Multitasking SHHHMMMultitasking!
Elena Mellara PCC
Career reinvention coach for conflicted top-level professionals ? Trainer ? Coach Trainer ? Team Coach ? HR Corporate ? Outplacement ?
Everyone is familiar with the term multitasking. For many years we heard things like:
Women are better than men in multitasking.
Or
Multitasking is a product of our time because everything is so fast paced.
Just to name a few.
Looking at the dictionary, the definition of multitasking – for the Merriam Webster – is: “the concurrent performance of several jobs by a computer. The performance of multiple tasks at the same time”. Looking at other dictionaries in other languages what pops up is that multitasking is something meant for computers, not humans.
What made multitasking popular?
When googoling ‘who invented multitasking’ the result is that the word was used first in 1965 by IBM to describe the capabilities of an IBM System. Again, something invented for a machine, not a human being. However the term has been (mis)used ever since and applied also to human tasks.
Reality check vs. reality check
This means that in the past years we have been led to believe – without checking facts thoroughly – that if we multitask in our life the result is an increase of productivity and efficiency. Conversely there are numerous studies clearly stating the exact contrary. Professionals who are usually multitasking during their work have results of lack of focus, tendency to mistakes and additional time to complete what they are doing. Simply put, the human brain cannot focus on two sources of input at the same time. It has been even calculated that the cost of multitasking on someone’s productive time is 40%.
Why we keep doing it
Though the question is legitimate, the answers might be misleading.
Because we see some people do it and do it well. In this case there is a distinction to make. There are some people who can perform tasks faster than others with stellar results. These professionals are hyper-performers, they don’t multi task.
You can stop multitasking
Though preparing dinner while watching TV and having a look at the kids playing might be (still) reasonable, there are situations while multitasking has negative effects. For example, when is really necessary to focus to prepare for a meeting and there is a constant interruption by emails, colleagues asking questions, manager coming in for a chat, messages popping from the phone. Same goes for a decision to make, like changing job or career, The good news multitasking can be stopped, if you want.
The good news: you can choose
To stop multitasking you need to make a clear choice. The main point is not choose about how urgent or important is the task by itself. The main point here is to focus on what you believe is important to you right now. Even if you choose to stop and listen to the birds outside your window because you need a break from all the noise. Choose what’s really, really, really important to YOU right now. Not for your boss, not for your family, just you.
?The less good news: it’s hard to make a choice – sometimes
Some people can immediately identify what’s best for them; others struggle because a lot of thoughts will chime in:
“If I don’t do XXX first then I will look bad in the eyes of…”
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“If I choose me then I will be judged as selfish”.
“It’s hard to choose when all is urgent”.
If your mind starts spiraling with the result of feeling frustrated, anxious, angry then you are under the influence of your saboteurs.
One way out
Your saboteurs are telling you that – for whatever reason – you cannot choose. And you believe them. To break the negative spiraling and temporarily disconnect them here’s two techniques to consider:
Stop everything you are doing 30 seconds focusing on what’s going on outside the window.
Square breathing technique: inhale for 4 seconds ---- hold for 4 seconds ---- exhale for 4 seconds ---- hold for 4 seconds.
In both techniques if your mind starts spiraling again, gently acknowledge it and then go back to the technique.
Repeat if necessary. What you will experience is that the negative thinking spiral is less intense creating some space in your head to make an informed choice.
Your inner saboteurs are as real as you, just not in flesh and bone. They can be silenced so that you are able to bloom and meet the professional you can become. And yes, I can help you silencing them.
“To do two things at once is to do neither” - Publilius Syrus
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About Elena
Elena added the role of international career coach to her 2 decades of pricing and forecasting roles in American and Japanese corporations. Today, she coaches career conflicted professionals to pinpoint their next career move and reach self-realization through 3 programs.
“Twist your career into a new profession” 12 sessions to have a 360 degrees pivot into a new role.
“Turn your strengths into superpowers” 12 sessions to up-skill and re-skill natural talents increasing confidence and productivity.
“Job Landing Strategy?” 5 sessions to look for a new job in the same role and maximize the chances to be selected.
You can talk to Elena here and follow her on her bi-weekly posts on Linkedin.
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2 年Interesting. Also multitasking for computers was linked to the concept of Time-Sharing, which is a term that generated a lot of confusion. In fact the term in the past was referring to a mechanism by which the processing power of a central computer was shared between a number of different activities of different speed. It was invented to avoid wasting the time of a central processor when it was waiting for a slower device to complete his task. So instead of waiting, the time was assigned to another task ready to execute. Cool, eh? Later (in the '80s) the term changed into something more related to a methodology to make able several users to interact simultaneously on a single system without interference. Also cool. Both useful for humans, the difference is that in the first case it was a way to help speed up operations, and in the second case it is a way to make more people able to use the same resource at the same time. Maybe that caused also additional work assigned to already busy people? (I am simplifying of course). BTW did you know that the term "Computer" in the past referred to a?human computer, a person who carried out calculations or computations? According to Wikipedia, in 1943 most human computers were women.