You're Leaking Productivity. (Another Tip For Saving Time And Energy As A Solopreneur):

Have you ever poured drinks from one of those pitchers? 

You know, that pitcher that dribbles all over the place if you try to serve slowly --so you have to be all in on the pour, or else end up with liquid running all over the table and down your wrist?

Now imagine you're hosting a dinner party, and you have six water glasses to fill using that pitcher. 

Imagine pouring ¼ cup into one glass, then switching to another glass and pouring a tablespoon of water, then switching to another and pouring ⅓ cup, and continuing to switch back and forth until everyone's glass is full. 

Imagine how much water would be on the tablecloth (and your sleeve, and the floor) if you did it that way.

Imagine how long it would take to finish filling all the glasses, too.

Here's the deal: 

Your attention is that pitcher, and the water is your energy and insight.

Switching your attention (i.e. multitasking) spills a LOT of water. 

Once you switch your attention, even just for a quick text or email notification, it takes about 25 minutes for your brain to be able to return to full focus again. 

Research also shows that measures of IQ go down by about 15 points during multitasking. (Now it's not water being lost, it's expensive wine!).

Each task starts to take forever to finish, and you don't get the satisfaction of completion.

So, can you guess my next tip in this series on time & productivity?

Stop switching your attention. 

Do one thing at a time, whenever possible.

This is not easy. We have more distractions than ever before (this is intentional on the part of app designers, by the way). Practice it anyway.

You'll feel happier with your work, you won't spill water (i.e. waste energy) all over the place, and you and your guests will no longer be parched.

Go ahead, pour yourself into it. Let me know how it goes :)