Multi-tasking - Productivity or bane of human existence for the new millennium?

You wake up in the morning and get ready for work. As you brush your teeth, you are mentally thinking of what to wear to the office, what to have for breakfast, how the day at the office will be like, what plans you have for lunch, whether to meet your friends after work for drinks, hit the gym and work out on your abdominals or pectorals, or watch your favourite sitcoms on television. And if you have children, you will probably have a tactical plan of squeezing some time out of the day to stock up the refrigerator with groceries, pick your young ones up from tuition classes, have dinner with the in-laws (which side?), do homework with your children and prepare for that important presentation to impress the big bosses. On the way to work, you read up on the latest world's events, listen to the radio about the bulls and bears of the market, SMS acquaintances, have breakfast....  And you have yet to step into the office! Once in the office, you answer e-mails, pagers, handphones, queries from bosses and colleagues, juggle administrative work and filing. Before you know it, the day has ended and another schedule is demanding your attention to complete.
 

Multitasking, switching back and forth between activities of varying complexity, has become both a workplace and household catchphrase of the millennium. Unlike generations before, 24/7 is the lifestyle for us - like using the handphone while driving and loosing control of the car, increased anxiety, a sense of feeling overwhelmed by various demands, physical-mental burnout and depression. 
  

Now, there is scientific research to lend evidence to what we have suspected all along - multitasking, though productive, does have its down side. According to Joshua Rubinstein, David Meyer and Jeffrey Evans (Human Perception and Performance, Journal of Experimental Psychology, 27(4) 2001), our capacity for multitasking has its limits. Their study showed that participants lost time in performance speed when switching tasks (solving mathematical questions and classifying geometric shapes) and they lost more time as the tasks increased in complexity. However, when the tasks were easier, in the sense that participants found them familiar, their time of completion speeded up. According to Rubinstein, Meyer and Evans, the explanation seems to lie in the prefrontal cortex and parietal cortex, known as the "Mental CEOs" of our brain - they help to prioritise the various tasks that we have to do and allocate our mental resources to each of them effectively. What this means is that when we choose to do X, our Mental CEOs' goal will be focusing on tasks related to X and activating the rules necessary in accomplishing X; other chores/activities (goals) and their associating rules will be put aside. Activating these rules takes time, about several tenths of a second as indicated by the researchers, which may not be significant until you consider the number of activities people engaged themselves in, in multitasking. Time lost could possibly put one's life at stake, as people struggle between negotiating on the phone with clients/colleagues and their cars on a busy road. 
 

The results of this study have ramifications in many aspects of our lives, one most vital of which is time management skills: it is the focus on results and not on being inundated with activities. Here are some tips that can help you better manage your time as you multitask your way into personal and professional responsibilities:
 

1. Determine what is important for success in your personal and professional lives, and what constitutes exceptional performance. Know what is expected of you and then set the goals and plans that will lead you to that success.

2. Use an activity journal to evaluate your use of time and your energy levels at different times of the day. This may help to give you some insight as to how much your time is worth, and which tasks should be avoided, dropped or delegated.

3. Give important work - big project at the office and or comforting your child through exam stress - the quality time it deserves.

4. Maintain an appropriate diet, rest and sleep regiment so that you can spend more time performing well.

5. Use time spent waiting in lines or delays effectively. Do your bills, balance your cheque-book or catch up on your reading; confirm appointments ahead of time and should you be kept waiting, decide if you can afford to leave after 15 minutes and inform the contact person of your departure. Re-negotiate another time that is convenient.

6. Control the distractions that interfere with effective work by letting colleagues or family members know when you do not want to be disturbed and what constitutes as an important distraction (office building is on fire; toilet bowl backed up). Handle phone calls efficiently by establishing the purpose of the phone call ahead of time, tailoring your conversation style to the person you are addressing, giving concise answers to questions asked and summarising your points at the end of the conversation.
    

As you manage your time effectively, you will be more productive, gain more control of what you do, and give yourself time to make plans that improve your career prospects and the quality of your life outside of work. Understand that "it is not the years in your life but the life in your years that counts" (Adlai, Stevenson).