The Day I Realised Multitasking Was a Lie… and I Was the Idiot Falling for It

Why doing one thing at a time might be the most productive skill you can learn.

I started the day with a neat little list of things to do.

By the end of the day… the list was bigger.

Sound familiar?

Somehow, despite being busy all day, the number of unfinished tasks had actually increased. Which suggests one obvious conclusion:

Something clearly isn’t working.

I’ve always loved the classic rule of the 5 P’s:

Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance.

Simple. Memorable. And usually right.

But recently I realised we probably need another set of P’s as well:

Plan Prepare Prioritise Perform

It sounds obvious, but this is exactly where most people struggle.

Before any meeting, opportunity, or decision, the best performers rarely just turn up and wing it. They’ve already:

Planned which clients or opportunities matter most Prepared what they want to say Prioritised the biggest opportunities And then they perform when it counts

Simple.

But not always easy.

A Brutal Truth About Multitasking

A friend of mine reminded me recently of something I once said to her years ago.

Her words were something like:

“Do you remember when you said multitaskers are just busy idiots in disguise?”

Apparently I did.

And the irony?

When she reminded me, I was:

cooking dinner helping my son with maths homework replying to a text from my mum writing an email sending a payment link to a client and checking my diary for next week

All at the same time.

So yes… the truth hurts.

But she wasn’t wrong.

Multitasking often just means we’re doing lots of things badly instead of one thing well.

What Focus Actually Means

At a recent meeting the theme was simple:

FOCUS

Follow

One

Course

Until

Success

It sounds obvious, but in business — and in life — we’re constantly tempted to split our attention in too many directions.

Instead, focus means committing fully to the task in front of you.

For example:

When cold calling, focus on getting the appointment. When planning, focus on the end goal. When researching, focus on understanding your prospect. When pitching, focus on giving just enough information for someone to want to buy. When handling objections, focus on moving towards the close.

Not everything at once.

Just the next step.

In a world that constantly pulls our attention in ten different directions, focus is becoming one of the most valuable skills you can develop.

The temptation is always to juggle more.

More tasks.

More conversations.

More tabs open.

More things happening at once.

But the truth is, progress rarely comes from doing everything.

It comes from doing one thing properly.

Finishing the call.

Closing the deal.

Solving the problem.

Completing the task.

Then moving on to the next.

Which brings me to one of my favourite reminders:

Be like a postage stamp.

Stick to one thing until you get there.

In other words…

less multitasking,

less noise,

and a little more focus.