schmulti schmask

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Multi-tasking - much like swimming pool sex - is overrated. It seems like it'd be a good idea, but it's really not that great. Perhaps even unpleasant or harmful. More time is wasted in multi-tasking than is wasted in water-cooler conversations, for instance. Certainly more than than is being wasted right now in my taking a full-on break from work and typing this post.

This isn't sour grapes from someone who sucks at multi-tasking; I'm actually "good" at it (however you measure that crap). It's just a shitty way to get quality work done efficiently. Are you, too, an excellent multi-tasker? Does it make you, too, feel like you never really ever get anything done? Try this: take your 8-hr. desk-job workday and break it up into eight 1-hr. segments. During each hour, do something on your to-do list. Seriously. You might be surprised.

For those of us at email-dependent jobs, I suggest the following. Either:

  • dedicate 1 morning slot and 1 afternoon slot for email; or (if that's too scary for you)
  • use the last 10 minutes of each slot for email.

Trust me, people won't even notice. Anyway, there are a ton of valid reasons (psychological & work-flow-related) for using delayed response techniques. If they do notice, they'll get used to your new style and they'll adjust accordingly.

Excuse me, won't you? My scheduled mental health break is up and I must return to work, refreshed and ready for the next item!

Comments

flamingbanjo said…
I've seen several studies that say, in effect, that doing several things at once works like this: You do one thing, then you stop, re-adjust for a short period, then do another, then stop, re-adjust, and re-start the first thing, etc. In short, our brains don't really multi-task by running parallel tracks, they just work in a queue. Going back and forth between activities just means breaking your concentration more frequently, and finding your place when you come back.

In short, it's more modernistic bullshit. People think "multi-tasking" is an important skill because it's a word that you see in job postings. What employers actually need is not multi-taskers, but taskers. You know, people who can do stuff.

But then again, this is also the age where people drive while texting.
4/18/09, 9:45 PM
Ian Johnston said…
I finally got my job worked around to the point where I can legitimately work on one thing for an entire day, or sometimes even a week. It's very nice.

Two managers ago, my manager was all about multi-tasking, and wouldn't accept my working on one thing at a time. The result was that I didn't do anything well or quickly, and despite my protests, she wouldn't allow me to do the one-task-per-day thing.

Now, my manager just says, "Here are the things I need you to do," and lets me do it however I want. My tasks are typically measured in dozens of hours, so it works out well.
4/20/09, 10:28 AM
(egg) said…
See? 2 out of 2 really smart commenters agree.
4/20/09, 4:04 PM
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