Spend another two days purposely focusing on one thing at a time. Be fully attentive when performing a given task. Respond to these questions: How do you feel when you're doing it? How do you feel afterwards? How would you rate the quality of your work? Did you listen particularly well? Did you understand at a deep level? Do you recall clearly what you were doing and why?

At day 5, compare and contrast the experiences. What did you learn from them?

Coaching Tips for Focusing:

  • Turn off the new email chime. It distracts your attention. Same goes for the "downloading progress bar."
  • Play a game of limiting your email checking to once or twice a day. (Do you then notice that you're addicted to email?) What is that experience like? What is the underlying emotion involved in email-addiction? Fear? Loneliness?
  • Try driving to work without listening to the radio and resting attention in the here-and-now.

This multitasking tip originally appeared in the Corporate Coaching International newsletter. Dr. Jeremy Hunter teaches leaders to cultivate self-awareness and develop skills that allow them to work and live at their best. He is co-founder of the Quality of Life Research Center at the Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito School of Management.