TIME MANAGEMENT: Three Hazards of Multitasking

In a study conducted by the University of California at Irvine, 36 IT office workers at an investment firm were tracked over the course of a day. Their every move was documented minute by minute. The researchers found that the employees devoted an average of only eleven minutes to a project before they were distracted by the chime of an e-mail, the ringing of a telephone or a knock on the cubicle. Once they were interrupted, it took on average 25 minutes to return to the original task—if they managed to do so at all that day. Astoundingly, the workers in the study were juggling an average of 12 projects apiece. Basex, an IT research firm in New York City, calculated that these interruptions cost the U. S. economy $588 billion a year. Does this resemble your day?

Multitasking has become a way of life for most of us—on the job and at home. Everyone seems consumed by multiple tasks that seem to warrant our urgent attention. For the diligent, it becomes overwhelming to try to plow through it all. It also becomes disheartening to try so hard to accomplish so much only to find that there’s still so much left to be done. The word “frazzing” is a new term which describes frantic, ineffective multitasking, typically with the delusion that we are getting a lot done. The quality of the work, however, is poor. When performance declines, stress levels rise. Increased stress levels are usually an unwanted byproduct of having our hands and our heads filled with multiple things to do at once. But do they really all have to be done at once? Is there a teeny bit of wiggle room to complete one task before we move on to the next? With organization and proper planning, sure there is.

When our schedules become cluttered, we can’t see past the immediate mess in front of us. This presents a challenge when we rush to clear it all quickly. We act as if we have eight hands, four legs, two brains and ten minutes only. We multitask—making calls, taking calls, typing e-mails, reading e-mails, riffling through papers, checking schedules on PDAs, holding a conversation with someone else in gestures, all while keeping one eye on the clock. And as much as we perceive all is going right, there are inevitably a few things going wrong. Those few things can be costly—so whoa, Nellie!

There are at least three hazards to multitasking that we shouldn’t ignore:

1. The more projects we juggle, the greater the chance we have of making mistakes. When we divide our attention, we divide our thinking so our focus becomes fractured. We may be successful at accomplishing two things at once, but anything more is compromised. Details slip through the cracks and the quality of our productivity is dulled because we don’t or can’t take the time to be a little sharper.
2. We burn ourselves out quicker when we try to do the work of several people. Companies burn out employees rapidly resulting in higher turnover, lower productivity, staffing problems including constantly working shorthanded, and the unrealized loss of revenue.
3. Stress levels increase with each incomplete task and with any additional task added to an already heavy load. Eventually, individuals become disengaged, frustrated, physically ill, difficult to work with and for, and less productive. Complaints increase about everything from seemingly everyone, and the entire culture is poisoned with overloaded, unhappy workers.

So how do we better manage our frenetic lives? How do we get the things done that must get done when they should, yet retain our peace of mind? The solutions are simple yet require discipline and organization.

First, we must prioritize. Even in a hospital emergency room, a doctor can only see one patient at a time. He may have several people waiting to be seen, but he can only effectively treat one at a time. The most urgent cases get seen first. Unless you are in that kind of work environment, much of what you have to do can wait until you have completed one task before engaging in another. Divide your time, not your attention.

Second, make every effort to delegate. Ask for help if you have more than one urgent situation facing you. Trying to play the hero only jeopardizes the successful outcome of a particular task. Know your limits and let others know your limits too. Make others aware that you want to do things right and well, but you can’t without some assistance.

And finally, make the hard mental shift toward learning to say no when it is in your power to do so. You can become ensnared by guilt because you have been given a greater amount of responsibility. That responsibility may have been bestowed upon you with much confidence and praise so you may find it hard to refuse. Or perhaps it was handed down with veiled threats and intimidation. In this case, you may find it impossible to refuse. Surely this is a sticky situation in which to find yourself, but sometimes you have to talk it out. If your company values your best work, they’re going to have to be realistic. It could cost them and you in myriad ways. You just can’t do it all. And certainly not all at once!