Focus More on Less
For some reason it's become en vogue for people to claim they're "ADD" (attention deficit disorder).
I think what they're really saying is that they're being pulled in too many directions and that it's hard for them to focus.
Recent research suggests that our brain is not adept at multitasking. You see, we're hard-wired to focus on one thing at a time. Even though we're capable of multitasking, we're not good at it.
Our society has placed increasing stress on us and we're now expected to do more work in less time. This self-inflicted stress is almost entirely driven by technology. Because it is technically feasible to drive and talk on the phone, we do it.
The part that I find most interesting is how being busy has somehow become a badge of honor. In my opinion, people are not as busy as they may think they are. Rather, they are doing too much at once. This creates the illusion of being busy. In fact, however, they're simply overloaded, which I believe is a different issue.
Focusing more on less results in a better outcome
The research also suggests that we're better off when we can whittle down our to-do list to one thing at a time. We can produce better work when we focus. While that may seem intuitive, why is that so many of us are focusing less on more?
Mark Hurst has written a book entitled Bit Literacy: Productivity in the Age of information and E-mail Overload. I think his book on how to manage email, to-dos, photos, a media diet, and other "digital stresses" is testament to the fact that we're all dealing with more than we ever imagined possible, especially when it comes to online information overload.
We're experiencing a queer cycle in evolution and we're overloading ourselves in many ways simply because we can. That's all. We're only doing more because we're capable of doing it and it's somehow satisfying. We're receiving a psychological payoff.
Our bodies, however, were not "designed" to eat as much as we do. Why do we continue to over consume and suffer the repercussions? Because we can, and it feels good while we're doing it. But we're suffering the consequences, mentally and physically.
The take-away for sales and marketing
I think that if we spend more time with fewer clients we'll be more profitable. That's not to say we should be overly dependent on a shorter client list. It just means that we can probably focus more on a fewer number of clients and be of better service to them. The end result is a win-win.
Likewise, I think we can focus our marketing efforts on fewer tactics. While it's important to "be there" for the right prospect at the right time, we can make that number smaller, and higher quality, and get better ROI.
