Multitasking And The Impact It Has Upon Your Time Management

I just returned from a wonderful conference that was held out-of-town. During the presentations, I derived one key, critical point that was a common-thread amongst many of the speakers--work on a single task, once completed, then progress onto the next item.

Why Not Multitask?

One of the speakers was a youthful fellow named Dave Crenshaw. He has done extensive work with clients around the States to help them improve their productivity and regain much of their lost time through the discipline and conditioning of not allowing themselves to multitask. I have typically worked on multiple projects in a concurrent manner and have become frustrated with my discovery that tempus fugit (time flees) if you let it. It was not until he had us perform a simple test that the point hit home. Without divulging his copyright material, we did a simple task, then a second simple task and timed them together. He then had us perform the same two tasks in an alternating manner, again with timing. The results were not only revealing, they were almost tangible.

Certain aspects of service are expected

In my company, we have always made the effort to answer the phone before the third ring. We also have made best efforts to open and respond to e-mail when it arrives. Mr. Crenshaw indicated that the average multitask or "switch" results in about a 3-15 minute recovery time. The same applies to people dropping in to ask you a "Quick Question." All-in-all, he stressed that we lose about 28% of our productivity to "switching." The generalization would have you understand that by multitasking, we lose about one week per month.

Simple chores can be assessed

If you (or your children) spend time on the computer working and IM (Instant Messaging) on a regular basis, then you are losing significant time in your day to productivity-loss. The same can be said for those that are constantly monitoring their e-mail or messaging on FaceBook, Twitter, MySpace or LinkedIn. We are not trying to discourage you from using these forms of media (Web 2.0), we are merely trying to raise your awareness.
To clearly demonstrate to you how you are affected by these activities try the following challenge:

1. Maintain a small notebook in which you track your activities in detail.


2. Try to categorize the activities at the end of the day.


3. Assess the time spent on your distinct categories. Note any gaps in time.


4. Total the time that you spent on each activity--observe if you worked through or had interruptions.


5. Consider the time spent. Should the activity take the amount of time you spent on it OR would it take less time if it were done with a singular focus?

If you track your progress using this method, you might notice that you are losing valuable time in frivolous ways. Now, consider breaking out the activities on the next day into time pockets. Rather than have your assistant "pop-in" frequently to get simple answers...what would happen if you gave that person your undivided attention two to three times a day for ten minutes at a time? Would that person recognize that it is not necessary to interrupt your thought process on a regular basis and begin to retain questions for a "session"?

Envision the time that you will save...

Tasks as mundane as labelling folders and throwing out trash can transform your day. All you need to do is focus on your task at hand and finish it. Don't multitask, it will only eat away at your productivity. Do you ever speak with clients, make suggestions or commitments and forget about them? That is a major killer of relationships. What would happen if you simply jotted down the task in either a small notebook or Outlook? Could you effectively recall the details if they are written down or even dictated into your phone?

Everyday, people succeed and fail. You must determine which one you want to become. By following such "rules," you may begin to condition yourself to act in a certain manner. Eventually, these conditionings will become habits and your benefits will grow at an incredible rate. It's only as simple as envisioning the result and determining what must be done for it to occur.

If you have found this helpful, feel free to let us know at support@tech4now.com. We'd love to hear your feedback. If you wish to improve your business' productivity levels, kindly contact us at (201) 797-5050 or visit our website at http://www.tech4now.com/. We can provide you with the tools you need to offload your technology worries and give you the opportunity to focus on what you do best to make more money. As the expression goes, "You can't manage time, you can only manage yourself."