TO MULTITASK OR NOT TO MULTITASK...THAT IS THE QUESTION

This time, I’m going to focus on a subject which concerns people who work in an office just as much as those who don’t…multitasking!

Over the past few years, people have been expected to become capable of performing umpteen tasks at the same time while remembering, of course, to smile! Furthermore, with the impact of open-space offices, employees have fewer opportunities to isolate themselves from others and work alone. This, of course is not necessarily a negative thing; some people can feel uncomfortable if they have to work alone in an office or, perhaps, work at home away from others. Being with colleagues can encourage fresh ideas and innovative ways of tackling problems. It can also add a more linked-up way of working.

On the other hand, if you work in such an environment, I’m sure your day is punctuated with countless interruptions – phone calls, emails, as well as colleagues who, not unlike our old friend Inspector Columbo, have yet another question to ask you…

As far back as 2007, a study called “Infomania – why we can’t afford to ignore it any longer” was published on the First Monday website and pointed out that workers can be interrupted every three minutes by emails and other things. In other words, rather than increase efficiency, a multitasking approach can tire out the brain and lower cognitive ability…not to mention increase the risks of making mistakes. The study, which was recently highlighted in an article on the BBC website, also estimates that “such disruptions cost a company of 50,000 employees about $1 billion in lost time, reduced creativity, errors and burnout.”

You probably suffer from scattered brain syndrome

When instant messaging became popular in the 1990s, Judi Wineland was not a fan. The constant disruption of chat pop-ups made it difficult for her to accomplish daily tasks. But that wasn't the case

http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20161208-you-probably-suffer-from-scattered-brain-syndrome?es_p=3271681

Now you may find these numbers difficult to fathom out, as I did. Yet I can also remember times when against my better judgement, I tried to save time and do a few things at the same time. Of course, not each multitasking led to an error – and it was nowhere near as bad as the time when George W. Bush nearly choked to death when he tried to watch TV and eat snacks at the same time. But, quite often, something was forgotten, two appointments were scheduled at the same time or an email was sent before being checked and the receiver didn’t quite understand what I was saying.

As a result, I was quite relieved when I read that business manager Judi Wineland claims to be incapable of multitasking…and that it has made her better at running her two companies!

Now I’m not going to be intolerant and say you should stop multitasking and refuse to speak to your colleagues. It would be both impractical and counter-productive. Yet there has to be a case for finding moments during the day when one can avoid interruptions and distractions.

A few ideas…

• Why not turn off email and text notifications or allocate certain moments during the day for reading and replying?
• If you have to go to meetings, would it be possible for finishing times to be specified too, to encourage participants to be more focused on the subject and less distracted by their electronic devices?
• And what about making it clear to people when you can be reached and when you can’t? A few years ago, I worked in an open-space office, but once or twice a week, I would find an empty training room to catch up on important tasks. I called it “going to my bunker.” My colleagues – and, more importantly, my bosses – approved of it …and some of them started doing the same thing when they saw that it worked!

Focus on one task

In conclusion then, while it’s obvious that there is no magic wand to make all our interruptions go away, I feel that trying to balance our time between multitasking and single-tasking is something worth trying.

So why not give it a go and, if it works, keep on with it and enjoy the results!