There is one school of thought in time management training that will say that one task needs to be done at a time. This is so the person can give full focus and attention to the task and finish it to a high standard. There is however, a place for multi-tasking when it is appropriate. This article discusses how to multi-task effectively.
There is one school of thought in time management training that will say that one task needs to be done at a time. This is so the person can give full focus and attention to the task and finish it to a high standard. I am certainly not arguing with that! Many people believe that multi-tasking is just not possible. There is however, a place for multi-tasking when it is appropriate. It is not about trying to complete two complex tasks at the same time, but more about fitting two simpler tasks around each other.
Without necessarily realising it, most people have multi-tasked at some point in their lives even if they have not truly considered it. Have you ever been on the phone to mum while cooking the pasta for dinner? Have you ever been eating your toast while looking at the internet with the TV on in the background? Have you ever been reading a book while cleaning your teeth? If you have done this or other similar things together then you have already tried multi-tasking. Becoming proficient at multi-tasking is about honing these skills and learning what should and should not be multi-tasked. It's worth noting you can develop these skills by attending a
Time Management Course London.
When I had my young children I found that there was no other option but to multi-task if I wanted to get everything done. The baby would be in his high chair eating his toast and drinking milk while I sang songs and raced about the kitchen doing the washing up and putting the laundry on, often while having the dinner cooking on the stove. Playing with my child with the potatoes, while I was peeling them for dinner was not uncommon. When my first child was very small I would strap him to my front in a pouch and do the oakey-kokey while doing the hovering. I learned valuable skills which have allowed me to multi-task now I am back at work.
Learning to multi-task is about looking at the list of tasks you have to do and their priority. You then need to think of little things that can be fitted around other things. There are some tasks that do not lend themselves to multi-tasking. For example, I could not work on this article while making tea or painting the bedroom. Some things simply need your undivided attention.
One task that can be scheduled around other things is printing. If you need to print various things then set the printing to start and work on some other task while the printing is happening. This will avoid possible useful down time. It would be wasteful to sit by the printer waiting for the jobs to finish when you have other things you could be getting on with.
There are some people that truly find multi-tasking impossible. Those people are usually much happier doing one thing at a time and that is perfectly acceptable. For other people who would like to improve their productivity via multi-tasking then give it a go. Make sure that you do not try and completely overwhelm yourself or this will become counter-productive. As humans we can only handle so much and trying to fit three complicated tasks into the same time slot will simply make you burn out. We cannot fully concentrate on more than one thing at once and may make mistakes.
Consider how you can multi-task. What tools can help you multi-task? How can simply changing the way you do something be more efficient? If I wanted to learn a foreign language, but do not have time because I like to go to the gym after work then this would be a problem. I cannot read while on the running machine. Changing the way I learn may help. For example I could get language tapes and listen to them while I run.
The key is to perform more than one simple task together. Do not attempt to write a project proposal while painting your toe nails! Do try to do the washing up in between cooking the diner. Do not try to programme a database while holding a sales call in a foreign language! Do try to bind the final reports while waiting for a file to load. Most of all if you find that something is not working then stop and give one task your full attention. Things which could be dangerous if you do not give them your full attention such as driving a car should never be multi-tasked.
