The Dirty Truth About Multi-tasking
WRITTEN by: Catie Drake |
categories:
Content Marketing
I always thought I was great at multi-tasking—that is, until I listened to David Crenshaw’s Time Management Fundamentals video. I learned the dirty truth; I was good at switching back and forth between tasks, not multi-tasking. I was devastated to learn that my personal superpower was not so— and in fact, my “multi-tasking” was taking me longer to complete tasks. Additionally, my work quality suffered and my stress increased. After learning this, I felt that I surely could not have been so wrong, so I decided to do some investigating myself.
As irony would have it, David’s view on multi-tasking was not only right, but it was supported by many other professionals as well. David Meyer, a cognitive scientist at the University of Michigan states, "When you perform multiple tasks that each require some of the same channels of processing, conflicts will arise between the tasks, and you're going to have to pick and choose which task you're going to focus on and devote a channel of processing to it.”
In the world of account management, we must juggle multiple clients, tasks and deadlines all day, without breaking a sweat. My newfound knowledge made me realize that I’ve developed the bad habit of multi-tasking, not the superpower of multi-tasking.
Now, I have a new task. I need to train myself on new techniques to better my account manager abilities.
When I feel myself starting to jump around from one task to another while in the middle, I make the conscious effort to acknowledge what I am doing and stop. I complete what’s at hand before moving on to my next task. I’m using some of David Crenshaw’s recommendations to focus my time. For example, I dedicate time to process emails and schedule time on my calendar for tasks that require more than 15 minutes. After considerable research, I compiled a list of time management applications that have helped keep me on track, and I hope they will do the same for you. Here are some of my favorites:
With new technologies coming out every day, it becomes easier to get distracted or pulled into the black hole of multi-tasking. New technologies like the ones above, however, can pull you out of the void . We want to know what tools or methods you have successfully used to increase productivity. Please share them with us!
