"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal." - Henry Ford

"The greatest mistake you can make in life is continually fearing that you'll make one." - Elbert Hubbard

"You get what you focus on." - Loral Langemeier

It's Fun to Know: The Demand for Surgical Masks

When you tune into media coverage of the swine flu pandemic, you can't miss all the surgical masks being worn by pedestrians and health officials in Mexico and other affected countries.

But if the pandemic hits the U.S. in big numbers... demand for those masks could get out of hand. Turns out that the official U.S. government stockpile is only 119 million masks - that's about one for every three Americans. And the Department of Health and Human Services estimates we would need 30 billion if the pandemic goes "full-fledged," because they need to be replaced regularly to be effective.

The good news? Many health experts doubt that the masks do much to help stop the spread of disease - mostly because people tend to use them incorrectly or sporadically. What does work? Canceling large social gatherings, frequent hand washing, and covering your mouth when coughing.

(Source: Time)

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Word to the Wise: Diadem

A "diadem" (DYE-uh-dem) - from the Greek for "a band" - is a crown.

Example (as used by Milan Kundera in the Guardian): "The sky above is blue; the many clouds - sun-drenched, gilded, lively - have moved down, settled like a great diadem on the broad ring of the encircling mountains."

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These articles appear courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #2686, 06-04-09], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.

"Stressing output is the key to improving productivity, while looking to increase activity can result in just the opposite."

- Paul Gauguin

Why Multitasking Destroys Your Productivity

By Alex Mandossian

Most entrepreneurs I know are proud of their "multitasking" ability. But maybe they shouldn't be.

The term was originally applied to computers - to describe the way a CPU solves problems by scheduling tasks and switching back and forth from task to task until each one gets done. Well, that may be an efficient way for a computer to work, but it's anything but efficient when it comes to your productivity.

Dave Crenshaw wrote my favorite book on the topic, and I recommend it to anyone who still thinks and feels that multitasking is cool. On page 29 in The Myth of Multitasking, he writes:

"Around the end of the twentieth century, some wordsmith saw the connection between our increasingly hectic world and the world of the computer. A catchword was born.

Newspapers began peppering their articles with the word. Talk show hosts began using it with frequency. Magazines began publishing articles about how to multitask more effectively.

Multitasking quickly became as popular and accepted as the automobile and the hamburger."

Dave Crenshaw has a more accurate word to describe flipping back and forth between two (or more) activities. He calls it "switchtasking."

Multitasking or switchtasking reduces your efficiency (your ability to do the right things) and your effectiveness (your ability to do things right) because it forces you to keep changing your mental focus. During the switchover time (less than a second, in most cases), your concentration diminishes and the number of mistakes you make dramatically increases.

In fact, many states (including California) have outlawed multitasking on the highway by making it illegal to speak on a handheld mobile phone while driving a car.

"A mere half second of time lost to task switching can mean the difference between life and death for a driver using a cellphone, because during the time that the car is not totally under control, it can travel far enough to crash into obstacles the driver might have otherwise avoided," reported Dr. David Meyer from the University of Michigan.

Okay, so let me ask you a candid question. How many of the following common multitasking activities do you engage in?

• Writing e-mails while speaking on the telephone
• Checking voice mail while speaking to your spouse
• Reading the newspaper while listening to the news
• Watching TV while having a family conversation
• Tweeting while instant messaging while...
  

I'm guessing you've done "all of the above" at some point in your adult life. But my point isn't to nag you about multitasking. It is to make you conscious of how destructive it can be.

It's not only mentally stressful to splinter your attention (and make mistakes along the way), multitasking sets you up for failure... and the guilt of not completing everything you set out to do.

Stacking vs. Multitasking

Now if you do two things at once but can keep the majority of your attention on only ONE of those things, that's a whole different animal. I call this stacking. Dave Crenshaw calls it background tasking. (You can call it whatever you wish.)

