Multitasking is BS and it’s not good for you!

I know you must be thinking: “What is he talking about ? I multitask everyday!” And you are right according to the dictionary:....

Dear athletes, 

I know you must be thinking: “What is he talking about ? I multitask everyday!”

And you are right according to the dictionary:

mul·ti·task
/ˈməltēˌtask,ˈməlˌtīˌtask/

verb
gerund or present participle: multitasking
1 1. 
(of a person) deal with more than one task at the same time."parenting skills such as multitasking and concentrating amid distractions are easily transferable to the workplace"

But in real life what you think is multitasking it’s actually something else that it’s not good for you! 

The multitasking you think you do in reality is a back and forth between tasks and that can cause:

1 - To forget one of the tasks
2 - Make mistakes (you’re not focusing on the task)
3 - Perform the tasks at a lower quality

I used to do/think I was multitasking and often would fall in one of the 3 problems I described above so I decided to change to something I know always work:

Structured and sequenced routine (I will call SSR)

If you plan a routine based on creating a structured sequence to follow, you are more likely to succeed and to perform all tasks you planned at higher quality.

The SSR means that  you will only focus at ONE thing at the time but following a sequence that will maximize time saving and quality!

The SSR can be applied everywhere to the most simple to the most complicated task and I’m sure it will make your life easier. 

For example, I have my SSR every morning because I have limited time to get all things done before I go workout at 5:45am:

1 - 4:45am - Wake up
2 - Walk down the stairs and prepare coffee
3 - Let the dog out
4 - Go to the bathroom
5 - Dog is back so I feed her
6 - Get a cup of coffee 
7 - Sit at kitchen table, take my pills (I leave it on table not to forget) and check my email for anything urgent
8 - Finish coffee
9 - Go upstairs to take a hot shower (something I do now as it loosen up my body and muscles)
10 - Change 
11 - Prepare my workout bag
12 - Foam rolling and stretch
13 - Walk down to kitchen and prepare my water bottle 
14 - leave at 5:45am

This was just a  simple example of how I use SSR but it can be easily applied to your everyday life and specially when you are racing from preparing your bags to your Ironman race to the race itself: 

Before race: 
1 - Get to transition area
2 - Put water bottles on bike
3 - Check tires and gears
4 - Get my wetsuit and walk to swim start
5 - Put on suit and leave your dry clothes bag on designated spot 

Race:
1 - Warm up after put wetsuit on so you can break sweat
2 - Check course and note swells or currents (so you can adjust during race)
3 - Position yourself well to start
4 - Gun goes off, hold excitement and get in your rhythm.
5 - Kick a bit more last 5’ to send blood to legs to help run to T1
6 - Get off the water and keep short steps
7 - Unzip wetsuit and push down to hips
And on and on ....

Start creating your own SSR, it will help you manage your life, reduce stress and get all done!

Happy Training to all!
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