Time is a finite resource. Today you have 24 hours. Yesterday it was the same. In fact every day of your life you will have 24 hours except for 2 days. The day you are born and the day you die. So, a question that we often ask is – how can I make the most of that time? There are many answers to this that will focus on priority and questions of importance. These are all good things to think about. We should also consider time efficiency. Time efficiency is what comes into play after we have decided how to use our time. How do we maximise the efficiency of the time we have for the things we are spending it on. Here’s one thing to consider. Time efficiency – focus on just one thing.
With so many demands on our lives and our time, we inevitably will end up trying to ‘multitask’. This is a really bad idea and is a really inefficient use of time.
Multi-tasking is switch tasking
When we multi-task we think we are doing two things at once. Research that I have read suggests that this is impossible for the human brain to do. Read that again. It is impossible for the human brain to focus on more than one thing at a time. There is a classic example of this idea. Have you seen the video of a large group of people passing balls back and forth between them? Half are wearing white and half are wearing black. Your task is count the number of passes that people wearing white make. At the end of the video the voice over declares that if you counted 13 passes you are correct….but did you spot the dancing gorilla? Most people don’t spot it because they are focussing on people dressed in white and so do not notice the person in a black gorilla costume. This demonstrates, amongst other things, that you cannot focus on more than one thing at a time.
When we multi-task, we are not multi-tasking. We are switch-tasking. Cognitively switching back and forth between tasks. This approach comes with a cost and is widely understood to lower your productivity and output. Multi-tasking or switch tasking makes your time less efficient that focussing on just one thing.
Multi-tasking often involves dropping things to focus on other things
I recently watched a video where mum is trying to put washing in the machine. One the way she spots some shoes that have been left out. So she drops the washing and picks up the shoes. One the way to where the shoes live, she trips over a plate left on the floor. She drops the shoes, picks up the plate and heads to the kitchen. In the kitchen is her sons dirty football kit which leads her back to the washing machine and then the video repeats. The point is that because we do not focus on what we are doing, we never actually complete what we are doing. We end up dropping it, unfinished to focus on something else. This is an inefficient use of time. Far better to complete the task and then move on to the next.
If multi-tasking isn’t switch tasking then it is distracting
When I was a kid I used to spend time over the school holidays playing a football manager video game. This involved quite a bit of letting things run as I watched and then intervening when I needed to. So I would play Pokémon on my Gameboy at the same time. And watch Friends on the TV. All at once. Now, I will try to read emails whilst on the phone and sometimes in meetings. Now I will try to listen to podcasts or watch YouTube videos whilst I work on other things. This may not be ‘switch tasking’ in the traditional sense but it is distracting and so inefficient. I tend to find if I listen to podcasts whilst working, I get very little out of the podcast and the work takes longer. This is not an efficient use of time.
This however has an even more detrimental impact when we move out of the realm of ‘tasks’ to relationships. How often do we spend scrolling through stuff on our phones when ‘spending time’ our kids or our spouses? How much of our focus goes elsewhere? This moves beyond mere efficiency to effectiveness. In this video Simon Sinek highlights the impact of just holding a phone on people around us when we are with them. The point is to not be focussed on the people we are with and the things we are doing means we are not being as effective as we think we are. This is an inefficient use of time.
Time is a finite resource. It is therefore a responsibility for each and every one of us to use it well. Using our time well will include using that time efficiently. If you want to use your time efficiently – focus on just one thing. Be present. Then, when you are done, focus on something else. I do not believe that anyone is an exception to this basic principle. So consider your time efficiency and focus on just one thing.
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