MULTI-TASKING, THE ART OF STAYING BUSY
In today's world, especially with the bad economic times, most of us are focusing our conscious awareness on many things at the same time. You may watch TV, surf the net, and talk on your cell phone at the same time. None of this activity is coordinated.
As you awaken, you brush your teeth and think: What will you do at work today? What you eat for breakfast? How you think your day will go? Your thoughts flow to your meeting with your friends after work for drinks, going to the fitness center, or watching at home your favorite television show. You try to squeeze some time to go grocery shopping, pick up the young ones from karate classes, make dinner, and work on some office work for tomorrow.
Before leaving for work, you scan the latest world events, listen to the radio, read your e-mail, and have breakfast. Once you get to work, you answer cell phones, memos from your bosses, and begin your work day. Your desk is a mess, your computer is full of icons, and your e-mail list is overflowing. You have to contact a lot of people today, and 100 decisions must be made.
You feel you are doing three jobs at one time, but by not giving your full attention to your projects, your work becomes very mediocre. When your day ends, you shift your attention to the needs at home.
Your brain temporarily leaves your main task, so it can explore alternative tasks, and just as suddenly, you return to where you left off. When you do several of these tasks at one time, it is known as multitasking.
This juggling act takes 30% longer to complete a task than if you worked on two different problems separately. By filtering and switching your attention rapidly from one thought to the next, your brain allows you to perform more than one task at a time,
THE DOWNSIDE OF MULTI-TASKING
Your performance drops off when you multitask. Switching tasks results in lost time and performance. The harder the task, the more time you lose. If the tasks are easy and familiar to you, you will complete them quickly. It takes several tenths of a second, for your brain to split your conscious awareness. Your brain is in touch at many levels of attention.
TIPS FOR MULTI-TASKING
Determine what's really important for you to become successful. Know what you expect, set goals, and make plans that will lead you to the success you wish to achieve.
Determine which tasks you can avoid, drop, or delegate to others. Get enough rest and sleep, so you can perform well tomorrow. Give deserved quality time to important work. Don't let distractions interfere with you working effectively. Put a “do not disturb “sign on your door when you need to focus on an important task.
When you multi-task, your health begins to suffer, and you become more stressful. As thoughts from one task creep into your mind about another task, you perceive yourself out of control, This brain filtering mechanism keeps you focused on important tasks. You feel your memory is not quite as good as it used to be. You might not be able to remember what you wanted to do or say. Thoughts keep buzzing in your head.
You work harder and harder, just to feel you're keeping up with all your work. Look around and you'll see many of your friends are multi-tasking. The boss may think they are working hard, but in reality they are checking their cell phones, text messages, and thinking what they will do at the sports club after work.
Don't under estimate the time it requires to download all of this frivolous information. Sooner or later your expectations will be overloaded, and you will begin to juggle these overwhelming activities.
Stop this madness! Make a list of all the things you need to complete today, and write how long you think each task will take. Time yourself. Learn to say no to tasks that you don't have time for.
Take a load off your brain, and use your external memory, -- perhaps simply a pad of paper. Write your “to do list” before you go to sleep, and your brain filter will get a chance to rest as you sleep.
Stick to a task until you've finished it. Remove distractions, turn off programs on your computer, stop checking your e-mail, and turn off your cell phone. Take a break and watch a baseball game, play with your kids, or watch a home DVD with your spouse. As you go back to work, you will be able to work more effectively.
When you have two tasks to complete, your brain has less brainpower to concentrate on these tasks. You tend to overestimate your ability to do multitasking. If you can avoid it, don't multitask!
COMMENTARY
Try mono-tasking. Most people are productive without multitasking. Teach yourself to tackle one task at a time, and don't move to the next one until the first one is completed. This requires a lot of self-discipline. By tackling important projects effectively, you will not be easily distracted by e-mail text messaging, and other potential distractions.
Your brain takes a long time to switch from one task to another. If you're working seriously on something, switching may make it hard to get your thoughts going again. You might like to stay up late at night to work because there are no distractions, and you think you can make real progress.
If you want to do great work, focus on one thing at a time. Finish it, and move onto the next thing. Some things aren't going to be done as fast as you or your boss would like, and some people are not going to get your full attention for a while. That high pile on your desk does not have to disappear, and you don't have to make poorly considered decisions.
Manage your time effectively, and you will be more productive, gain control of what you're doing, and improve the quality of your life.
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