Don’t Multi-task!

Multi-tasking - why not? “I can do two things at once.”

Actually, you can’t, not really.  Now, don’t confuse doing two tasks alongside each other with multi-tasking e.g. rather than standing and waiting for the kettle to boil, use the time it boils to write a shopping list.  This isn’t multi-tasking, it’s working efficiently. The kettle doesn’t need you to watch it, so go do something else whilst that happens.

Here’s why true multi-tasking doesn’t work, 

1.    Some things (in fact most things) need 100% focus - 50% focus doesn’t give you half, it gives you nothing.

2.    You’re not really doing two things at once, you are constantly swapping between the two, with time lost each time you switch.

Want some proof? Try the following (something I picked up from Jonas Schimmel).

Time how long it takes you to do the following two tasks.

Write out the alphabet - A - Z, and then straight afterwards write the numbers 1 - 26.

Now, time yourself again, but this time instead of writing A-Z and then 1-26, write A1, followed by B2, followed by C3 and so on until you get to Z26.

How did you do?  Did you manage to do it quicker? Thought not. How about in roughly the same time? Mmmm, more than likely it took you longer to do the second task as you had to switch between the alphabet and numbers! As you progressed through the alphabet and the numbers you probably had to check back on how far you’d got through to know what the next letter/number was i.e. refresh yourself as to your previous progress. Each time you switch you lose time, it may not be much but it adds up.

The key to working successfully isn’t multi-tasking, it’s focusing and working efficiently – so if you are doing something that doesn’t require your full attention – like the kettle not needing you to watch it in order to boil – by all means fill the time with something appropriate that you can complete in the time available (three minutes waiting for the kettle to boil, three minutes to write the shopping list).  Then you can get back to the rest of the task, making the tea, before moving on to something else.

But don’t kid yourself you can listen to what’s going on in a webinar and sensibly review and respond to emails.  Neither will be completed well, only some of the webinar information will be remembered, and there will probably be typos and sentences that don’t make sense in the emails!

So multi-tasking isn’t the good idea sounds like it should be.

Remember, the most effective way to work is to focus on one thing – do it really well. After that’s done then move on to the next.  If distractions occur (and inevitably they will), concentrate on the distraction, sort it, and then get back to focusing on your original task.  

This doesn’t necessarily mean spending hours on end doing one thing only.  There are various techniques for focusing e.g. the Pomodoro Technique where the day gets split into sessions typically 25 minutes long (although any length is ok ideally not longer than an hour).  During the 25-minute sessions you concentrate on one task, no distractions, no interruptions.  After that time, regardless of whether the task is completed, take a short break.  Deliberately leave the task you’ve been working on and do something different.  Then start a new 25-minute session – either continuing with the same task or beginning a new one.  These short bursts of concentration, without distraction, really help some people to focus and get through tasks a lot quicker.

We don’t live in a perfect world, interruptions and urgent tasks will crop up.
If you have to break off your original task for any length of time, make sure you set time aside to finish it later, make a note to yourself where you got to, and any quick notes about how you were going to approach the remainder of the task.

Keep a jobs-to-do list so you’re not worried about forgetting anything, starting a job just so you don’t forget to do it, and having several jobs on the go at once is not a good tactic!

A clear workspace reduces the distractions whilst you are working on a task.

Next time someone tells you they are a good multi-tasker ask them how they do it. Are they really just working efficiently (boiling kettle/shopping list type activity) or are they claiming that they can genuinely focus on more than one task at a time completing all of them quicker and to the same standard as if they did them separately? If it’s the latter, and they truly are, then get them to write a book on how they do it – they’ll make millions!!