Happy New Days, Happy New Ways
Did you know that the more often you multi-task, the less you get done? It’s a phenomenon that has been studied repeatedly over the last decade…as we all try to get more done with our electronic devices. Not to mention new technologies that allow us to produce faster, send messages farther, and avoid paper handling, filing, and recycling at all costs. Oh, and let’s not forget how easy it is to connect, be connected, and stay connected. Just try to stay off of Facebook for a day or two….I double dog dare you…it is nearly impossible!
We are not multi-tasking when we are answering emails, while sending out quotes. We are not multi-tasking when we are researching corporate clients, while sorting photos to include in a promotional email. We are not multi-tasking when we are talking on the phone while reading your email, or perusing Instagram, or painting your face (although KUDOs to you…that’s amazing). You are actually “context shifting” and it means that you are switching focus from one subject to another.
This switching focus doesn’t actually help us save time, it hurts us, because of the loss. Loss? Yes, Loss, and not good loss, like weight loss or loss of clutter in your basement. This is loss of productivity. Every time you change your focus you lose a little attention to whatever you were doing, and then you are not quite so focused on the thing you are switching to. These lost seconds add up to hours of unproductive time. Not to mention the STRESS? Have you ever tried to juggle three balls? Then four, then five? You might as well try to run backwards while counting by 7’s backwards, while reading a book, backwards….yes, it’s stressful.
This chart shows that the more projects you are working on, (the more windows you have open on your desktop, the more “multi-tasking” you are doing), the slower you are ACTUALLY working, because of the loss of time as you switch contexts. And unfortunately as you get older, this loss of productivity gets worse, since the time you need to “get back into” the task is longer. I can say that because I am WAAAAAY older than I seem, so I KNOW!
But what can you do? Here are some hints…
Forget multi-tasking, but instead focus on one thing, just one thing, make some progress, then stop. Start work on something else. Make progress on this next project, and then stop. I suggest setting a timer, to make sure you put in the work that you want to put in (see Pomodoro Method). When the timer goes off, then you can change to a different subject, a different project, a different task.
Here’s a few other tips to help you focus in 2020:
- Theme your days: Monday for marketing, Tuesday for laundry and groceries, Wednesday for skill building or taking classes on line, Thursday for social connections and so on. Then structure your calendar appropriately.
- If you work a day job, be careful how much time you spend on your entertainment business at the day job. You could just end up doing mediocre work on both jobs. Better to plan an hour or two in the evening, when you can focus and not get fired.
- Avoid push notifications, except for the Accelerate Your Success facebook group (…just kidding)! These are complete productivity killers, since those little messages flying in from the side of your screen, focus you to shift attention away from the task at hand.
- Don’t spend a lot of time reading emails or drafting responses to send later. Just like when we all had paper letters and memos: Handle it once and forget it.
- If you have a passion or an important thing to do on your TO DO List, to is best to get started right away…which means do the important stuff FIRST. Then your mental momentum will keep you going.
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