How to Stop Multi-Tasking and Accomplish More

How to Stop Multi-Tasking and Accomplish More How many tabs do you have open right now? How many projects are you in the middle of? In today’s busy and fast-paced society, time management skills are essential. In an effort to accomplish more in a seemingly shorter amount of time, many people turn to multitasking. However, analysts have found multi-tasking can actually be counterintuitive to productivity. So, stop it. Now. Here are nine tips for breaking a multi-tasking habit and training yourself to focus on one thing at a time. You’ll likely notice that, contrary to popular belief, multi-tasking doesn’t actually help you accomplish more. 1. Strategically Mute Your Smartphone and Tablet Notifications Most of today’s top smartphones and tablets connect to email accounts, so you’ll receive alerts about incoming messages. When you’re writing an email at the office, don’t let new messages distract you. Temporarily mute your gadgets. If necessary, turn them face down so you won’t see visual notifications. A study from London’s Institute of Psychiatry found multi-tasking with electronic media caused a short-term 10-point drop in IQ, which is similar to going without sleep for a night. When you force yourself to stay fully focused on the email you’re writing, the message will likely come across more clearly. 2. Be Selfish With Your Time People are often pulled into multiple tasks unintentionally, because they didn’t stand their ground about finishing whatever they were working on. If co-workers’ requests make it nearly impossible to stop multi-tasking, set boundaries that support your single-tasking efforts. Try something simple, such as “I’m spending the next 20 minutes editing these slides for the afternoon presentation, but I can help you with that as soon as I’m done.” A similar statement makes it clear you won’t help immediately, but it sets an expectation of how and when a colleague can receive your assistance. 3. Compile Ineffective Thoughts and Come Back to Them Later Your desire to multi-task at work may be related to the myriad of thoughts running through your brain constantly. Maybe you’re supposed to be writing copy for an advertisement, but you keep getting sidetracked by your thoughts about what to cook for dinner or an upcoming beach trip. When your thoughts pull you away from your work, consider recording them on a notepad. Return to your notes once you’re finished with your task. If they’re not managed thoroughly and quickly, thoughts that pop into your head could cause you to start simultaneously working on another task at the same time you’re trying to finish your initial obligation. 4. Set a Timer to Train Your Brain Research has shown it’s hard to stop multi-tasking because each time we check an item off our to-do lists, the brain secretes a feel-good chemical, which causes short-term happiness. An audible cue that helps with focus could help you break the multi-tasking habit. Set a timer for one hour, or even for 20 minutes if you’re an obsessive multi-tasker. When the timer buzzes, stop what you’re doing and ask yourself, “What’s important now?” Over time, you’ll learn to focus your brain on what truly matters. If you don’t control your multi-tasking madness, you’ll end up feeling burned out and may not want to go to work at all, let alone be productive. 5. Implement an Open-Door Policy The act of conversing with a colleague for a few seconds to let them know you’re busy could cause you to lose focus. Announce an open-door policy to give co-workers a visual indicator of whether you’re engaged in something. If your office door is open, people are free to come in. If it’s closed, they should come back another time. 6. Use a Website-Blocking Browser Plugin Statistics say, on average, people who do most of their work on computers lose focus every 10.5 minutes â€" probably because distractions are endless on the internet, and we all have our vices. Maybe it’s hard for you to go a half hour without checking your Twitter feed, or you often daydream after looking at pinboards. If you’re having trouble using self control to stop yourself from online diversions when you’re at work and should be focusing on something else, install a browser extension or plugin that blocks specified websites for a given amount of time. StayFocusd, Block site, and Nanny are three popular options that are free to use for Chrome. Some plugins include settings that allow you to restore access to blocked sites within certain hours, which could be good if you want to click over to YouTube and watch a few lighthearted clips during your lunch break. There are also extensions to help you manage your email-checking obsession, so don’t forget to add those to your list to check out as well. 7. Close Unnecessary Browser Tabs Browser tabs are multi-taskers’ best friends, because they allow people to pop between tasks with a quick click. Create a new habit of only keeping browser tabs open if they relate to the single task you’re currently working on. If closing the tabs for good seems like too big of a compromise, see if your browser can bookmark all open tabs. If not, try an extension like Linkclump or OneTab to do it for you. If so, take advantage. The next time you click on the link representing the bookmarked tabs, they’ll all open at once and in the same order, as if you never closed them. 8. Make Actionable To-Do Lists Each Day When you acquaint yourself with only doing one thing at a time, it might feel overwhelming if you don’t know what to focus on after finishing one task. You could easily spend too much time wrestling over the all-important question of “What do I do now?” Ease some of the anxiety by making your to-do list for the coming day the evening before. It should be easier to focus on the things that take priority, so you can make continual progress. Make sure your to-do items are straightforward and based on actions you can take, rather than vague reminders of what you need to accomplish. For example, write “Finish outline for SITE blog post.” A to-do entry that simply says “Blog post outline” is too ambiguous and doesn’t specify how much of the outline you need to finish. 9. Be Forgiving If You Get Off Track If you’re a habitual multi-tasker, it’s not realistic to assume you’ll immediately be able to only focus on one thing at a time and won’t ever feel tempted to resort to your previous ways. Slipping off track is inevitable, but your mindset is perhaps the one thing that determines whether you give up permanently or only temporarily. Beating yourself up over a perceived failure won’t help â€" it will probably make you feel worse. Instead, fully commit yourself to resuming the process of breaking your multitasking habit tomorrow. If you succeed, you’ll accomplish more and feel less stressed. What are your favorite tricks and tools to staying focused? Post a comment and share them here. Be sure to subscribe to our posts, so you’ll never miss insights that could help you gain more enjoyment from your job â€" and your life.

