No, multi-tasking isn't always an attribute

Overwhelmed by too many tasks on your to-do list? Worried about the massive size of a daunting project? The question to ask then is this one – “How do you eat an elephant?” A wise friend once asked me this and quickly volunteered the answer too:  “Simply, one bite at a time, the way you’d eat anything regardless of its size”.

The trouble, though, is that no one really sits down to simply eat anymore. When was the last time you’ve sat at a family dinner and focussed on just savouring each bite? These days we eat and watch TV while also checking our phone and then having a quick peek at emails on our laptop and carrying on a conversation while juggling many other balls simultaneously, while gulping our food down unthinkingly.

But this is a good thing right? Being able to do more than one thing at a time. We have a term for it - multitasking - and it's one we usually put on our resumés and brandish as a badge of honour. The end result though, of trying to do too much at one time is that nothing gets done and the work that does get done is not done well.

“But I don't multitask all that much, do I?”

Here are a few red flags to help you identify if you are a chronic multitasker. Are multiple things open in front of you? Multiple tabs on your computer or several half done chores that you’re switching between. Do you have several projects started which all lie unfinished while you start many more? Are you frustrated by frequent interruptions that seem to plague your day? If you’ve answered yes to most of these, then chances are you’re multitasking like there’s no tomorrow and it would help to look into the root of it.

Back to Single-Tasking

So how does one get back to single-tasking and eating that elephant one bite at a time? Here are a few pointers to get you started:

- Plan your day in chunks and group similar tasks together (answering emails at one or two sittings rather than as and when they come in) so that there’s less mental and physical switching for you to deal with.

 - Try the 20 minute rule of working in 20 minute intervals followed by short breaks.

 - Block out interruptions and turn off alerts when focussing on one task.

 - Practice mindfulness - Park distracting thoughts and return to the present (carry a notepad to jot stray but useful ideas that interrupt). Practice a time to just blank out or create “doing nothing” spaces in your day to help stay refreshed and help you focus when you do get back to the next task.

 - Try the “without” option - Say no (immediately and often) to taking on more tasks that you then have to struggle to juggle.

 - Get an accountability buddy to point it out to you when you revert to old habits of multitasking so you can consciously return to focussing on just one job at a time.

If you're a multi-tasker who finds it’s no longer working for you why not give some of these tips a try and let us know how they work out for you in the comments section below.

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