How many times do we attempt to multitask to increase productivity? Um, me, right here I do it weekly if not daily. I think if I just start this and that at the same time, I’ll be killing two birds with one stone. Well my friends, the odds of that working out to your betterment are really very small. Multi-tasking is truly task switching. See, your brain can’t actually do two things at one time. It is powerful but can only focus that power in one direction. Bouncing from one task to another might feel like multi-tasking but it is truly task switching and task switching can have costly ramifications. According to Psychology Today, even though the task switches can take a fraction of a second, doing that repeatedly in a day could cause you to lose up to 40% of your productivity!
We’ve all seen this in others’, right?
My eldest son is easily distracted. He is multi-tasking all the time which causes him to slowly walk in one direction when we want him to be going the other way. Why is that? While he is thinking about where he’d find his favorite hat in the midst of going to brush his teeth, he forgot to feed the dog. We continuously redirect him to what he is meant to be accomplishing. For him it impacts his speed, his memory, and his ability to stay on task.
I feel like I am constantly saying, Stop, what are you doing? What should you be doing? Go and focus. I say it while he’s getting ready for school in the morning, while he’s reading at night, and while he’s outside playing or working on things in the yard. It get’s frustrating for me and I’m sure for him too. Why can’t he just understand he needs to do one thing at a time?
Oh, because I can’t either.
Then there is me, opening 1,000,000 tabs on my browser, 3 spreadsheets, and thinking about how I can pack for the weekend and do laundry at the same time. This has gotten worse since I’ve started working from home. I have big plans for how much I can accomplish in a day and I start my morning by opening all of the tabs and programs that will help me get there. Then, as the day goes on, I open a few more for things that happen to catch my attention.
I mean, I might have some amazing insight if I have staffing emails, organizational charts, and a list of open requisitions all open at one time, right? Wrong. I end the day with a meeting maker still open and unsent that I intended to set up 8 hours before because I simply got distracted by all of the multi-tasking I was doing.
I tell myself this is different. This is because I am an adult and I have lots of priorities that need to be tended to. He is getting distracted by silly things while I am just trying to get work done. The thing is though, the intention doesn’t really matter. Who cares if I think I have good reason to multi-task if it is causing me to lose 40% of my productivity? That number is just staggering. I don’t have time or energy to lose 40% productivity to good intentions through multi-tasking.
Is there anything I can do about multi-tasking?
Recognize it and give yourself some grace
Truly, first just notice how much you’re task switching (or multi-tasking if you’re still in denial). We are not trying to change overnight just need to recognize that it is happening. The remember we can make positive progress from here. Do not beat yourself up, we’ll be moving to the land of productivity in no time.
Set timers
If you’re struggling to truly set the time aside and get into a single task, make a time commitment and set a timer. A word of wisdom here, it doesn’t have to be as long as you’d think. Spend 15 minutes cleaning your kitchen. Take 30 minutes on that presentation. Block 20 minutes to knock out emails. This will set you up for success and leave plenty of time for you to take a peek at your other tasks. You’ll notice that when you aren’t multi-tasking, but focusing on a single thing, you get more accomplished and feel more accomplished when you’re done. This is because you intentionally accomplished a goal.
Adhere to your own boundaries
I can all but hear you thinking, I have too much to do and too many people pulling at my time to just focus on a single thing at once. That is only true if that is how you treat your time. No one can compromise your boundaries unless you let them. I have written on boundaries before (check out this one on setting them and this one on protecting them if you’re curious) and hear me when I say that you have to adhere to them for anyone else to respect them.
If you are committed to not multi-tasking during that meeting, don’t respond to the instant message. If you’re planning to single-task work in the queue, don’t pick up the phone. Now, if you’re working with people physically with you can they interrupt you, certainly. Then you say, I am focused on X right now and I can discuss Y in 10 minutes. Where can I find you then? I’m not saying to do this every time someone speaks to you. However, setting aside intentional time to accomplish important work is respectable, so respect it.
Work in progress
I am a work in progress on 90% of life. This is one that I am not going to pretend for a second I have it figured out. As it sits in this exact moment, I have 5 browsers open and my email. This is a huge improvement for me. There are only 5 tabs open, and I don’t have any Word, Excel, OneNote, or folders open. So of the three suggestions above I’m going to focus on the first one the most and just make a little progress every day.