actions (or inactions). 

Let’s concentrate on one of the biggest right now, which is the lack of clarity on exactly who and what is needed. 

Entrepreneurs are usually 100% clear on the problem they need to solve (example: convert more sales, higher ROI on marketing, implementation, etc.). But what’s not clear are the qualifications, skill set, and experience to look for in the candidates they need to attract. 

Are they qualified? 

Do they have the skillset? 

Do they have the experience (have they done it before?)

All of these questions must be addressed when qualifying candidates for any position in your company. 

Since most aren’t clear on the “who” or  “what”, they don’t know how to properly qualify that person for the particular role. 

By overlooking this vital step, they end up hiring a “generalist” not a “specialist”. 

When they aren’t clear on what exactly they need, they also gravitate to individuals that have similar characteristics to themselves. 

Let me give you an example… 

Entrepreneurs are drawn to people like themselves (people who possess a burning passion and people who love to generate ideas just like they do). 

Now, don't get me wrong, it’s incredibly invaluable for your team members' ideas and passion to align with yours. In fact, that means you’re all on the same page and you don’t need to do a lot of work aligning them into your mission and long term goals.

Here is the challenge though with hiring people with ONLY your similar strengths, and tell me if this sounds familiar… 

During company meetings, everyone of these team members bring ideas to the table. 

Amazing ideas! 

Brilliant suggestions that could transform your business into a billion dollar venture. 

You all keep the excitement going and continue ideating and brainstorming about all the great things you can and will do.  

But you know what happens next…

No execution. 

Those amazing ideas live there on paper (or on a recording) just waiting to be implemented… 9 times out of 10, those ideas will never see the light of day.  

That’s because when you have an entire team of idea generators and visionaries, and no one to implement and project manage all those ideas, that’s all they are… Ideas. 

Unfortunately, the vicious cycle continues, and the business doesn’t move an inch forward.  

You then start to question the ability of your team…You might wonder what’s wrong with them… Why can’t they get these great ideas implemented?! 

You may have hired passionate individuals, but you didn’t hire them correctly for the roles you REALLY need to fill in order to make things happen and get things done.  

That perfect “omelet” results from adding all the proper ingredients.  Every hire you make for your team needs to be a specialist in a particular area you NEED in your business in order to scale it and propel it forward. 

Part of our rigorous qualification process here at Nitrogen Hiring Network includes using a tool called Predictive Index. 

This superior tool is incredible for evaluating the cognitive abilities, and behavioral tendencies of each and every candidate, to determine if they could be the right fit for each specific role.

If one understands the “what” and the “who” of a specific role, the predictive index will help them measure applicants’ behavioral drives (dominance, formality, extraversion and patience) with incredible accuracy.

Again, it’s just one parameter we use in our qualification process for candidates, as it scores candidates against the range of behaviors and cognitive abilities needed for the role we create in the system.

For example, a media buyer you hire needs to be well versed in all aspects of executing high profile and complex paid social media campaigns on multiple networks. They need to understand analytics, and be able to make data driven decisions based on that data they are given. They also need to understand how to address the particular needs and desires of customer groups and cater to them by developing effective strategies.

Other parts of our qualification process include multiple interviews (skill set and culture fit), exercises to evaluate experience and skill set, and a slew of additional “Hoops” each candidate must jump through in order to avoid being disqualified. 

Yes, it’s a lot of work! But every single step is necessary if your goal is to build and grow a high-performing team that will get you to the next level in your business. It all begins with becoming crystal clear on the “who” and the “what”. 

It also means understanding and accepting you MUST hire people that have strengths in areas you don’t. 

That’s what makes an “omelet” team vs. a “scrambled” egg team. 

More next article…

To your success, 

David 

P.S. Recruitment and Hiring is the #1 Entrepreneurial Blind Spot which is why most avoid it like the plague… 

Let’s face it, the entire process can be utterly frustrating & time consuming, AND often results in attracting and hiring the WRONG talent for your team and/or business. 

But what if ALL the heavy-lifting was done for you, and you were only handed the highest qualified candidates that checked every box you were looking for? 

Head to this link to see if Nitrogen Hiring Network™ could be your talent recruitment solution. 

P.P.S. Not sure how to find and attract more of your ideal clients? If you have a proven high ticket offer, we know EXACTLY how to fill your pipeline with a constant stream of qualified and highly-motivated leads through our exclusive Leads on Demand™ program.

Clickfunnels Expert

How to Conserve a Lot by Developing Your Own Furnishings with Quality Products

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