Posted on June 8th, 2009 by Terence Kierans, aka TK
I thought that multi-tasking was specific to the female of our species – apparently not. So I could not resist this article to restart my blogging.
This great article by Mary McDonald, CEO/CTO of the McDonald Consulting Group http://www.mcdcg.com/10.html , an occasional client of mine, explains why multi-tasking can be detrimental to productivity.
People have different opinions on multi-tasking vs. one focus approach… so which is better?
“The Myth of Multitasking” by Christine Rosen details several reasons why multi-tasking is not the optimum approach:
- a fall in IQ (more so than if the subject were smoking marijuana
- decrease in learning
- negative impact on productivity (affecting the economy?)
- lost ‘brain time’ as the brain works to juggle several tasks
- and many more.
I’ve seen first-hand how multi-tasking affects our decision making — while sitting at a light waiting to make a left, I watched a woman coming through the intersection from the other side, talking on a cell phone, and drive right into a telephone pole. She never braked until she actually impacted the pole; and she continue to chat as she got out of the SUV to inspect her damage! Unluckily for her, a patrol car was at the red light on the cross street; he simply flicked on his lights and pulled over to write her up.
When trying to get a project complete, divide the project into smaller tasks. This tip: do those smaller tasks in their entirety prior to moving on to the next step.
Good ways to accomplish this:
- ignore the phone and email while working on a project
- set aside time on your calendar to do research, gather materials, and write rough drafts
- work from start to finish without pause, if possible
- if you must break, take a break at a logical stopping point, and leave your materials in place for easy restart
WARNING: These simple ideas may cause you to become more focused, productive, and happy. PROCEED WITH CAUTION! <grin!>
Terence Kierans CAVB (Certified Australian Virtual Business)
Principal, Cyberspace Virtual Services, Western Australia
www.virtualservices.com.au – Experience the Difference
www.virtualservices.com.au/CVS_blog – My contribution to business owners
www.avbn.com.au – Australian Virtual Business Network—You Deserve the Best
2007 Thomas Leonard International VA of Distinction Award Nominee
Contented Member of ‘A Clayton’s Secretary’
Use our skills to help you succeed
Tel: 61 8 9304 6983 Fax: 61 8 9304 3202 Mobile: 61 414 25 1091 UK Residents: 07092391723
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Posted on November 25th, 2008 by Terence Kierans, aka TK
Email has become a necessary evil. Let those messages accumulate a little before interrupting what you are doing to respond
Even if your business structure requires prompt response to email messages try only responding once every half-hour or even hourly. Doing it this way will decrease the number of interruptions to your workflow. It may not be possible for you to make use of this strategy, but if you can, then there is a number of benefits.
Very often, relevant information supplied in email messages tends to arrive bit by bit. So, by responding to your email messages only periodically, you can collect those threads all at once, reducing the amount of time spent on each issue. Using this approach will also minimise indulging in trivial email discussions.
Terence Kierans CAVB (Certified Australian Virtual Business)
Principal, Cyberspace Virtual Services, Western Australia
www.virtualservices.com.au – Experience the Difference
www.virtualservices.com.au/CVS_blog – My contribution to business owners
www.avbn.com.au – Australian Virtual Business Network—You Deserve the Best
2007 Thomas Leonard International VA of Distinction Award Nominee
Contented Member of ‘A Clayton’s Secretary’
Use our skills to help you succeed
Tel: 61 8 9304 6983 Fax: 61 8 9304 3202 Mobile: 61 414 25 1091 UK Residents: 07092391723
Having problems coping with all that paperwork?
Turn those piles into files and find any document
in 10 seconds or less!
http://tinyurl.com/64ag2
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Posted on November 8th, 2008 by Terence Kierans, aka TK
By: Dr. Donald E. Wetmore
Crisis Management, for the most part is when a deadline has snuck up behind you and robbed you of all choice. And crisis management, for the most part, is poor time management. Why? You’re under pressure, maybe cutting corners. Things can slip through the cracks. Your stress level is increased. The quality of your performance may not be what it ought to be.
I have been amazed through the years when my college students would hand in term papers and inform me that they didn’t have enough time to do a good job. I would reply, “When in the future will you get more time to redo it because if it’s as bad as you suggest, I’m going to give it back to you to redo.” You don’t have the time to do it right; where will the time come from to fix it?
I would suggest that if you find yourself in Crisis Management a lot, it probably has less to do with your day-to-day responsibilities and more to do with a lack of anticipation, because most of the things that put you into Crisis Management are things that are capable of being anticipated.
Read the rest of this entry »
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