Last month, I spent an afternoon milling around a Women’s Business Expo here in my hometown. It was a good event … part networking , part conference, part trade show, part enter-your-business-card-to win-a-free-Prada-bag.
All in all, my kind of event.
One of the sessions I attended was a speech by a communications expert at the local university. The topic was on information overload in the digital age. It qualified as an appropriate topic in the World of Me, especially given the number of emails I get in a day, how often my PDA buzzes with appointment reminders, and the hours I spend hammering on my keyboard.
The underlying theme of the session was the importance of time management, and I was surprised to learn what, in fact, was the biggest culprit that sucked my time into the pit of unproductiveness.
Multitasking.
What?! That doesn’t make any sense! That’s absolutely ridiculous. It’s being able to do more than one thing at a time that makes me not only exceptionally good in my role as a business owner, but it makes me a flippin’ WOMAN, for cryin’ out loud.
I can pair non-vital tasks with vital tasks any day and twice on Sunday. Stuff envelopes and talk on the phone? Piece’a cake. Send emails while waiting on hold? Second nature. Walk and chew gum? It’s the only way I’ll chew gum.
As the presenter was talking, I busted out my Blackberry and Twittered this very question about multitasking into the Twitterverse.
Bringing my brain back around to the presentation, I started jotting notes from the speaker’s slides about the nuances of time-management.
Just then my phone vibrated on my hip with an email reply from a prospective client. Next day’s appointment was confirmed.
“Great! See you then!” I thumb-punched onto my QWERTY board.
When I looked up, the presenter was asking us to take a quick test to prove her theory. We had to write “Multitasking is the least efficient way to get things done.” But, with every letter of the sentence, we had to write a corresponding number below it. So, I dutifully pulled out a sheet of paper and wrote “M” then “1” below it; then “U” then “2” below it….
“Hmmm,” I caught myself thinking. “I wonder if I should send an informational sheet to my contact before our meeting tomorrow.”
Just a quick text should do the trick. “Will send info sheet before end of day!”
“L” … “3” … “T”…”4”
Just then the phone lit up like a light bulb on my lap.
Lookit that! Someone re-tweeted my tweet about multitasking from earlier!
“I”….”5”….”T”….”6” ….
This was easy, I thought. I had NO PROBLEM bouncing my brain back and forth from letters to numbers, emails to text messages. In fact, I found my groove and started to get a little faster (and maybe a wee bit cocky) about it.
“A” “7”…”S”8”…“K” “9”…
(Text message: “Thanks for email! In seminar … will ring u later!”)
“I” “10”..“N” “11” .. “G” “12”…
(Note written in notebook: “Call Em about dogsitting.”)
“I” “13”… “S” “14” … “T” “15” …
About a minute into the exercise, the presenter piped up. “OK, stop!”
No sweat. I totally had this exercise nailed! Who says you can’t multitask effectively?!? My brain slides back and forth like a well-oiled MACHINE!
“OK,” she said. “Now write the phrase ‘Multitasking is the least effective way to get things done.’ Then, when you’re done writing that sentence, write out ‘1, 2, 3, 4, 5, et cetra.’”
Of course it took a fraction of the time when I wrote the sentence, then the numbers…basically doing only one thing at a time, instead of two. And effectively proving that multitasking can, in fact, be the biggest culprit that sucks my time into the pit of unproductiveness.
I’m still guilty of multitasking, but thanks to the five-minute lesson I learned between text messages and emails that afternoon, I’ve started slowing down once in awhile and recognizing that it can be more productive do only one thing at a time.
It’s OK to sit quietly and meditate for a few minutes while the computer boots up, instead of frantically making notes on my to-do list. It’s OK to respond to emails at certain times of the day, instead of punctuating everything on my to-do list with a reply to someone. It’s OK to schedule a meeting-free day every week to focus entirely on office work, instead of zipping around town and trying to squeeze in paperwork between get-togethers and coffee dates.
It may seem wildly counter-intuitive to do one thing at a time in order to be more productive, but trust me. Sometimes you just need to sit down to chew your gum.
Rachel,
Your use of caps in this piece is stunningly spot on. I can feel the excitement as you describe it. Great humor.
David
Rachel – your post is hysterical and I see so much of myself in it as well. We do all need to learn to slow down and smell the roses. A lot of it has to do with expectations -especially those we put on ourselves. We always tell those we love who are in crisis “one day at a time”. We need to tell ourselves in our workday “one project at a time – one thought at a time”. Great article!
Hey Rachel! Loved this post. I could totally see myself doing the same thing. Very enlightening!
Rachel,
That exercise seems so simple, yet is such an eye-opener.
Great post.