Reclaiming Ownership of Your Time
Upon observation, we realize that simultaneously doing two tasks that require mental effort reduces the brainpower available for either task. But most of us rarely do two things at once; we do three to five things at once.
We respond to text messages in the middle of a conversation. We answer emails while we’re on the phone. We finish reading articles while we’re working on a document. We check the weather and traffic, sip our coffee, change the radio station, talk on our cell phone, and change lanes at the same time.
We are conditioned to multitask and, as such, destined for fragmented attention and reduced performance.
Multitasking is today’s default. Focusing on one task at a time has become a lost discipline in the digital age. Our minds convince us that if we do more things at one time, we get more accomplished. Theoretically, this makes sense; in practice, however, it’s simply not true.
As systems theory points out, the system with the most amount of diversity has the least amount of energy. Similar to how water pressure is weakened when it’s funneled into multiple outlets like in a showerhead, fragmenting your attention into different channels simultaneously reduces your capacity to think clearly, focus intensely, deduce creatively, and act effectively.
The solution is obvious: Do one thing at a time. Understand, however, that this is not natural for most of us—especially in a wired world. Mental practice and training is required. We must set our intention on focusing on the task at hand and then mindfully move throughout our day, making course corrections and adjustments when we default back to “multitask mode.”
To assist in this effort, block off time for specific tasks and stay consciously aware of your focus during these time blocks. For example, schedule 15-minute blocks for emailing. Focus on your email correspondence in that brief period, but then close your email program when you reach the end of your time block. (Keeping your email program perpetually open is the surest way of reducing your productivity.) The same goes for text messaging.
Remember: If every form of communication is urgent, then nothing is urgent. Select whom you’re going to text with carefully and make sure they know you only use text messaging for genuinely urgent communication.
If you don’t consciously create a hierarchy of urgency in your communication systems, the world will demand urgent responses on all levels. The only way out of this cycle is to consciously structure your communication systems and mindfully watch where you spend your time.
In the beginning, the above process can feel daunting. It may also seem that more time is spent organizing and scheduling your time rather than on actual work. That’s good. It’s an upfront investment that pays long-term dividends on your available time, productivity, and overall quality of life. Try it and see for yourself.
Related posts:
What a relief! It’s so hard to shut things out and focus on only one task at a time. I really liked the urgency section. It’s true, if everything is urgent then nothing is. It’s important to remind ourselves to slow down and that doing more does not mean more is done.
Hey Scott,
So does doing one thing at time in this sense mean one thing at a time with many things back burning or one thing at a time, one thing at time?
Forgive my tendency to over analyze.
Thanks,
Michael
Michael, what’s offered above is just a general principle, which when brought to awareness, helps us become more effective and balanced in our work. Naturally, in our complex world, there will always be many things we can be doing at any one time. The key is to focus on the task at hand. But first, we must learn to evaluate what’s most important and/or urgent and start from there. sj
Thanks Scott for the clarification.