All tagged multitasking
The Myth of Multitasking: How “Doing It All” Gets Nothing Done by Dave Crenshaw is a nice, quick read and covers some familiar ground for people who talk about multitasking and the sorry effects of high work-in-process (WIP) for people and their businesses. The story is of working with a busy executive, rather than with a busy team, so it has some different takeaways than I have usually seen.
No, I don’t want to give up on this topic. But I want to clarify something: Multitasking is an effect - a result of the system in which we find ourselves. In order to “stop multitasking”, the system has to change. And this is where we get to apply some thinking - what can we change in the system?
Going into a long weekend in the United States, I came across John Rampton's list of 20 time management tips, Manipulate Time With These Powerful 20 Time Management Tips at Forbes. Many of them sound familiar, but they are good reminders nonetheless. To me, it is primarily about focus-and-finish.
Too high work-in-process (WIP) is dangerous for all sorts of reasons in almost any organization. It slows everything down like the molasses in winter. But simply saying “cut WIP” without understanding why it remains so high is a recipe for disaster. Let’s think about this a little.
Our daily practice says more about ourselves than we like to admit. If my practice has me multitasking, there must be something about it I enjoy. Is it possible to change my practice? Of course, it is.
Digital tools (and other humans) can interrupt the flow of work. But are they necessarily bad? Can I allow disruptions in such a way that I can still work and get stuff done?
Andrey Salomatin has started a nice series on Theory of Constraints in software startups: "Systems thinking in management" and "Work hard enough and you won’t finish anything" and "I bet you look good on the plant floor." I'm wondering if there will be more in the series.
By now, most people who read this know that multitasking causes a lot of problems in organizations. It creates delays, lowers quality, and creates more and more tension in an organization.A recent HBR Ideacast with Mark Mortensen described a variant that I have talked about but had never named: "multiteaming" - being assigned to multiple (different) projects.
Every time we switch attention, it causes us to burn mental energy. And that energy lost ends up costing us: I usually focus on the fact that everything takes longer when my focus shifts. But we also lose creativity, sleep, energy... and more.
A video about multitasking told from the perspective of a design engineer who was lost in the world of multitasking - it took him four weeks to do a 2-4 day design task.
"The rule of five" is a new-to-me idea for managing multitasking at the individual level. It's a combination of the task board and the idea of dropping things to the floor. Have an explicit list and keep it in control. Interesting.
I came across a great illustration by Henrik Kniberg, summarizing a talk he did recently on the topic of how to create and maintain focus. The blog post is a set of short commentary, all revolving around the three points illustrated: Create slack; Say no; Stop thinking, "I don't have time".
Want to be more effective in your work? Stop "just checking" those notifications. They drain your attention and slow you down.
People are notorious multitaskers - not just one age group. I see my mother respond to every ding and jingle of her phone or iPad. And my kids. And me. And many others. Change the behavior by teaching and showing and expecting different behavior.
Another version of "too long, didn't read" is this cartoon. A friend sent me a slightly modified version, so I tracked down one that looked more original.
We seem to be addicted to busy. Does the busyness help? Does it hurt? Do we swim around in a lake, getting nowhere? Or do we row down the river, ensuring we don't get stuck?
A quick article with opinions from six people on project killers: 6 Experts Share the #1 Thing That Derails a Project | Smartsheet. Of course, there are six different things listed as "the #1 thing." And there are a few more listed in the comments.
More on time management and multitasking. It's a topic near and dear to what I've been doing for many years.
A quick anecdote from Realization's newsletter on "There is no such thing as good multitasking" and some thoughts around the idea.
So, is multitasking bad or good. This author talks about both sides and then decides he wants to continue multitasking anyway.