on June 7, 2018
MULTI-TASKING IS FOR SUCKERS
Awhile back, I spent an afternoon milling around a Women’s Business Expo. It was a good event … part networking , part conference, part trade show, part enter-your-business-card-to-win-a-free-Prada-bag.
All in all, my kind of event.
One of the sessions I attended was a speech by a communications expert. The topic was on information overload in the digital age. It qualified as an appropriate topic in the World of Me, especially given the number of emails I get in a day, how often my phone buzzes with appointment reminders, and the hours I spend hammering on my keyboard.
The underlying theme of the session was the importance of time management, and I was surprised to learn what, in fact, was the biggest culprit that sucked my time into the pit of unproductiveness.
Multitasking.
What?! That doesn’t make any sense! That’s absolutely ridiculous. It’s being able to do more than one thing at a time that makes me not only exceptionally good at my job … but it makes me a flippin’ WOMAN, for cryin’ out loud.
I can pair non-vital tasks with vital tasks any day and twice on Sunday. Stuff envelopes and talk on the phone? Cake. Send emails while waiting on hold? Second nature. Walk and chew gum? It’s the only way I’ll chew gum.
As the presenter was talking, I busted out my phone and Tweeted this very question about multitasking into the Twitterverse.
Bringing my brain back around to the presentation, I started jotting notes from her slides about the nuances of time-management. Then my phone vibrated with an email reply from a prospective client. Next day’s appointment was confirmed.
“Great! See you then!” I thumb-punched into my email app.
When I looked up, the presenter was asking us to take a little test to prove her theory. We had to write “Multitasking is the least efficient way to get things done.” But, with every letter of the sentence, we had to write a corresponding number below it. So, I dutifully pulled out a sheet of paper and wrote “M” then “1” below it; then “U” then “2” below it….
“Hmmm,” I caught myself thinking. “I wonder if I should send the informational sheet to her before our meeting tomorrow.”
Just a quick text should do the trick. “Will send info sheet before end of day!”
“L” … “3” … “T”…”4”
Just then the phone lit up like a light bulb on my lap.
“Lookit that! Someone re-tweeted my tweet about multi-tasking from earlier!”
“I”….”5”….”T”….”6” ….
This was easy, I thought. I had NO PROBLEM bouncing my brain back and forth from letters to numbers; emails to text messages. In fact, I found my groove and started to get a little faster … and admittedly a little more cocky … about it.
“A” “7”…”S”8”…“K” “9”…
(Text message: “Thanks for email! In seminar … will ring u later!”)
“I” “10”..“N” “11” .. “G” “12”…
(Note written in notebook: “Note: Call sister about dogsitting.”)
“I” “13”… “S” “14” … “T” “15” …
About 2 minutes into the exercise, the presenter piped up. “OK, stop!”
No sweat. I totally had this exercise NAILED! Who says you can’t multitask effectively?!? My brain slides back and forth like a well-oiled machine!
“OK,” she said. “Now write the phrase ‘Multitasking is the least effective way to get things done.’ Then, when you’re done writing that sentence, write out ‘1, 2, 3, 4, 5, et cetra.’”
Of course it took a fraction of the time — less than 10 seconds — when I wrote the sentence, then the numbers…basically doing only one thing at a time, instead of two.
Effectively proving that multitasking can, in fact, be the biggest culprit that sucks my time into the pit of unproductiveness.
I’m still guilty of multitasking, but thanks to the 5-minute lesson I learned between text messages and emails that afternoon, I’ve learned to slow down once in awhile and that I can, in fact, be way more productive doing just one thing at a time.
It’s OK to sit quietly and meditate for a few minutes while the computer boots up, instead of frantically making notes on my to-do list. It’s OK to respond to emails at certain times of the day, instead of punctuating everything on my to-do list with a reply to someone. It’s OK to schedule an entire meeting-free day to focus entirely on office work, instead of zipping around town and trying to squeeze in paperwork between get-togethers and coffee dates.
It may seem wildly counter-intuitive to do one thing at a time in order to be more productive. But, as it turns out, sometimes you just need to sit down to chew your gum.