It’s rare that I endorse or promote books for anyone. But every now and then, a new book is brought to my attention.  If it looks interesting, I read it.  If it turns out to be a very good read, I’ll talk about it. And if it inspires me in some way, I just might interview the author. This particular book isn’t new at all; it’s been out for four years and, until recently, had escaped my attention.

This time around, it’s not the author I reached out to, but a man who knows the author and tours the country teaching people some of the very principles the book lays out. He breaks it down so that it can apply to nearly everyone, every day. Don Hobbs is the co-founder of MAPS Business Training, a division of Keller Williams Realty, and Don and I talked about his upcoming seminar in Wichita Falls on April 6.

The book is ‘The One Thing’ by Gary Keller, the co-founder of Keller Williams Realty and Jay Papasan, an author, businessman and business partner of Gary Keller. The book spells out how to cut through the clutter of texts, social media waste, calls and so forth, that often forces us to cast aside productivity and satisfaction in favor of just getting by in our jobs, our careers and our businesses.

Let’s take just one topic: multitasking. I’ve always felt it was something I had to master. I work in an industry that is doing more and more with fewer people than ever before. It's how many business models work in the 21st century.  And, according to Keller and Papasan, it’s also a big fat lie. According to author, photographer and speaker Steve Uzzell (whom Keller and Papasan quote in ‘The One Thing’), “Multitasking is merely the opportunity to screw up more than one thing at a time”.

I’m an educated man. I consider myself to be pretty smart, most of the time. But after reading that one quote, I felt like a complete idiot. Suddenly, an ephiphany!  Is this why I always feel so stressed? Is this why I spend hours plowing through a to-do list, only to end up feeling like I didn’t quite reach a real stopping point? The answer is yes, that is ‘the one thing’ that is likely stopping me from being as productive as I could be. But we’ve been conditioned for much of our lives to believe we had to be multitaskers in order to be productive. In reality, the exact opposite is true.

I could spend the next couple of hours telling you just how many lessons we could pull from this book, but I have a better idea for you: go to Don Hobbs ‘The One Thing’ Seminar. Don will be in Wichita Falls on Thursday, April 6, from 8:30 am to 12 noon, at The Wellington Conference Center. Wichita Falls Keller Williams Realty professional Tim Lockhart is bringing Don to Wichita Falls.

If you’d like to attend, click here and when you register enter the code ‘timvip’ to get into the seminar free of charge. Listen to my interview with Don Hobbs in the player above.

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