Monday, August 25th, 2008...8:00 am
Are you a Multitasking Guru?
A new book on the market is testing that very question. Dave Crenshaw, author of The Myth of Multitasking, seems to think that you are NOT. In fact, he postulates that, in fact, there is no such thing as multitasking for humans.
I read his book (twice in fact) and conducted an email interview with him. His book has a few really good points and I am looking to incorporate some of them into my life.
1. Why is multitasking a waste of time?
I like to use an economics and finance term to describe the waste of time; the term is switching cost. Switching cost usually refers to the cost and time and money of switching from one provider to another. In the case of multitasking, people feel that they are doing multiple things at the same time, but they are not. The brain is incapable of focusing on multiple tasks at the same time. When people attempt to multitask, what they are really doing is switching rapidly back and forth between tasks. Because of this, I prefer to refer to multitasking as switchtasking. It is because of these switches that people lose time in the switching cost. In this way, switchtasking causes us to be exponentially less productive.
2. Can someone incorporate your methods with other time management systems like Covey’s 7 Habits, Allen’s Getting Things Done, or Ferriss’ 4 Hour Work Week?
Yes. Many of our TimeGym clients remark how our training reminds them of principles they’ve learned or read elsewhere. I think that’s because truth is truth, and doesn’t change. One truth that will never change is the “Truth of Time”: there are only 60 minutes in an hour, and 24 hours in day. All time management systems seek to help people wrestle with that uncomfortable truth. Our approach is to not change what is already working for someone, but instead find personalized ways to improve their systems. Our Certified Time Coaches are constantly on the lookout for new improvements in this field that would be the perfect fit for a client.
3. Is your system robust enough to be used on its own, or does it need other components to be effective?
By design, the system is simple and flexible. I’ve learned that the more simple a system, the more likely someone will follow it. The TimeGym system works with any tool a person wishes to use, from Microsoft Outlook, to Mac, to the small paper calendar. We teach that the principles are solid, like stone, but that the tools one uses to follow those principles can be flexible, like water.
4. How much system upkeep will the typical user require using your system?
What makes our training different is the emphasis on personalized training and accountability. We have a 93% success rate, which mean that by the end of 21-day our clients have make a lasting change and developed new habits. It works because we’re take a hands-on, custom fit approach and we absolutely hold our clients accountable. Just as a golf coach works over and over with a student to help make their personal swing a habit, my Certified Time Coaches help clients develop habits that are lasting. The clients that want to be on a “maintenance schedule” usually have us come back every six months for a tune up and to learn our latest innovations.
5. Has technology contributed negatively or positively to our need to multitask?
Technology isn’t the culprit. It is our lack of understanding of how to use and deal with the technology that we have that is the problem. In a sense, technology has evolved rapidly, but we as the users, have evolved slowly. We are dealing with productivity and time management issues that didn’t even exist twenty years ago. This requires learning a whole new set of skills and a completely different mindset on how we approach using technology. It is important for us to remember that technology is the servant and we are the masters. We do have the ability to turn off our cell phone or to turn off email or text message notifications on our computer. Amazingly, most people don’t realize that.
6. What is the one thing from your system that everyone should try to incorporate into their own lives?
Move from a culture of NOW to a culture of WHEN. For instance, you can control WHEN you respond to voicemail and email, and you can mange other people’s expectations about WHEN they will receive a response. The concept of “Do it all NOW” is an oxymoron, yet people still attempt it. They end up breaking themselves against the Truth of Time.
- Take control over technology - Your cell phone ringer (even on vibrate) doesn’t need to be on all of the time. You can turn off email notification on your computer as well. Become master over the nagging beeps and buzzes by creating some silence.
- Schedule what you can schedule - Set regular times in the day and week to check your voicemail and email. Let others know that you will be using that schedule so they know when to expect a reply.
- Focus on the person - When you switchtask when dealing with a computer, you simply lose efficiency. But if you switchtask on a human being, you additionally damage a relationship. Be present, listen carefully, and make sure everything has been taken care of before moving on.
That’s a great question. It ultimately depends upon the individual. I divide my clients into two general groups: the inherently organized (the ones who tend toward personal organization) and the inherently disorganized (the ones who tend toward making messes). I find the inherently organized are more disturbed by passive switches because it disrupts the orderliness they created. The inherently disorganized, however, are constantly interrupting themselves with the active switches of new thoughts and ideas. Personally, as someone who is inherently disorganized, I know that if I didn’t follow the system I would be my own worst enemy.
