Quote for the Day
“My goal is no longer to get more done, but rather to have less to do”
Francine Jay
The Myth of Multitasking
The topic for my Growth and Profit Club Zoom Workshop in February was The Myth of Multitasking.
We are conditioned to believe that clever successful people multitask. But research show that it takes twenty-five minutes to recover from an interruption. It also shows us that Multitasking slows you down.
By way of demonstration, try this exercise:
Write out “Switch Tasking is a Thief” then the numbers 1 to 21.
Next try alternating between words and numbers “s1w2i3………”.
Time yourself and you will see it takes three times as long to alternate.
There is an old proverb which underlines the point – “If you try to chase two rabbits, you won’t catch either of them”.
A study of Italian Judges revealed that those who kept open fewer cases could dispose more rapidly than their multitasking colleagues – in other words, they were more productive.
How much time do you spend on interruptions?
In my experience, most of your interruptions are someone else’s urgent need, not yours!
I have a client who uses the out-of-office facility on his email to say
“I don’t look at my emails until 16.00 each day – if your enquiry is urgent, please ring my office”.
So, how do we achieve great personal productivity? Here are ten good ideas to help you:
- Understand your Roles and Goals
- Undertake a Single Task at a time
- Develop Priorities
- Make Good Decisions
- Manage your TO DO list
- Delegate as much as you can
- Manage your Interruptions
- Perform well under pressure
- Think: MUST – COULD – SHOULD
- Have a good Personal Productivity Plan
There are not enough hours in the day. We are constantly fighting the Time Thief – see the following two-minute Infographic Automation:
https://mrwcs.com/services/defeating-the-time-thief/
I look forward to working with you this year but, in the meantime, if you would like to know more about how to resolve your defining issues of 2022, contact me by email alan@mrwcs.com or phone 07860 813444.
Growth and Profit Club
Please note that my next free Growth and Profit Club workshop on Zoom will be at 16.00, on Wednesday, 11 May 2022, and the topic is “Recruitment, Retention and Hybrid Working”.
Membership of my Growth and Profit Club will allow you to access other business leaders’ experience, knowledge, and wisdom, and share your own, helping to develop the expertise and proficiency of everyone on the Zoom video call.
If you would like to discuss the challenges and opportunities for your business or would like to join my Growth and Profit Club, please contact me on alan@mrwcs.com or phone 07860 813444.
