In this episode, we discuss how multitasking and adding too much too your plate is harmful to you.
Full Transcript
Hi Everyone, welcome to the You’re Daily Cup of Joe Podcast, with your host Joe Bautista. In this podcast, my goal is to give you quick lessons that you can reflect on in your journal so you can grow yourself physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually and have a better career, better relationships, and better personal finances while you enjoy your morning cup of coffee.
I’m also the author of the book “More You Know, More You Grow: How to Get Better Every Day”. In this book, I wrote down over 30 tips to help you grow in those four cornerstones. I’m also the founder of Grow With Joe, where I combine self-development coaching and financial planning for Latino Professionals.
At the end of today’s podcast episode, I’m going to give you a prompt question to reflect on in your journal. The idea is to take one to five minutes to reflect on today’s lesson and write a minimum of one paragraph on how you can apply the lesson in your life. You can use an actual journal, a word document like on Google Drive, or your note-taking app like Evernote. The idea is that you’re actually thinking about how to process the information to help you improve your life.
In today’s episode, we’re are going to talk about how we can’t be spreading ourselves too thin through multitasking. This doesn’t just apply at work, it also applies to your personal life too.
There are times where you might have to spread yourself thin but don’t make it a permanent state. I know I spread myself too thin during the first part of January. I was starting school, I was traveling to Panama and Costa Rica, I’m trying to take care of myself, and I’m trying to run my business.
This was only temporary because of my traveling to Panama and Costa Rica for school. I just had to get through the two weeks and then I was back on schedule. And this is the key, to get back on schedule. My school work for my other classes took a hit, my business took a hit, and my health took a hit.
I couldn’t manage everything at once but I’m okay with it because I got to see some amazing sites like San Blas in Panama and Tabacon in Costa Rica. I just told myself that I probably won’t see these sites again for a really long time and might as well and enjoy my time here. I did try to squeeze in some work here and there but it wasn’t really enough to move the needle forward on my business.
Now as I’m writing this piece, I’m in my zone at a co-working space. So back on my grind and my exercise routine. You have to realize that if you want something to grow, you need to put energy into that thing. If you don’t put sufficient energy into something, then it’s not going to grow.
Then when you’re spread thin for too long, then that is when chronic stress starts to creep in. Since you have so many things on your plate, you’re just constantly worried about the next thing. This is not good for your body. I was a real workaholic back in the day but now I take more time to enjoy things and I love my life now. I feel more relaxed.
I still work really hard where I do work a majority of the weekends but if an opportunity to do something amazing or to go see someone, I will figure out a way to make it happen. I know that work isn’t everything but it is important for the majority of my day. I also love what I do so that makes it easier to put in the work.
When you are spreading yourself thin, it’s real easy to get used to that feeling and not realized that you’re actually causing damage to your body. One thing as humans that we are great at, is knowing how to be miserable. We just go with the grind and take whatever is coming our way. But once I learned how life is when you don’t spread yourself too thin and just focus your energy on what matters, then it’s really amazing. You start to wonder how did you live your life any other way.
There are going to be a lot of people that want your attention and cause you to focus on what is important to them but make it seem like it is important for you. It’s real easy to be tricked and this is why you should spend to reflect on what’s going on in your life and see what is important to you at this moment. This might mean that you spend time on your career or business. Or it might mean that you spend time on yourself and with your family. Time is short and you just want to make sure that things are going well.
After going through experiences like the Marines, being a Federal Employee, a personal trainer, a business owner, and once being married, now I know where I should put my energy and how thin I should spread myself. I think it also helps to have your goals written down as well and to know what a perfect day and year would look like. Have a clear visualization of this will help you know how you should spend your time and have fewer feelings of being stressed out.
That’s it for today’s episode, to summarize it, don’t spread yourself too thin. There will be times where you have to spread yourself thin but don’t make that a permanent state. Things need the energy to grow and prosper, otherwise, they are just going to die. Plus once you start living your life with intention by knowing what is the most important thing to focus on, then it’s a really fulfilling life. When you go on vacation, you can actually enjoy the vacation instead of thinking about other things and have an abundant life. I used to be caught up in the rat race but when you win the rat race, you’re still a rat. To understand what you’re getting yourself into and know your worth.
So in your journal, ask yourself, are you spreading yourself too thin? Do you feel constantly on the run? Do you feel anxious? What can you do to start taking control over your life? Take this time of journaling to start taking control over your life. If you’re spreading yourself too thin for too long, it means that you have lost control over your life and you should start taking steps to regain control. It might take a while but the goal is to eventually get it back. Don’t be miserable longer than you have to.
Thanks for listening today! To get a free copy of my book “More You Know, More You Grow: How to get better every day” just go to my website growwithjoe.me/book and just pay for shipping and handling.
I have a quiz on my website that grades your inner circle, so if you want to find out if your inner circle is an A, B, C, D, or F, you can take that quiz at growwithjoe.me/quiz
I’m also trying to do a feedback Friday episode, so if you have a question that you would like to have my answer on the air, just e-mail me at [email protected]
I’m also on Instagram at Grow With Joe and Facebook just look up Grow With Joe
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Thanks for joining me today and remember if you go with Joe, you can grow with Joe, cause Joe knows Dough.
*Music outro