13 Comments
August 25th, 2008 at 10:13 am
Thank you for the article, Michael.
I’d be glad to answer any more questions from your readers, as well.
August 25th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
Great info! I’ll probably pick up this book soon.
I’d like to comment on Dave’s idea “Focus on the person”. When I have someone in my office and the phone rings, I ignore it. I want my co-workers to know when they need my attention they get it.
But this is not the norm. Most folks I know are slaves to the “instant” technologies of the modern office. If a phone rings or the email “dings” they always check it and quite often interrupt our conversation to do so. They have sacrificed professionalism to gain what? A head start on interrupting the next person in line.
August 26th, 2008 at 9:22 am
The part about being a slave to technology is so true.
Nothing bothers me more than having a person take another call ( call waiting ) when they are talking to me!~
I think this is rude and disrespectful.
If we were talking face to face they would not suddenly say
“Can you hold on a minute I have to talk to this person” and turn away to talk to someone else!
People have a right to concentrate and focus on one thing at a time! When you are talking with someone either face to face or on the phone that person deserves your full attention until the conversation is closed! As David points out in his book we lose concentration by switching back and forth and we reduce productivity.
I would suggest humans need to learn how NOT to do that! so we at least have a chance of increasing our productivity!
September 1st, 2008 at 1:53 pm
Thanks Michael, I’ll check that book out when I get a chance.
I’m a firm believer in doing one task at a time. I see all the time at work where people are trying to do a million things at once and getting distracted.
Working in a webdesign enviroment you have to be concentrating on what your doing otherwise you get nothing done. I like to close my email, turn the mobile off, put the headphones on and just get down to one thing.
There’s some great videos and info on http://www.brainrules.net/attention on attention span. If you get the chance read this book.
September 5th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Hi, again, Michael
I’ve posted up a test your readers can take to find out how well they multitask:
http://www.davecrenshaw.com/exercise.html
Cheers!
September 8th, 2008 at 8:59 am
Hello.
Hmmm… What’s something to think about is that we do multitasking all the time. When we write, we we move our fingers, think about what we are about to say, see what’s onscreen. Hans Florine (www.speedispower), the speed climber (from a climb of days he reduced to a climb of hours), says that when we used to doing multiple things, we tend to bunch them up eventually. Anyway, this is something for your consideration.
Sincerely,
CrackingGold.Com
“understanding finance and success”
September 9th, 2008 at 8:42 am
@ CG:
Great point.
This is an issue of background tasking vs. switchtasking. The book covers this is great detail.
September 12th, 2008 at 7:24 pm
One interesting side effect of multi-tasking is that we don’t really enjoy anything if we are doing more than one thing at a time. For example, I’ve discovered part of the reason I was eating too much was because I always did something else (read, computer, TV, drive) while eating … so I “missed” satisfaction and experience of eating, and always wanted more. Now I do nothing else when I eat, except eat (and maybe have a conversation w/ a loved one …).
~ ElizabethPW
October 10th, 2008 at 6:55 am
There are some sound industrial engineering principles behind the logic that Dave uses in his book. In school, I studied something called “queueing theory” that sounds a bit strange, but leads to practical decisions in the real world.
For example, the reason that banks have one long line instead of several short ones comes from these theories.
So does the logic behind Dave’s findings, and they are backed up by the book — Flow, by M. Csikszentmihalyi which talks about the flow state in detail.
I think that’s an important goal of a time management system — the ability to get into “flow” and stay there, as it’s the highest operating state to be in. Multitasking, or switching, ruins it, resulting in “Crackberry” behaviour like a guy I saw at a urinal with his hands over his head glued to his keyboard, typing away… “multi-tasking.”
November 9th, 2008 at 5:32 am
I can’t say it clearly but this is a matter of background tasking vs. switch tasking. The book explains this in immense detail.
November 26th, 2008 at 10:57 am
[...] eep your technology quiet. — from Black Belt Productivity — “Your cell phone ringer (even on vibrate) doesn’t need to be on all of the time. [...]
November 26th, 2008 at 11:12 am
As I’m pretty bad at multi-taksing, I use a free tool called DAISHO to structure my day by contexts, and to plan within contexts.
This way, I feel less tempted to multi-task, as I know I planned the tasks for other contexts and can focus on the current one.
December 1st, 2008 at 1:42 am
Great post!
My personal experience has been one of struggle and sub-par productivity when it comes to multitasking precisely because it is so hard to switch mind sets between various tasks and activities. I find Dave Crenshaw’s approach refreshing, his book definitely sounds worth checking out.
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