Back when I still had a 9-5 job, I’d often have problems with co-workers and bosses who felt multitasking was a “necessity” and a “sign of competence.” I wish they all read this post now.

Increased productivity: 1, 5, 7, 10
Enhanced Final Product 2
Less Mistakes 3, 8
More Professional 4
Increased well being 6, 9

I’m not sure if this works for you, but my solution was to find blocks of time when I could work undisturbed. When my son was a baby I worked from 4:00 a.m until 7:00 a.m. Now that he’s in school full time, I have that time. I never tried to work when he was awake or in need of my attention.

I do mean work on one project at a time, but I also mean focus on the project and nothing else. Don’t eat lunch or answer calls or watching TV while working. I find that when I’m completely focused on one thing, and one thing only, I’m more productive.

Thanks for the link, while reading the piece I made coffee and answered a few phone calls.

As for myself, I am a chronic multi-tasker. The way I see it, as long as I am accomplishing SOMETHING, then that day was a productive one. Not true. Although I get tons of things done around the house, I later find myself in clutch mode to complete my projects. Great post!

We no longer get a choice to turn our lives off, no one around us will be doing it and so if we begin to we will be disrupting their system, in turn creating more chaos.

The trick is not to unitask but to multitask systematically; our mothers (thanks Lisa!) truly are the champions at this and we can all do with a moment to watch/ remember them in action.

My mother was so systematic in getting us (my twin brothers & I) ready for school that somehow we were up at 6, showered, chores completed, fed, homework checked and out the door for the bus all before 7.20am. And yet, now I think about it, she stayed in bed that whole time too. I guess we were just one step in her system.

For me, I step the system out and take into consideration all the little things too. Under-appreciating these little things is what gets in the way of being organized.

1. Close FaceBook,Twitter, and email. (Duh!). Check email and your feeds after you’ve finished something.
2. Turn OFF the cell phone and or put it on vibrate in another room. Check the message every few hours. The world will not end.
3. Keep a master list of things that you need to do. Add things to the list as soon as you think of them. Then forget about them until you’re looking for another task. (If you need help with this see the book “Getting Things Done.”)
4. Have a dedicated work environment and keep it simple.
5. Take your Ritalin .

not sure where you guys find the clients willing to wait while you complete multi-day task A and then move on to their concerns!

Lisa

I swear multitasking is just a natural tendency of my generation, though, so it’s definitely something I have to WORK AT to NOT multitask!

Oddly enough, people who multi-task are actually worse at multi-tasking than people who don’t.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8219212.stm