Military to Civilian Resumes Are Now the Fad For Job Seekers

Military to Civilian Resumes Are Now the Fad For Job SeekersMilitary to civilian resumes have become all the rage in the past year. Employers now realize that filling a job opening with a resume that is clearly your own may seem difficult. On the other hand, it is better to fill a job opening with a resume that is not your own than it is to get lost in the shuffle and spend a lot of time on a resume that does not reflect your personal interest or qualifications.Not only is a resume full of your personal information the worst that can happen to your job search, but it is the easiest way to send your resume on the back burner. After all, most job seekers are fairly conscientious and do not want to miss an opportunity to apply for a position that they are considering. An employer may not even read your resume, so there is really no reason for your resume to be in front of them when they are searching for a job. An employer does not want to spend the time to read a resume that is full of irrelevant information.However, military to civilian resumes are becoming the only resume that job seekers want. An employer may consider the possibility of filling a job opening that is currently open and will respond to resumes that are full of information that is not necessarily relevant to the position. An employer may simply not want to spend the time to read your resume.In a nutshell, the military to civilian resume service that an employer may be looking for is much more of a professional looking resume that is filled with information that is specific to the position. A person who is qualified for the position may have a resume that is filled with information that is not necessarily relevant, but the resume is still a resume.Before one gets to hire a military to civilian resume writing service, one has to first determine what kind of information the job seeker is looking for. Some applicants may simply need a listing of their education and previous work experience. Other app licants may be more specific and want to know how many years they have been in the military. It is generally the latter type of job seeker that hires the military to civilian resume writing service, as they want a resume that really showcases their worth.What the military to civilian resumes writer does in most cases is to select an employer, decide what job the employer is looking for, and list all of the qualifications and experience that the job seeker has. The military to civilian resume writing service then works to create a resume that is relevant to the job that the employer is looking for. The resume is drafted by the service so that it is concise and eye-catching. In the end, the resume is then sent out to the employer in order to be considered for the job that the job seeker is trying to fill.Military to civilian resumes are definitely the way to go for most job seekers. However, to get a resume that is best for the job and that is likely to be read by an employer, one mus t use a resume writing service that specializes in military to civilian resumes. Military to civilian resumes are a very good way to get noticed and are considered the best of both worlds. They are different, but also very common, and are the best resume writing service that any job seeker can have.

Get the Scoop on Writing a Resume Research Coordinator Before Youre Too Late

Get the Scoop on Writing a Resume Research Coordinator Before You're Too Late There are plenty of statements one can utilize to make an effective resume. For example, you might offer an expert summary that illustrates your career objectives and plans along with your areas of scientific interest. Your resume, as stated, isn't an all-out explanation of each step you've taken. Utilize your judgment, and as always, you always ought to prepare several resumes for numerous varieties of companies. You should list coursework that relate to the position you're applying. Resume writing objective is a significant portion of the resume, without it resume won't leave its effects on the recruiter. Before it is possible to market yourself to the agency with your resume, you should coordinate the placement of the many components of a resume. Resume helps you to receive the desired job prospect. Who Else Wants to Learn About Writing a Resume Research Coordinator? As a lifeguard someone's life might actually be at stake at the time you have to utilize your emergency medical training. In your resume, you may only consist of work experience directly associated with the job which you apply. Your present job title Let's start at the start. So if you're looking to receive a job (not just any job, but the job which you want), make sure you do things right and learn to make an outstanding resume. What You Don't Know About Writing a Resume Research Coordinator The target of your resume is to secure you the interview. You may not have much work experience to include, so concentrate on personal and professional skills in addition to your educational background. Show recruiting professors your abilities and experiences are awarded and appreciated by other people. Due to the broad array of daily tasks, administrative coordinators have many distinct traits and talents. The Do's and Don'ts of Writing a Resume Research Coordinator The writer must hold the capacity to c onvince the reader about her or his view point. If you believe handing in a resume that resembles everyone else's is a very good concept, then do it. A short resume goes a very long way. There are a lot of things you will need to think about while writing the resume of the photo editor. As soon as you have your resume sample in place, after that you can make modifications in the kind of deletions or additions as per any specific requirement. So in the event the typeface employed in your resume sample is inappropriate it may have a negative visual effect on the reader. Resume writing Objective is an essential section in any sort of resume. Writing the ideal research assistant resume objective or summary can be difficult. The Chronicles of Writing a Resume Research Coordinator A well written and professional resume is undoubtedly the main asset and an extremely strong advertising tool that professionals in the business have with them. In addition, in the event where one's l ast job reference wasn't the best one, an individual might want to select the assistance of a functional resume template. You don't need to have an excellent website, you merely need to have a passable one (and it should work on mobile). Writing a Resume Research Coordinator: No Longer a Mystery Furthermore, you can look for event coordinator jobs on Monster. A Project Coordinator is critical to larger companies since they manage the work the Project Manager isn't able to do while running massive projects. Administrator coordinators make, normally, 39,000 dollars per year. Among their many diverse tasks, administrative coordinators make certain their businesses are operating smoothly.