Simple tips for multi-tasking

I’m old enough to have been around during the Filofax craze of the 1980s when it was considered trendy to own a leather-bound portable binder. Amongst other things, these Filofaxes were used to help people organize their time and keep important notes on tasks that needed attention. Back then I was a programmer and generally speaking, my life wasn’t particularly complicated. I would have a program to code and I could focus all my attention on that single task, and when it was finished the next program was handed to me. I only ever had one thing to focus on at a time and so I never felt the need to buy a Filofax.

Today, as a project manager, my work is not so linear. Generally speaking I concurrently manage up to 6 information technology projects of various sizes, all demanding my time in different moments, and in the busiest weeks, all at once. As you can imagine, it can become overwhelming. Various researches have shown that multi-tasking can cause poor performance due to the mental effort required in switching between tasks[1][2]. Procrastination can set in because it’s difficult to focus on any one task. The anxiety not only comes from not meeting deadlines, but also the worry of completely forgetting about the existence of some tasks; the brain is not always good at keeping long lists.

Big tasks, such as writing a tender document, are the worst, because you never feel like you can put aside the time to dedicate to it.

I work with a lot of people who find themselves in a similar situation of having to manage a long list of priorities and it surprises me to see so many of them struggling in this day and age with bits of post-it notes as reminders stuck to their desk, or just a notebook which, once a few pages have been turned over, become useless as a reminder of the tasks needing attention.

Is there a better way to multitask?

Multitasking is a term that hails from the computer industry, to indicate the execution of multiple programs at the same time. In reality, the computer would perform one task at a time, stop after a specified short period and move on to the next task, and so on through all tasks cyclically, giving the appearance that all tasks were being performed at once.

Human multitasking is the idea that we do more than one thing at once. However, studies have shown that humans are generally very ineffective at it, and sometimes it can be very dangerous (e.g. driving while using a mobile phone).

I have a simple strategy to deal with multi-tasking, and that is simply not to do it. However, many of us have a lot of activities that need attention at the same time and so in order to address the multiple tasks I have 4 simple steps which I hope readers find useful.

I can’t put it more simply than stating that we need to apply a systematic approach.

Step 1: Find one common place to write down all your tasks that is accessible to you wherever you go. Ideally this is on-line and accessible from your desktop, your mobile if need be, and perhaps even from home (although I don’t recommend taking your work home as a regular occurrence). I recommend the use of a Kanban tool for this. Kanban is a scheduling system for lean manufacturing and just-in-time manufacturing developed by Taiichi Ohno for Toyota. It is often used in agile programming developments. It may seem to be a tool that is excessive for your daily scheduling needs, but actually Kanban can be used not only for large projects but also for the individual to manage their tasks. I personally use kanbanflow.com which is free to use and offers some nice features for managing work. When you open an account on kanbanflow.com you are provided with a board divided into the columns ‘To do’, ‘Do Today’, ‘In progress’ and ‘Done’. I have configured my board to have one column for each of my projects and/or activity streams, as well as columns for “to do today” and “done”. I create tasks in the appropriate column and then move them to “Do Today” and “Done” as they progress. I can’t over-emphasise how important it is to get all your tasks out of your memory and recorded safely where they won’t be lost.

Step 2: Old methods are often the best. At the start of each day I work on those tasks that I can complete within a few minutes of effort. They may not all be top priority, but this approach ensures that tasks that are often overlooked are completed in short time. The positive feeling of dumping them from the to-do list is very satisfying. 1 hour into my day and I’ve reduced my tasks down to a manageable level, and I feel as though I’ve achieved something. It’s a great stress-reducer and now I can focus on the big tasks.

Step 3: Chunking. You may have some tasks that require days or even weeks to complete. Imagine having to write a complex tender document for requests for proposal. There’s a lot of research, writing, rewriting and iterations to incorporate comments that can take weeks to complete. How can you organize this around all your other tasks? The simplest approach is to break it down, which I call chunking. From one large task, create several distinct manageable tasks, such as “write the template”, “review similar tenders from the past for guidance”, “write the high-level technical requirements”, “write the evaluation criteria”, and so on. Work of this sort can become a project (or column in Kanban) in its own right. Chunking allows you to focus on one thing at a time, and tick off progress as you go, and give that feeling that you have achieved something even when it is not 100% finished. As I wrote above, there’s a positive feedback loop in dragging that task over to the “done” column.

Step 4: Repeat steps 1 to 3 every day. It does require a methodical approach that some people are not comfortable with. I sometimes do lapse back into getting by with just my mind and good will. But soon the day occurs when I arrive at work and don’t know what to work on because I have so many tasks, not enough time to do them, and the anxiety sets in. Sometimes it takes a little anxiety in order to get back to following good habits and the rest takes care of itself.

Now that I’ve finished this article, this is another task that I can transfer to the “Done” column. Happy new year everyone!

John Rowell, Information Technology Officer (Project Management), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

The views expressed in this information product are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

[1]. Lin, Lin (September 11, 2008). "Multitasking in Today's Learning Environment:Does Technology Make a Difference? University of North Texas" (PDF). Retrieved April 26, 2010.

[2]. Elliott, Emily (September 18, 2012). "Louisiana State University psychology professor". ITWorld. Louisiana State University. Retrieved September 18, 2012.