I was having a conversation with Andrew yesterday when he shared something simple yet profound:
“You can multitask, but you can’t multifocus”
He used an example of listening to a podcast while doing the dishes. Yes, you’re doing two things at the same time, but one requires active engagement while the other is more of a mindless task. And notice how if you need to concentrate on, say, scrubbing a pan with baked on food you will need to rewind the podcast to process what was said during that period.
See, a simple yet profound concept. I’ve probably heard the notion before (in one form or another) but reminders of simple yet profound concepts are always welcome.
Something else stood out to me when I reflected on the quote. I am a disciple of the “Remove ‘Can’t’ from your Vocabulary” ministry. As an eternal optimist, I think all things are possible — there’s always a figure something out or get very close.
However, in this concept the
can't is true. It’s physically impossible.And that’s where the magic of creation comes from: constraints. In order to innovate and create and build we have to reduce scope and do one thing then another.
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Today, I am focused on increasing the surface area of founder success through my venture studio, Bootstrapital. Prior to this latest foray into entrepreneurship, I was a data guy at startups; before that, a supply chain/analyst/bizops guy at big companies.