Failure = Multitasking !
No, I’m not joking. I honestly believe that the vast majority of people’s failures come because the project that failed was not given enough attention. Whilst it is possible to multitask and see benefits, I suspect that this generally only occurs when the tasks do not conflict, are short and happen within a confined time frame.
Multi-tasking works in those situations where each component task is either less demanding or demanding in a way that doesn’t encroach on the skills required for the other components. Once you begin to create longer term plans multi-tasking isn’t usually possible with any level of efficiency.
So, what is the solution?
Well, I think the key to understanding the failure of projects in multitasking is in the word itself. Multitasking means multiple tasks, a task being a low expenditure actiivty with a direct payoff on completion. It is not called multigoaling. How daft does that sound, the very word multigoaling suggests that it would be a foolish thing to pursue.
As timescales get longer and deadlines get further away from our current time, they become less real and as a result it is much harder to focus. Now, I know many of you will have been screaming at the start of this article that success simply requires focus and that is why multi tasking doesn’t work for long term goals. You would be right - I am a strong advocate of what I used to refer to as single tasking or single handling.
I now think that single handling is the most appropriate phrase. Tasks can and should be multitasked wherever possible as tasks by their definition are never long term and don’t tax our resources or drain our focus the way goals will.
So, I’m no longer against multitasking of tasks - but goals should always be single handled. If you can break your workday up into singlehandled events and multitasks I think you might see a much better success ratio than if you abandon one philosphy or the other. I’ve definately found that delegating my activities into the right segement has helped improve me efficiency no end!