The pointy end of multi-tasking – don’t answer the phone!

This post extends on the idea of working towards the pointy end of the bell curve. I.e. If you consciously do things differently to most people you will not end up the same as most people – average.

I’ve been thinking about multi-tasking, and conclude that for computers it’s a good thing. For people, it’s a bad thing. I think the reason is all about processing capacity.

Generally, computers have more processing capacity than they need, so it makes sense to chug away on several things at once.

Even though the human brain has a lot of capacity – we can walk, breath, sweat, digest and age all at the same time – the limiting factor seems to be our attention. Our attention is almost always directed at something – it doesn’t have spare capacity. It is almost always operating at full capacity, which is when multi-tasking fails to be efficient.

So why do we subject ourselves to so much multi-tasking? Why do we set up our work environments to allow so much interruption?

I’ve posted before on email, but what about Instant Messenger, the phone, SMS, Twitter – even people just walking up to you and asking you stuff when you’re trying to get something done?

If most people just let it happen, then in order to move towards the pointy end of the curve, I need to start to NOT let it happen don’t I? Obviously within reason, but maybe introducing a small amount of control of these interruptions will start me on the way to the pointy end…

Try this:

1. Choose what you think is your most productive hour of the day. For this hour:
   1. Shut down messenger
   2. Divert your phone – desk and cellular – to message bank (don’t let it ring – that breaks your concentration)
   3. Hang a ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign or some other indicator where people approaching your desk can see it
   4. Block out this time in your calendar – accept no meetings
2. Enjoy the feeling of focused, uninterrupted, productive time
3. If people get miffed that you’re unavailable, put a bit of extra effort outside of this hour into helping them with their enquiry.

Remember to un-divert your phone

Just one hour per day like this is one hour of focused productivity more than most people spend – and that will push you towards the pointy end.