Multitasking – A Good or Bad Thing?

You're on the phone with a team member and at the same time typing up notes about your previous phone call. An instant message arrives as soon as you end your call, so you read it while you are dialing the phone to speak with a prospect. 

Believing it will increase our productivity, many people multitask – some frequently, others occasionally.   Our lives today seem to move more quickly.  We often believe people who frequently multitask as productive and resourceful, using their time wisely.  Do multitaskers truly accomplish more than those who do not? 

In reality, when we try doing more than one thing at a time, neither task is likely to be done as efficiently as if we gave our full concentration to one task at a time.  The quality of our work will suffer, and in the end, we may have to repeat projects we thought we had completed.  Studies have shown that we waste 30-40% of our time when we try to do two or three things at once.

Oftentimes people will be speaking to someone on the phone while they are writing an email to someone else.  With two different forms of communication going on at once, one or both will suffer.  We might put a lot of “ums” or pauses in the phone conversation or make typing errors on the email.  When we attempt to perform technical or more complex tasks, the quality will suffer the most.

Multitasking can also cause stress.  We may become confused, feel more tired or be overwhelmed.  Some people don’t even realize that they ARE multitasking.  We tend to do this even more when we’re working on an unpleasant task. By doing something else at the same time, we are “avoiding” doing the task we dislike.

Do you have several website tabs open at once?  Is your desk covered in papers that you’re working with?  Do you check your email while you’re on a phone call or working on a document?

Frequent interruptions can contribute to multitasking.  Let’s say that while you are working on a presentation, you are interrupted by one of your children.  You try to answer their question without looking up from the presentation.  You are not giving your child your full attention, nor are you doing your best work on your document.

Resist the urge to check your email several times a day.  Turn it off when working on any job.  Since nearly everyone has caller ID these days, if your phone rings and you see it isn’t work related or important, let the call go to voice mail. 

Focus is the key.  If something urgent comes up while you’re working on something, stop what you’re doing and deal with the urgent situation.  If what you are working on is complex, quickly write down notes about it before stopping.  When you have handled the immediate situation, you can check your notes and continue on with your original task.  This way both tasks are given your full attention and the quality of your work will not suffer.

If you find you are having difficulty focusing on a particular job, stop for five minutes.  Take a quick break.  Walk around to clear your head.  When you return to your desk, you’ll likely have your focus back.

Look closely at yourself.  Are you multitasking without thinking about it?  When you put all your efforts into one job at a time, watch your productivity improve.

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