focus

The High Cost of Multitasking in Meetings as a Leader

In today's distraction-filled world, it has become commonplace for leaders to multitask during meetings - checking emails, texting, scanning social media, and more. However, this behavior has seriously detrimental impacts on relationships, trust, and performance. As a leader, being fully present and engaged during meetings is essential to demonstrate respect, improve focus, foster stronger bonds with your team, and model effective habits. Avoid multitasking and be mindful in meetings to create a collaborative environment where people feel valued.

The Damaging Perceptions of Multitasking Leaders

When leaders frequently divide their attention during meetings by looking at devices, teammates often draw very negative conclusions that erode trust and morale over time:

  • You don't value their time or insights. Checking your phone or laptop conveys that whatever they are discussing is not important enough to warrant your full attention. This breeds resentment.

  • You lack focus, discipline and self-control. The inability to stay focused, even for short meetings, hints at poor time management skills and lack of leadership capability.

  • You're not an active listener or participant. Mentally and emotionally checking out prevents you from absorbing information fully or contributing meaningfully to discussions.

  • You don't care about relationship building. Multitasking shuts down opportunities for bonding, vulnerability and creating psychological safety.

  • You're reactive, overwhelmed or incompetent. The inability to focus or be present without constant task switching makes you seem generally unfit for leadership.

The Damaging Reality of Distracted Leaders

Beyond just poor optics, multitasking leaders also suffer very real consequences that diminish their performance and cognition:

  • Missing critical details that inform decisions. With split attention, leaders fail to absorb nuances, data points, and other key information that should guide choices.

  • Failure to read emotional cues and body language. Being distracted impairs ability to pick up on nonverbal signals that are crucial for relating to others and influencing effectively.

  • Diminished meeting productivity. Trying to track multiple conversations fractures cognitive focus, which leads to stuck discussions and limited insights.

  • Increased mental fatigue and overwhelm. The exertion required to multitask degrades mindful presence. This drains mental resources fast.

  • Weaker relationships and team cohesion. People are exceedingly unlikely to open up authentically or be vulnerable when leaders appear disengaged. Trust and morale decline.

Techniques for Honing Mindful Presence

Here are some methods leaders can employ to avoid multitasking and be fully mentally engaged during meetings:

  • Set expectations upfront that you aim for no outside distractions so you can be fully present. Ask others to commit to this as well.

  • Physically close laptops, turn off phone notifications, disable wifi, and remove other tempting distractions. Out of sight, out of mind.

  • Prioritize active listening, engagement, and eye contact over quick responses to messages. Catch up on emails later.

  • Ask periodic clarifying questions to reinforce understanding and involvement. This shows others you're listening closely.

  • After intensive or lengthy meetings, build in adequate space on the calendar to process takeaways fully and allow your cognition to recover.

  • Consciously model the undivided attention you want your team to display. Lead by example and others will mimic your behavior.

Mastering the art of mindful presence during meetings while eliminating multitasking takes practice but offers immense rewards. Leaders who remain fully engaged demonstrate respect, unlock their best thinking and decisions, and build trust. To transform meeting focus on your team, I offer science-based coaching tailored to boosting leadership presence, time management, and culture shaping. Let's connect to explore customized solutions!

The Myth of Multitasking: Why Focus is Key for Leadership Excellence

In our complex, distraction-filled world, leaders often pride themselves on being able to “multitask.” However, research reveals multitasking is a myth - our brains simply cannot focus on more than one thing at a time. What we call multitasking is really rapid task switching, and this constant context shifting comes at a major cost in terms of productivity, creativity, and wellbeing. As a leader, avoiding the multitasking illusion and mastering the art of focus is essential for your own cognitive performance and for modeling good behaviors for your team.

Why We Can’t Actually Multitask

Although it may seem we can multitask, our brains are wired for focusing on one task at a time. When we try to juggle multiple things simultaneously:

  • We experience lag time as our brain switches between tasks. This creates inefficiencies as our attention is fractured.

  • We are more prone to mistakes as we attempt to hold too many things in our working memory. Things start to slip through the cracks.

  • We become distracted and overwhelmed as we try processing multiple streams of information. We end up shallowly attending to everything.

  • We increase stress and fatigue because rapid task switching requires a lot of mental energy. Our cognitive resources deplete faster.

