Jack Of All Trades, Master Of None?

How many times have you wished for one of these?

Breast pump?! hahaha :D :D

I used to be a big fan of multitasking!

‘I can multitask like the best of ’em’, I would grin from ear to ear.

My multitasking skills were called upon heavily at my old job. I had a span of about 5-10 minutes before I was pulled into a new task. This went on for the entire day, every day. I started to realize that this was not an efficient way to work.

Those same work habits carried over into my new business and before I knew it, I was multitasking in a crazy environment just like my old one. Only now I was bringing it onto myself. I wondered if maybe I secretly thrived upon this style of work.

Zen Habits wrote a great article on ‘How NOT To Multitask: Work Simpler and Saner‘. I am so happy I came across this article when I did.

Here are a few key points from the article that I will expand upon:

First of all, multitasking is inefficient, crazy, and more complicated!

How NOT to multitask:

1) Plan your day in blocks

I like the 40:20 idea: 40 min work blocks, with 20 min. re-grouping or miscellaneous tasks blocks. The 20 minutes of each hour is allotted for things that pop up unexpectedly and for future planning, this does not mean 20 minutes of each hour is spent on Facebook or Digg. ;)

2) First thing in the morning, work on your most important task of the day

You know the saying…GIT ER DONE!

3) Have only one physical and one virtual inbox

I currently have 5 email accounts and I will be re-directing every email account into one inbox. Some of them already are, but some of them are not.

4) Stop and Breathe

If you feel the urge to check your email, Tweet, IM, Facebook or do another task while working on something, stop yourself and take a few deeps breaths, re-directing your focus to the task at hand. Repeat to yourself what your goal is for the hour.

I am notoriously bad for walking to my computer to do a specified task and then get distracted and do something totally different. Before I know it I am replying to emails and I have completely forgotten what I came into the room for! Am I an 85 yr old trapped in a 20 something’s body or am I just taking on too many tasks at once? I’d like to think the latter. ;)

[For the rest of the tips, see here.]

[Source]

What I am starting to realize is that I don’t have to do everything at the same time.

Things. Can. Wait.

My mind is not at peace when I am focusing simultaneously on 10 different tasks.

While I do not think that multi-tasking is inherently bad (it obviously can come in quite handy at times!!!), I do think it can be harmful if taken to the extreme.

My Action Plan:

I planned out today’s task in blocks in my Gmail calendar:

While I do not consider my workout the most important part of my day, history tells me that if I do not do it first thing, it often gets skipped!

I start my workday with my most important task, which is baking my orders. Without this, no orders can be shipped out.

I normally would not have scheduled 2 interviews in the middle of a long baking day and so far apart. In retrospect, I should have booked the interviews back to back, first thing in the morning so I would have the day clear for baking. On the other hand, it may provide a needed break in my day so it may just work.

With my afternoon interview, this doesn’t leave me much time to pack and ship out my orders before end of day. 3-4pm will be a crazy hour today trying to get it all done.

Hubby gets home + dinner + clean-up. Emails and packing for our weekend trip.

We always end our day, no matter how busy, with some down time together. Friday night will be a movie night!

My Goals for Day 1:

Focus on the task at hand, the one task at hand during that hour, whenever possible
Stop mindlessly going onto the computer when I am supposed to be doing something else
Schedule breaks! You can see a couple places in the calendar where I have 15 mins. with nothing (before each interview). This will give me a bit of downtime before switching to the next task.
Check off tasks as I go to feel accomplished

Will I be more productive and accomplish more than when I multitask? We shall see. :)

Are you a crazy multitasker like me? Do you do a million things at once or are you good at focusing on the task at hand?

Multitasking is the art of distracting yourself from two things you’d rather not be doing by doing them simultaneously. ~Unknown

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Casey (@Spicy&Sweet)

15 years ago

Oh man…I definitely multitask…THANK YOU for the tips!! It’s really helpful :). I think a lot of bloggers multitask!

Good Taste. Healthy Me

Love this! I’ve always been a multi-tasker but I always felt so much less accomplished at the end of the day when I just had a ton of half-finished projects. Now I like to focus on one thing and get it down. I will still catch myself trying to multi-task but I write a list every morning to help me out!

Angela

I feel like all I do is multi-task! I really would love to get my life more organized!

Kelly

I am such a multitasker. It always comes up in my reviews “you are so good at multitasking”. Everytime I try focusing on just one task, my job forces me back into the trap. I get to the end of the week and see big things I got completed but the small tasks always seem to go unfinished.

Katy @ These Beautiful Feet

I love this, lots of great information!

eatingRD

that comic cracked me up, that is like me! I try to be a multi-tasker but then tend to get overwhelmed with it all. So I try my hardest to focus on one thing at a time :)

laurie

I think you would really love the book THE POWER OF LESS. It is a really fast read (it is based on some zen principles). I had to read it for my job (we have book talks)- I am really organzied already, and it helped me to do things more effieciently. My husband, who is really disorganzied, found it extremely helpful.
:)

Jolene

Wow – do you ever spend a lot of time baking! You are very dedicated and enthusiastic! No wonder your bars are so good!

healthy ashley

You always have great tips on how to get more organized! I love the 40:20 rule :)

Morgan @ Healthy Happy Place

love this post. I’m the same way. I juggle 100 things at once and none of them get finished properly. I need to take some of your advice and focus on ONE project at a time.

Alena

Great post! I have a tendency to skim rapidly through blog posts and just look at pictures and recipes but I slowed down on this one and really found it useful. I will now take the time to read all of your posts more mindfully.

By the way, I read this in the middle of a paper I’m writing on a deadline. Hopefully from now I’ll take cue from your post and now wander off on the internet. Good luck with your busy schedule. I’m going back to work!

Cynthia (It All Changes)

I’m a big multitasker. But lately I’ve been trying to give myself time increments to do work and then do the some fun things for 15 minutes before the next task. I still get distracted at times but I’m getting better.

angela @ a healthy fit

Wow! I cannot imagine my world as a meeting planner without multi-tasking. I know thatI always work out in the morning because otherwise I am usually too wiped or have other plans.

Kath

Love seeing your calendar :) :)

Mandiee

great zen-organization tips! i’m notorious for multi-tasking, too, and i think learning to focus like this will really help. i also love how you write out your whole schedule for the day. it seems like a great idea and it’ll be perfect for finals studying.
i hope you have a lovely day!
xox

Trail

I’m horrible at multi-tasking! Granted, my job requires it, but it often makes my head spin and stumble around with that “I know I’m forgetting something” feeling! I have also definitely been guilty of coming to the computer for one thing and piddling my time away with another. I love the tips and think I may try to incorporate some into my work day. Thanks!

Leah @ Simply fabulous

I giggled at breast pump. Because I am so buying one soon lol.

Nicci@NiftyEats

I have learned to break things down by the day or hour…it really makes a difference.

Jessica @ The Process of Healing

This sounds really silly but how do you get your tasks to be different colors? I can only change the color for all of my tasks in one day, I cannot color code each individual task.

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