FC NOW: The Fast Company Weblog
April 20, 2006
Stop Multitasking
Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, at 11:30, my calendar had an unmovable meeting. It lasted only half an hour but my assistant knew that on no account could it be changed or cancelled. And so, three days a week, at 11:30, I’d walk out the door; I’d be back at noon.
No, it wasn’t face time with the boss. I didn’t visit a therapist and I wasn’t at the gym. I held this all-important appointment for myself. It was my thinking time. I had finally reached the conclusion that, if I didn’t book time to think, I’d never do it. I couldn’t do it at my desk – phones, email, and In trays were too distracting. I couldn’t do it at home – kids, husband, garden, house, and the permanent pile of laundry were too demanding. If I wanted to think then I had to make time for it – and get that time protected.
What I’d discovered was the downside of multitasking. Nowadays, we scan our email while talking on the phone, check the Blackberry in the bathroom, make phone calls from the train. Women, we’re told, are natural multitaskers, confidently cooking dinner while on the phone and supervising homework. Men struggle to emulate us, proudly boasting that they too can attend soccer matches while listening in on conference calls. The competition is not just about how much work we can shift but how many different jobs we can complete simultaneously. Real leaders, we’re told, have a bias for action – so to look like leaders, we become hyperactive, never doing two things when we could be doing four.
What gets lost is thoughtfulness. We’ve gotten so attached to multitasking that we’re in danger of forgetting how to single-task. When did you last have a conversation, a real conversation, with a colleague or a friend – while paying them the compliment of your full, undivided attention? When did you last read a book and give yourself time to think about what it meant and whether or not you agreed with it? When did you last analyze the themes of your career to find out how you could achieve more?
My appointment with myself showed me many things. It always reminded me of something important that had been overlooked in the heat of the day. It often revealed patterns in my work, or the work of my colleagues, that indicated problems or opportunities. Occasionally, it made me see a mistake we could avert, or an opportunity that was staring us in the face. It regularly helped me to recognize patterns – in relationships, problems, products and markets.
Half an hour’s thinking time, three times a week, doesn’t seem like much. But you don’t actually need vast amounts of time to think; you just need that time to be focused and uncluttered. My half hour of walking around a very mundane city block didn’t change my life but it did change my way of working. It made me see the difference between being busy and being productive. I came to learn that having that uninterrupted conversation, for as long as was necessary, turned out to be more effective than the rushed corridor chat or the quick email. I learned that a lot of work, when you ignore it, really does go away – and no one cares. (This felt, and still feels, heretical.) I learned that thoughtfulness beat multitasking most of the time.
One of the places I do my best thinking nowadays is on planes. I used to hate flying and I’m not a big fan now. But I appreciate the fact that the phone won’t ring, no new emails will arrive, and I probably am not going to run into anyone I have to talk to. On a plane, I can think. It’s something I can never do in the office.
When asked if they wanted to be able to use cell phones on flights, most passengers said no. They didn’t want to overhear other peoples’ conversations, they didn’t want to be contactable. Like me, I think they’ve come to treasure their time alone in the sky. When I speak at conferences and I ask my audience how much time they get to think, mostly what I get is nervous laughter. We all know that we should think – but we also all know that it is impossible to do at work. We have built a knowledge economy that depends, for its very survival, on thinking. But we have built organization and offices which won’t let us think. We have to walk around the block, or fly around the world, in order to do what is the very heart of our work.
That we have built organizations which preclude the one activity they’re designed for is an irony of monstrous proportions, well beyond the scope of a single individual to fix. Solutions aren’t going to emerge quickly or easily. They certainly won’t emerge in the white heat of multitasking. What, as individuals, we need to do is carve out our own thinking time and learn to protect it. We need to do so on the understanding that this is not not working – it is the foundation of work itself. When I see spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations flickering on planes, I feel a twinge of regret. I want to say: Stop it! Your boss isn’t watching. No one will walk in. The phone won’t ring. You have the luxury of uninterrupted time. Seize it. Cherish it. Catch up on the one task that never figures on your Action List. Sit back. Shut your eyes. And think. You won’t regret it.
Next time: How smart people are turned stupid.
For more ideas on working smarter, visit our Talent and Careers Resource Center.
Posted by at April 20, 2006 5:53 PM | Category: work-life balance |
14 Comments
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I remember reading once about a reporter who shoved a mic under the nose of a visting Chinese diplomat's wife's nose, and asked hurriedly -What did you find different from China?
Initially dumbstruck by the abrupt intrusion of an unanounced reporter, she looked dazed, puzzled. But then, a light came into her eyes as she had it! "In China when someone is at work at their desk, we would interrupt them in a moment. If they're staring out the window, we would never interrupt them. In America, if someone is working at their desk you would never interrupt them. But if they're staring out the window you would interrupt them in a moment.