The Benefits of Focused Attention

While single-tasking may seem slower, research confirms its benefits include:

  • Increased efficiency on cognitively demanding tasks. You get more done with less effort when you're able to focus deeply.

  • Higher quality thinking and creativity. Complex cognitive processes require sustained concentration to make new connections and insights.

  • Reduced fatigue and burnout. Focused work allows your brain to fully relax during breaks. Multitasking blurs the lines between rest and work.

  • Greater career fulfillment. People experience their work as more meaningful and engaging when they can truly focus on tasks.

  • Enhanced wellbeing. Focus cultivates a sense of calm and enjoyment. Multitasking creates feelings of anxiety and being overwhelmed.

Focus Tips for Leaders

As a leader, avoiding multitasking and honing your ability to focus deeply will make you more effective while also setting the right tone for your team. Here are some best practices:

  • Reduce distractions during focused work by closing apps, muting notifications, and working from a quiet space.

  • Prioritize the most cognitively demanding tasks for when you have long stretches of uninterrupted time.

  • Build in buffer time between meetings and calls so you can fully recharge your attention and cognition.

  • Model single-tasking during meetings. Don’t check emails or texts - give your full attention.

  • Encourage focus time for your team. Emphasize quality thinking over constant busyness.

  • Celebrate deep work. Recognize employees who consistently demonstrate diligent focus.

The bottom line is our brains need focus to perform at their best. Leaders who embrace this and avoid faux-multitasking will see their productivity, creativity, and serenity benefit immensely. They will also set a powerful example for their teams. Focus is the currency of excellence in today's economy. Make it one of your top priorities as a leader, and coach others to do the same.

If you need help personally mastering focus or establishing it as a cultural value on your team, don't hesitate to reach out. I offer science-based coaching tailored to enhancing leadership effectiveness by improving focus. Let's connect to discuss how I can help you and your organization thrive!

Finding The Right Balance: Responsiveness vs. Focus as a Leader

In today's constantly connected world, it can be tempting as a leader to be overly responsive - checking email and messages constantly, never letting yourself fully focus on the task at hand. However, while responsiveness is important, there are also downsides to being too available and reactive. Leaders need to find the right balance between being responsive while also protecting their ability to focus.

The Dangers of Constant Connectivity

Technology today allows us to be more connected than ever before. Email, messaging apps, calendar notifications - they make it possible to respond in an instant. However, research shows this constant reactivity can be detrimental:

  • Interrupting focus: Every time you context switch to respond to a message, you lose focus. This reduces productivity, creative thinking, and decision making.

  • Increased stress: The pressure to respond immediately can be stressful, leading to burnout over time.

  • Less strategic thinking: Reacting in the moment prevents leaders from stepping back and thinking long-term.

  • Poor signal to others: Being instantly responsive reinforces others’ expectations for instant replies, which isn’t sustainable.

The Benefits of Focus

While responsiveness matters, research shows leaders also need time for deep focus:

  • Improved thinking: Focus allows complex cognitive processes to occur, leading to more strategic thought.

  • Greater efficiency: Longer periods of uninterrupted work increase productivity.

  • Reduced stress: The ability to focus calms the mind and reduces anxiety.

  • Increased innovation: New ideas flourish with space for reflection.

  • Better example for others: Modeling focus over reactivity sets the tone for your team.

Best Practices for Balance

So how can leaders find the right balance? Here are some best practices:

  • Set expectations: Be clear with your team on when you are generally available, and when you will be offline.

  • Designate focus time: Block off chunks of time for focused work. Turn off notifications. Let others know this is sacred time.

  • Schedule responsiveness: Set specific times you will check messages and communicate updates. Don't do it constantly.

  • Prioritize connections: Respond quickly to the most important relationships and tasks. Let others know if delayed.

  • Model behaviors: Demonstrate focus time yourself. Encourage it on your team. Lead by example.

  • Use auto-replies: When offline, set an away message letting people know when you will respond next.

The Key Takeaway

The key for leaders is finding a rhythm that works - being responsive in a timely way while also protecting focus time. This balance enables you to be truly present and strategic, without neglecting important communications. The benefits are less stress, greater efficiency, and modeling effective behaviors for your team.

As you work on finding this balance, don't hesitate to seek help. Consider working with an executive coach who can provide strategies tailored to your leadership needs. I offer coaching to leaders looking to maximize their effectiveness through increased focus and responsiveness. Reach out anytime to learn more about how I can help.