Stop Multitasking from Killing Your Productivity

March 31, 2010

Some days I pride myself on my multi-tasking abilities. But some days I curse multi-tasking because I’ve become so adept at it that I now have trouble mono-tasking. I’m learning that while it can be good for a freelance writer to have the ability to manage multiple projects, there are times when it may be more advantageous to just do one thing at a time. Doing too many things at a time can kill your creativity, hurt your time management, and multi-tasking doesn’t always do as much as you think it does for productivity. In fact, when I do too much at a time, I not only get fewer things accomplished in a day but I feel frantic — — which isn’t healthy.

Do you do too many things at a time?

  • Do you check email constantly, even when you’re under the gun with a deadline? Turn it off. Especially outside of business hours. If you’re working late, make the time count and focus on the task at hand — — so you can finish sooner.

  • Do you feel compelled to answer the phone or IM chat to a client or colleague when you’re busy doing something? Turn it off. They can wait / go to voicemail / catch up with you later so you can focus on what’s most pressing. I don’t know about you but when I’m feeling the flow, interruptions really mess with the qmy ability to pick up where I left off.

  • How many tabs and windows do you have open on your computer right now? Do you really need to be doing that many things at a time? (PS: Having 17 FF tabs open will slow your system down so it’s counterproductive, anyway.) I am a recovering alt+tab addict. While doing something, I alt+tab almost constantly to check on / do something else. The ability to do multiple things at a time can be good but it’s not always necessary. If you just close the distracting stuff off once in a while, you will get through tasks faster.)

  • Do you look for something to do while waiting? I’m famous for this. I have joked in the past that I don’t even mono-task when I go to the loo. If you’re wound too tight, multi-tasking can wind you even tighter. Impatience is not typically a virtue.

I partially blame IBM and their OS/2 operating system. Back when I was barely old enough to vote and a purchasing agent in the early 1990’s, the company I worked for upgraded from Dos to OS/2 and I had my first experience with multi-tasking on a computer. It changed the way I worked.

I also partially blame dial up. When I started as a freelancer I had just moved to an area without high-speed so as I waited for pages to load, I kept busy during that wait time. It made me go from being a multi-tasker to a super-multi-tasker.

I now blame myself. I have become far too impatient and greedy with technololgy because the more it gives me, the more I want. In fact, I often keep two computers going at a time so that I can do multiple tasks even more efficiently. Yes..too much multi-tasking. Time to slow down before the stress takes its toll on my health.

I say it’s time to slow down. It makes sense that if you’re feeling overwhelmed, slow it down, focus on one thing at a time, and not only will you move through your to-do list at a less frantic pace but you may feel more accomplished at the end of the day (and you might not display as pronounced a nervous tic next time you face a line-up at the bank.) As an alt+tab-o-holic , I’ve decided I have to regularly remind myself of this.

(P.S: I only checked e-mail 6, ok.. 9 times during the writing of this post. Yes, an improvement for me.)

Are you a multitasking monster?