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Smart Multi-Tasking
If you were planning to read this at the same time you were, say, going to watch CNN to find out what happened in the world today, do yourself a favor: Turn off the TV and tune in here. If you try to do both, you’ll remember little of either.
The term multitasking was coined in 1966 to describe the capability of a computer to execute more than one task at the same time--actually, for the computer’s central processing unit (CPU) to switch from one program to another so quickly that is seemed to be executing all the programs at the same time.
When used to refer to people, however, multitasking has two meanings: doing more than one thing at the same time and switching back and forth among several tasks, quickly and repeatedly.
In fact, humans have been multitasking much longer than any machine (just talk to any parent), but never before have they been expected to do so much at the same time, day in and day out with no respite, in an attempt to keep up with today’s avalanche of information and the work it generates. Keeping up has become so onerous that it is getting people down. Psychologists and efficiency experts have been studying multitasking for a number of years now and the results cannot be argued: Multitasking is not effective.
Two recent studies (conducted by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in conjunction with the University of Michigan and Carnegie-Mellon University) have come to remarkably similar conclusions:
- Doing several things at the same time reduces, not increases, productivity.
- Depending on the tasks, the outcome of multitasking can be dangerous (the classic example is driving and talking on a cell phone—even if it’s a “hands-free” device).
- Multitasking doesn’t save time, it costs time--as much as 20 to 40 percent in terms of efficiency and accuracy, plus time lost switching between tasks. And time costs rise higher with the complexity of the task.
- Brain scans clearly show that multitasking is not an efficient use of brainpower. Brain activity does not double when people try to do two things at once; that is, people doing two tasks at the same do neither as well as if they did each one alone.
First, learn to estimate task times accurately so that your schedule is a more realistic reflection of what you will and can do during the day. Most people underestimate how long it takes to manage information—especially those repetitive tasks they do several times a day, almost without thinking (part of the problem!) such as open mail, respond to messages, make copies, handle e-mails, send faxes, and the like. When was the last time you set aside time on your daily schedule to return calls? See, that time isn’t free.
Now find out how accurate you are in measuring the scope of your tasks. Note down the times you start and finish a few tasks. Compare the times you wrote down with the actual time it took to do each task. Measure out the difference. You will need to modify your schedule to fit the more realistic timeframe. This alone will help to reduce your frustration and will go a long way toward making you feel more productive and in better control.
Finally limit the percentage of the day that you allow yourself to multitask. When you limit the behavior you will feel less scattered by days end. People multitask in order to save time. But if you are beginning to suffer from CRS (Can’t Remember Stuff), it is not a function of age – it’s a function of overload. A study by the Institute for the Future reported that employees of Fortune 1000 companies send and receive 178 email messages a day and are interrupted by others an average of a minimum of three times an hour. Sound familiar? Remember that electronic interruptions are self-inflicted. The problem isn’t that an email was sent; the problem is that you allowed yourself to stop what you were doing to respond to the unknown, unprioritized, unexpected message that may or may not be more important than what you were already committed to doing. When you limit interruptions, you help to control when and how often you tackle information management tasks.
Try these suggestions and feel free to adapt and add to this list to fit your work style and work life. Since you can’t change too much at once, select one or two upon which to concentrate. Multitasking is a part of life these days, but you have to be smart about when it works for or against you.
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