I used to be the Queen of Multitasking – reading e-mail, surfing websites, talking on the phone simultaneously. No biggie, right? Until I realized that my multitasking was merely multidoing, without many tasks actually getting done. Since that ah-ha day, I’ve been weaning myself off the multitask habit, and focusing on one thing at a time. Amazingly, I actually get more done.
Today, there was an article in the New York Times about multitasking, with a great quote by psychiatrist Edward Hallowell that “you have to keep in mind that you sacrifice focus when you do this. Multitasking is shifting focus from one task to another in rapid succession. It gives the illusion that we’re simultaneously tasking, but we’re really not. It’s like playing tennis with three balls.”
On a similar note, usability guru Jakob Nielsen wrote an insightful checklist for saving time. My favorite was not to use IM unless it added true value to the interaction. As Nielsen said, “A one-minute interruption of your colleagues will cost them ten minutes of productivity as they reestablish their mental context and get back into “flow.” Only the most important messages are worth 1,000 percent in overhead costs.”
I turned off IM a long time ago because of this; but I do use Skype when a colleague and I are on a conference call with a new client – Skype allows us to bounce ideas off one another before saying it to the client. In that case, IM definitely adds value to the interaction.
For all of Nielsen’s tips, pop over to his Usability site.
I can’t do multiple things at once – but I am a huge fan of kikcing off multiple processes that can progress without me.
Eg – I always time large downloads for when I am just about to leave the computer, or about to use Excel/Word.
Nice post, I agree with you. I have a rule for myself & that is “First Thing First”. I think multitasking is a waste of energy & it keep our mind busy with many different things. So i think one should focus their time & energy on one thing, which is really important for them, forget about messanger & phone-calls, it can be answered later.