Stacking helps you get more done, faster and better. It is a productive use of your time because only ONE of the tasks you are doing requires mental effort.

Here are a few examples of what I'm talking about:

• Eating dinner while watching a video
• Jogging while listening to your iPod
• Driving while listening to the radio
• Writing an e-mail while printing out a document
• Munching on a snack while riding a bicycle
• Listening to the news while showering
• Reading a book while getting a haircut
  

Stacking doesn't necessarily guarantee that you'll become more effective (by doing the right things), but it can practically guarantee more efficiency (doing things right to get maximum results in minimum time).

Stacking & America's Middle Class

Henry Ford didn't invent the car, but he did figure out how to produce automobiles that were within the reach of the average American. And I believe he did this by preventing his workers from multitasking.

Prior to his introduction of the assembly line to the manufacturing process, cars were individually crafted by teams of skilled workmen. But instead of having one team work on one car, from start to finish, he created a stacking environment where the cars came to the workers - and each worker performed the same assembly task again and again.

The stacking power of the assembly line reduced the time it took to manufacture a car from 13 hours to less than six. That made it possible for Ford to offer the Model T for $825 when it made its debut in 1908. Four years later, the price dropped to $575. By 1914, Ford claimed a 48 percent share of the world's automobile market.

What to Do Now

You can stop the insanity of multitasking right now by listing two or three multitasking activities you commonly engage in at work or at home.

Then, the next time you catch yourself multitasking, stop. Take a moment to think about what you're doing, and quickly choose one of those tasks to focus on first. Complete that task before you switch to the other one.

I think you'll find that this automatically makes you more efficient, more effective - and feeling a lot better about yourself for getting multiple jobs done right.

[Ed. Note: Alex Mandossian knows a thing or two about success. He has generated over $233 million in sales for his clients. And in the past three years, he increased his own revenues from $1.5 million to $5 million.]

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A Summer-Ready Body in 10 Minutes a Day - No Gym Required!

By Yarixa Ferrao

Don't tell me you feel embarrassed to put on a bathing suit... and then tell me you don't have time for exercise. That's NOT a good excuse. You can do a high-intensity workout in less than 10 minutes. Better yet, you can do it at home or in your office, between meetings, while the laundry is drying, or after lunch. All it takes is a dynamic warm-up, 3 to 4 full-body exercises, and a couple of minutes of stretching afterward.

The Squat-to-Press is one quick and efficient exercise that will get your body ready to hit the beach in no time. It requires two dumbbells - 3, 5, or 10 pounds, depending on your fitness level. Focus on your core while you do it, keeping your abdominals tight.

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and a dumbbell in each hand. Bend your arms up toward your shoulders, palms facing toward each other. Lower your body into a squat position. Your knees should not bow out over your toes. Your chest should almost touch the top of your thighs, and your elbows should nearly touch your knees.

Now, pressing up through your heels, rise to a standing position. At the same time, reach your arms up straight above your head. Contract your glute muscles at the top of the movement. Then return to a squat position, lowering your arms to their original position. Repeat 10 times.

Alternate high-intensity, full-body exercises like the Squat-to-Press with sprints (1-10 sets of 50 to 100 yards) for the next 4 to 6 weeks, 3 to 6 times a week. If you're a beginner, start with 1-2 sets 3 days a week and gradually increase by adding either an extra set or an extra sprint each week for the next 4 to 6 weeks.

[Ed. Note: Yarixa Ferrao is the certified personal trainer and founder of "Get Fit in 6" who has been whipping some Early to Rise staffers into shape.]

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Word to the Wise: Querulous

Someone who's "querulous" (KWER-uh-lus) - from the Latin for "to complain" - is habitually apt to find fault.

Example (as used by Maureen Howard in The New York Times): "Mam is a tragic figure when transported to New York by her successful sons [Frank and Malachy McCourt] - querulous, unable to get a decent cup of tea."

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These articles appear courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #2687, 06-05-09], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.