This I do not understand."
Ah, yes.
For me there's been little in life that compares to the pleasure of staring out the window over the pages of some opened book.
Why schedule time for healing, restorative reflection? Because its the daytime equivalent to dreaming in sleep time. And because we desperately long for the gifts such contemplative musing bring.
Vigilance - that's the clarion call of 21st century achievers. And we're all challenged to contribute. As Buckminster Fuller so aptly remarked, "On Spaceship Earth, there are no passengers - only crew."
Love this and so identify with it. All of the technology and tools that were "supposed" to make our lives easier, has somehow instead turned us into almost offshoots of these very technological tools that were supposed to help us.
I can be loading laundry into my high speed front loading HE machine, cooking dinner, sending a PDF file on my laptop, and having a conversation with my husband and daughter. Whew, even typing that makes me need a recharge. And when I meditate, all of the multi-tasking to do's attempt to bubble up like foam on a root beer float. . . mindfullness, observe and let go . . . thank goodness for stress reduction . . .
The portability of our cells phones, follow us everywhere, or at least everywhere we let them. That is the key. Just because everyone now has one, is no excuse not to turn the silly thing off.
I do not have my voice mail set up on my cell phone. My husband and children keep offering and chiding me about it. You know what, I have a business telephone line, a home phone line, various e-mail addresses, and a website. If they really need to reach me, they will find me. If I do not answer my cell phone, it is because I am not available. I wonder sometimes when someone is going to offer to implant some kind of communication device under our skin for ever more (supposed) ease.
One of the newest things these days seems to be ultraviolet tatoos. You can only see the design under black light. How far are we, I wonder, from using this same method to place a bar code on our wrist that can be scanned for banking etc... Of course it would be marketed as the next best thing because with a simple bar code you could place everything about you on your arm. Good for healthcare, passports and all sorts of things.
In our local CUB Foods the other day I noticed the newest version of technology. You can now have a scanner read your fingerprint which is somehow linked to your bank account. Did I just say something about our having a device implanted? Well, look at that, our fingerprint is very handy. No need anymore to scan your card. You are the technology . . .
Which came first, the people or the technology . . . er make that chicken. . .
Ohhhhmmmmmmmmm . . .
This couldnt have come at a more relevant time for me. I just had the craziest week and it was all a blur because of the fact I was multitasking too much. I need to keep it simple and get back to my roots :). Thanks for opening my eyes some more.
EXCELLENT column... and the commenter that told the story about Chinese workers is so true.
Try sitting at a clean desk and look into space, see how long it takes before someone gigs you about it.
Three times a week is awesome. I am inspired.
What a great idea to put yourself on your calendar! This reminds me of a book a friend recently suggested to me called First Things First by Stephen Covey, the author of Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. How my friend explained the main idea is that we should make sure we take care of our needs: scheduling exercise, "me" time, etc before worrying about business and other work matters.
Singletasking... What a concept. If this catches on it may be the next big thing!
John Howard, entering the 10th year of his Prime Minstership of Australia was asked by The Bulletin Magazine for the secret of his amazing atmina and enthusiasim for the job:
"No man is too busy or too important to NOT stop for lunch."
Somehow I think that says it all...
I just love this article. It certainly speaks the truth. What I hope is that by seeing more of these types of articles in actual respected business publications that at some point people will give themselves permission to just stop, think, and BE.
I give periodic teleseminars on the hidden perils of multitasking and every time I do an interactive exercise to demonstrate how multitasking makes us extra - busy, less productive, and even a little more "stupid", it always gets a huge laugh. Not because it is funny (well, it is a little), but because people can relate to how insane it is to walk, chew gum, drive, check e-mail, and talk on the phone at the same time.
What about saving time for nothing. Just no think, or think about tattle. Gorillas spend about 30% of their time just doing it. Are we very different? I strongly believe that those states of low activity will give you emotional stability.
Be a multi-tasker and not a multi-asker!
I'm sorry, but there are some parts that I disagree with the article.. I mean it's well written, good job.
I'm the opposite, I can't single task.. it will drive me nuts, I need something that will save me time, and that's multi-tasking.. I've been doing it for a long time that it doesn't even bother me much, and I don't stress out about it.
I work from home, my basement to be specific. People always ask me how I get anything done. For me, the time spent 'staring out the window' is productive. That is when the best ideas come to me including ideas that make my multi-tasking time more effective. Don't try this at home though if you like watching TV. Staring at a TV is not the same thing.
Hi there! I just stumbled across this page through Google and thought it would be great to put in a speech of mine. Though I don't know your name or your job to be able to site you. Could you help me out with that by email? It would be much appreciated!
Erm, apparently the comments don't show my email... baleisfree@yahoo.com :)