Corporate Training Magazine

Not So Fast: The Dangers of Multi-tasking
Vol 2 Issue 2- Mar 2006

By Mira Kosevich

Need to write it down to remember your name? Ever find yourself in the middle of something -- a project, a phone call, a quick errand -- and forgot what you were doing? Ever stop mid-stream of a sentence, or in the middle of the hallway to reorient yourself?

If any of these dilemmas sound familiar, you may be a victim of multi-tasking. It happens to the best, the busiest and the brightest. If you're working in today's fast-paced, cluttered environment in any capacity, you are likely among those who have sung the praises of multi-tasking the now ubiquitous buzzword that needs debunking.

As much as we try to convince ourselves otherwise, multi-tasking is a myth. It's physically and mentally impossible for individuals to focus on multiple tasks or thoughts at the same time.

What most people believe to be multi-tasking doing several things at once -- is more accurately described as moving quickly back and forth from one task to the next. The main drawback of this is the inevitable break in your train of thought. Answering the phone or entertaining a spontaneous client breaks concentration and frustrates purpose. Further, when returning to the task at hand, it takes double the effort to start up again, and rarely with the same results had you been able to maintain the momentum you generated before you broke concentration. Finishing your train of thought and, as a result, finishing one project at a time, can increase your productivity by up to 30 percent.

If someone pokes their head into your office when you are focusing on something, raise a polite hand and say, "Just a minute. Let me finish my train of thought." If necessary use a sticky note and write down in point form what you were planning to do next and attach it to the file you've being detained from.

Explaining your actions to people, which may seem rude in today's culture of urgent interruption, communicates respect for them, yourself and your work. It's one more way of establishing your priorities an essential part of getting organized.

Scheduling focus time for projects in your daytimer will also help you keep concentration and avoid the temptation of multi-tasking. Focus time should be slotted at the start of each week. You will also need buffer time for those administrative tasks such as photocopying, correspondence or reporting that creep up as a result of your bigger projects. Free time is also a big part of any day and can help reshuffle priorities in your mind's eye. This is when you take time for yourself, even five minutes, to go for a walk or put your feet up.

Scheduling focus time, and recording the actual time spent on a project, also allows for greater accountability structures and increased accuracy when billing clients or reporting to a project manager.

To aid concentration on one project at a time, sort through all the files on your desk and keep only the 'in-progress' files on your desktop. Place one file at a time flat on the desktop and store all the others in a vertical file holder on the side of your desk. If using manila folders, label with a black marker for ease of readability, and do not allow files to bulge beyond manageability. Schedule time to purge these files at least once a month.

Concentrating on one task at a time, preferably during the time you have scheduled for it, will free your mind to think more clearly. It will keep you from forgetting things; allow for greater accountability and productivity; and create a clear boundary between you and the ever-increasing stress loads of the workplace.

One more question: How many times were you interrupted while reading this article?

Mira Kosevich is a professional organizer and president of Paper Tiger Consultants.