As far as having to deal with multiple task, agreed. However, you don’t have to work on multiple tasks at once. I’m in sales, and I am I am fairly successful;) Being able to juggle multiple tasks has nothing to do with accomplishing tasks in a serial fashion, in my humble opinion. Each and everytime I try to type an email on one subject and talk on the phone on another, I do a poor job, and I don’t give either job the necessary attention that they deserve.

I set my priorities and I follow them. Why on earth would I want to divert attention to a low priority item, while I am working on a high priority item? I’d much rather do both right (the first time) and but rather take them on in a vertical line, rather than a horizontal one.

Just my thoughts (which are rarely right, and even less listened to;)

Multi-tasking, once something to marvel at by those who could somehow juggle all those balls in the air without letting the drop, is no commonplace. It’s expected of those who hope to succeed in today’s business and sales environment. We talk about that subject a lot at http://www.landingthedeal.com and its a constant source of debate, but I think its obvious that in today’s world you have to have the ability to multi-task.

Great thought provoking post…thanks! I’m going to comment on my blog and post back to you.

But besides creating a stronger impression (very important) and gaining situational trust (also important) if you focus instead of fidgeting you are more likely to comprehend what’s being said and what it means.

As hard as it is to imagine when someone tells you, “You just don’t understand!” you pRobably don’t.

I suspect virtually all human thought is serialized at some level; the question is, what level? Do you jump around in 3-second chunks, 3-minute chunks, or 30-minute chunks? There are pRobably significant individual differences in what works best, but social pressures today encourage the 3-second mode even for those who are better off with a longer time quantum…