4 minute read by Justin Bariso
Monday was just another day for Musk. It was almost.
He closed the deal to purchase the company for $44 billion. The richest man in the world met with the minister of investment in Indonesia to discuss the battery supply chain.
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At 10 p.m., Musk met with engineers and spent more than an hour working on a rocket engine.
He can do more than one thing at a time.
Musk can work on multiple projects, but also lead multiple companies in the same day. Understanding that difference is a key to unlocking your own productivity, and what Musk is doing isn't really multitasking.
Musk has followed a simple practice for several years. The rule of focus is what I like to call it.
The rule of focus can be applied to your own work.
The full emotional intelligence course includes 20 more rules that help you manage your emotions and be more productive, if you find value in the rule of focus. The full course can be found here.
Not multitasking, not task-switching. Pure focus
True multitasking, simultaneously performing two tasks at the same time, is pretty challenging. It can be done with lots of practice when it comes to relatively simple tasks. (For example, consider a professional basketball player who practices a drill of dribbling a ball with one hand and simultaneously throwing and catching a tennis ball with another hand.)
Most of what we think of as multitasking is MzE MzE MzE MzE MzE MzE MzE MzE MzE MzE MzE MzE MzE MzE MzE MzE MzE MzE MzE MzE MzE MzE MzE MzE MzE MzE MzE MzE MzE MzE MzE MzE MzE MzE MzE MzE MzE MzE MzE MzE MzE MzE MzE MzE MzE MzE MzE MzE MzE Task-switching has a heavy price.
The Encyclopedia of Neuroscience states that the ability to switch tasks requires extensive high-level cognitive processing.
More task-switching equals more mistakes and lower-quality decision making.
Musk is not really multitasking or task-switching when he works for his various companies. He is focusing on one thing at a time.
In the past, Musk has stated that he tried to split his week into two parts, working for both companies at the same time. As time has gone on, Musk has purchased another company that he would work on multiple companies in, and he has also indicated that he changes his schedule depending on current needs and projects.
Let's go back to four key words from Isaacson, referencing that late-night meeting working on rocket engines.
No one mentioned the social networking site.
Musk concentrates on one thing at a time and may work on various problems, but he concentrates on one thing at a time. It allows Musk to focus on a single topic, instead of multitasking or task-switching.
Imagine if Musk was taking calls during his meeting with the engineers. It would cause everyone else in the room to be crazy and reduce the quality of his work. Musk makes the most of his time and brainpower by keeping meetings, project work, and major tasks separate.
Musk is able to make valuable contributions to multiple companies because of this.
Consider what he had to say. A former engineer who worked with Musk for years was amazed at his ability to solve complicated problems.
I've met a lot of super, super smart people. The software and the most arcane aspects of that are what Musk is able to discuss with our top engineers. He will turn to our manufacturing engineers and have discussions about some really arcane welding process for some crazy alloy.
He is able to do that across all the different technologies that go into rockets and cars, that is what really impressed me.
What can you learn from it all?
I don't recommend Musk working as many hours as he does, or holding late-night meetings. We can learn a lot from how Musk carries out his work.
You're probably trying to balance multiple responsibilities, including running a business, balancing clients, and even separating time for work, family, and self.
The rule of focus is to concentrate on one thing at a time.
So, whether you are.
All outside noise should be shut out. Be present. All of your attention should be on the people or the task at hand.
It will allow you to be more places and get more done, but it will also increase the quality of what you get done.
That productivity is at its best.
This article was originally published on Inc.
An author, speaker, and consultant, Bariso helps organizations and individuals develop their emotional intelligence.
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