Value of Attention

Sometimes you can move ahead more quickly by slowing down. Often you can get more accomplished by being less busy.

When you rush quickly through a task, without taking the time to get it right, what have you accomplished? When you hurry through life so frantically that you can't keep track of where you are, what value does that bring you?

When you try to do too many things at once, you're sending yourself a subtle, yet powerful, negative message. You're telling yourself that not one of those efforts, by itself, is worthy of your undivided attention.

Similarly, when you rush through a task, you're sending yourself a message that the task is not worthy of your time. If you have no respect for what you're doing, it won't produce much value, no matter how quickly or in what quantity you do it.

To achieve maximum value, work quickly enough to get it done and slowly enough to do it right. Before taking on a new task, be sure that you have enough quality time to give it your full attention.

Stop wasting so much energy rushing from one thing to the next and back again. And you'll have more than enough time to create real, lasting value.

-- Ralph Marston