“ Position requires the ability to work under pressure, ability to think logically, ability to multi-task and juggle many issues at one time, attention to detail, good organizational and administrative skills, and be a team player. “ ~ segment from job description on craigslist.org
It was the moment in which I heard my husband’s exclamation, “What are you doing?”, as he walked by the open bathroom door that I realized I am a ways off in recovering from my multi-tasking nature. I will spare you the visual details.
My good husband, kind enough not to leave me after said scene, pointed out there is a difference between multi-tasking and performing multiple tasks. People often confuse the two. As humans we are capable of some multi-tasking, such as keeping our heart beating and blinking our eyes while eating a cheeseburger and chatting with a friend. We do not however, have a dual processor enabling us to answer the phone, reply to an IM and talk to the person standing behind our desk chair at the same time. I have attempted to do this several times and while I became amazingly efficient at it, something has give. This is typically the person standing behind my chair. To prevent the loss of information, one or more processes must be paused. Performing multiple tasks in a prioritized order is the most efficient way to get tasks done.
Organized multiple tasks are much more effective than literal multi-tasking. Constantly attempting to do many tasks at one time, results in back tracking and lost time. It is like using a credit card. It appears you receive something earlier, but you are going to have to pay an extra seventy dollars a month for it. The seventy dollars keeps you from purchasing something else in cash and the cycle continues.
Over the last several weeks, I have experimented to determine viable methods to change a multi-tasking nature to a well organized multiple task nature, I call this singletasking.
Let us start with the computer. There are a wide variety of distractions and interruptions available on a computer.
Turn off the e-mail program. – Some people are more distracted by incoming e-mail messages than others. I have met several people who bring whatever they are working on to a full stop, simply because a new message arrived in their inbox. This is not efficient. Close out the e-mail client and open it once an hour, four times a day, whatever you determine to be a reasonable number of times to check it, without continually interrupting the goals you wish to accomplish.
Turn off Instant Messaging (IM). – In many work environments IM is a necessity. That is fine; however, if you are working on a pressing deadline, you don’t need five people IMing you for this, that and the other thing. The world will not come to an end, if you take a few minutes to focus on your own tasks.
Close all unnecessary programs. – I’m very fortunate to have a ton of memory on my computer. It allows me to keep project, upon project, upon project open at the same time. The downside is, when I go looking for an item needed for my current project, I come across all the to-dos I have not finished on the other projects. My thoughts are pulled from the task at hand and switch to a dozen other items. If the unfinished task on another project is short, I find myself doing “just this one, small, quick thing”. An hour later, I come across my original task and need to get back on track. I found only keeping open what you need for the project at hand significantly increases the speed and efficiency at which a task is completed. It also improves the quality.
A lot of distractions come from other avenues.
Take the phone off the hook or don’t answer it. – This is another strategy typically only needed when you have a very tight deadline and cannot spare one more interruption.
Put a sign on your desk. – An old co-worker of mine brilliantly puts a cardboard sign up that says, “Keep it work related.” Other options are “I can’t right now, please try again in 30 minutes.”, “Take a number and I’ll be with you as soon as possible.”, “It ain’t going to happen today.”
Give them the finger. – No, not that one. The “wait a minute” one. The finger is a great way to pause an oncoming task, allowing it to be juggled into the multiple tasks more effectively.
Just stop. – If you find yourself juggling, stop, make a to-do list, prioritize it and then get to singletasking. On the road to recovery, you will need to do this often.
Talk to yourself. – No, it does not mean you are crazy. Hearing what needs to happen next, “what’s next?” or outlining what you’ve already done, puts you and keeps you on task. I found verbalizing helps create mindfulness, direction and focus. While at the grocery store, I found a stocker using this technique. He unfortunately spoke with his hands. I thought he was telling me to stand back or get away. I said, “Do you want me to stay away from the detergent?”, to which he tilted his head, thought for a moment and said, “No. No. I was talking to myself and figuring out what I needed to inventory and stock next.” We joked and had a few laughs. Two other people in the isle who heard his comment, decided they really did not have to do laundry this week and moved on to the snack isle.
Use a timer. – Give yourself a reasonable amount of time to complete a task, set the timer, and focus. When the time is up, it is up. This method does not work for everything, but it is very handy around the house. Allotting a certain amount of time to focus on cleaning a room, yard work or other task somehow makes the work less painful. Be sure to give yourself breaks and fudge brownie rewards for reaching your goal.
Learn to say “no”, without using the word “no”. – If the boss is piling too many tasks on your plate, explain that you will be happy to get the new task completed by 4PM; however that will mean you will not be able to complete tasks X, Y and Z by 4PM. Let him/her make a choice and roll with it. You are only one person. Without tactfully pointing out all the items you are expected to get done in a given time frame, your boss is likely to be clueless.
It is important to remember, in order to multi-task or singletask successfully, reasonable goals in reasonable time frames must exist. If time frames are unrealistic, the best solution is making a list, prioritizing and then singletasking. This will give you the best chance of reaching unreasonable expectations.
The methods I’ve mentioned above are tried and true. If they work for a chronic multi-tasker like myself, they should work for most people. Remember to have patience with yourself. It takes time and conscious effort to change ingrained patterns. I found these steps alone, significantly decreased stress levels and increased my ability to cook uncharred flavored foods.
There are some cons to singletasking. Twitter moments are never the same if you wait an hour to tweet them and the interaction of carrying one cat at a time instead of two is much less exciting.
I hope you’ll post your own successful singletasking strategies. Until next time, may your days all be 5×5.
I’m a full time geek who enjoys thinking with both sides of her brain. I’m a web developer, science connoisseur, t-shirt designer and proud owner of Rex Luther Corporation/ CrazyLikeThat.com. Live life to its fullest. Do what you love. Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/stress-management-articles/the-art-of-singletasking-part-ii-861433.html
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