Big Rocks- On Becoming a Multi-Tasking Nija Warrior

Lately the term “multi-tasking” has been getting a lot of well deserved bad press.  I recently attended a Yoga class where the instructor said that a big cause of stress in people today is due to multi-tasking.  She went on to say that we need to focus on only one thing at a time.  Let’s get real here.  If you are consistently training and racing in Triathlon you have to multi-task.  That is a given but to reduce your overall stress level I can show you a better way.

The typical person is out of control.  A lot of balls up in the air and most come crashing down.  They have five things going on at one time with no real commitment to any of them and really no idea of where they are headed.  You are not typical you are going to be a multi-tasking Ninja warrior.  Here’s how.

It all starts with your big goals and not just your true commitment to them but your real understanding of these goals.  It is easy to write several impressive goals that pump us up but the real work is looking at the cost involved in achieving these goals.  We need to look at the many roles we play, Mother, Father, Server, Triathlete, Worker and access how we are in all these life areas.  Will setting those big Ironman goals create major problems in other life roles?  Take one of your major goals for the next year.  Are you truly committed to achieving it?  Are you will to sacrifice and pay the price?  Being honest with yourself and your commitment is a major step to clarity in your life.  Once you have done this you need to decide how you are going to get all the “big rocks into that glass jar” (does this sound familiar?).  You have to understand that the big goals and clear roles are foundational to effective execution on a daily basis.  I think we need to take a few minutes each day to connect to our foundational goals and roles and see if they still make sense and have our full commitment.
With this solid foundation we can stand in multi-tasking stress.  Things shout for our attention all the time but as someone with razor like clarity and true understanding and commitment to who we are and what is important to us today, we take up our warrior stance and discard the crap that is coming our way and truly focus on the vital.

Getting back to the Yoga instructor I mentioned before.  You know what?  She was right we can only do one thing at a time.  I love the old Zen saying, “when you chop wood, chop wood”.  No matter what is being thrown at you, as a Ninja warrior you have the ability to use your laser sharp focus to do the one right thing, and then the next, and the next, etc. 

It will not always be easy but the key when in multi-tasking stress is to reconnect to your goals and roles and quickly decide which of these tasks are worth my effort.  Remember, understanding leads to commitment which enables focus.  Happy training.