Any complex task that requires thought is your current primary task. If my husband came into my office right now and started talking to me, he would distract me from my primary task (blogging) and I would have to wait until he was done in order to continue. I could try and keep typing while he was talking to me, but I would really be doing a bad job at each of the tasks (blogging and conversation).
The basic psychology is this: what we call multitasking is really "switch-tasking" (because you actually can't do two thinking tasks at once). And each time you switch tasks, you actually lose productivity because your brain needs to remember where you were and what you were doing as you go back and forth.
When we try to "get it all done" we end up flitting around between tasks and rarely getting much done on any of them. So here is my solution for you:
When "multitasking" rotate, don't flit.
Be intentional about what you are doing in the moment you are doing it. When I sit down at my computer to "get stuff done" without a plan, I end up flitting around, doing lots of little things, but not actually feeling that I accomplished anything. I can spend hours online, know I was "working on stuff" but not know what I completed (if I completed anything at all). Flitting does not work.
Instead, rotate! Rotating involves more purpose and slightly longer periods of time. Instead of going off on a tangent, ending up wherever your clicks take you, sit tight and complete one task before moving on. Use a time, a checklist, whatever tool that is a help you. Just remember to keep it simple. Decide what your goal is. Then finish one task before moving on the the next.
Here's what this has done for me. In the past, I have found that checking twitter can be a multitasking black hole. People to follow back, links to websites to check out, articles to read, etc. My problem with flitting starts when I don't define what I'm doing. I click someone's profile to follow back and before I know it, I'm joining a facebook page and jumping over to LinkedIn. But when I decide to rotate, I know that I'm not looking at everything right now. I'm just following people back on twitter. If I see an interesting link, I'll open it, but not look at the page yet. I keep going inside twitter until I'm done with twitter and then quickly look at the other links I've opened to see if I want to do anything with them. Sometimes they're short articles and I'll read them then and there and sometimes they're something longer and I grab the link and make a new to-do in Asana to check on later. And the good news is, that when later comes around (and I use due dates, so it does come around), I am more objective and can prioritize better. So instead of reading all of the somewhat interesting articles I find right away, I only end up reading a few of them later.
Rotating is also helpful with offline tasks. Flitting around "cleaning the house" can be disastrous. You know you worked hard all day but you don't have anything to show for it. But when you rotate and decide that you are going to finish the current small task before you start the next one, you end up having large, clear areas. (Putting away everything in the living room vs. putting away one or two things in each room of the house.)
Thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Love,
Valerie :D
Please comment or send your questions to me on the Homemaking Diva Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/HomemakingDiva or by email at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
