Persistence Unlimited Personal Productivity Tips

Multitasking is Madness. 10 Tips to Stop

“If you can’t ride two horses at once, you shouldn’t be in the circus.” - American Proverb

Barbara Bartlein from the People Pro posted an article about the harmful effect of multitasking on your productivity. She points out how researchers warn of several problems with multitasking aside from decreased productivity including increased stress, stomach aches, and headaches

University of Illinois study of Microsoft workers reports that each time a person gets distracted, it takes a full 15 minutes to get back on track. Put another way, for each time your email dings with a new message, whether it’s a dire emergency or a picture of a cat with a melon skin on it’s head, it costs you dearly in lost time.

With the productivity losses incurred from multitasking, Barbara listed out 4 main ways to combat it:

• Accurately estimate the time to complete tasks. For one day, write down all the tasks you have to accomplish and estimate the time needed. Then truthfully time yourself. You will be able to find the percentage that you routinely underestimate and can adjust your work schedule.
• Use external memory as much as possible. Albert Einstein once said that he keeps nothing in his mind that can be easily retrieved from paper. A cluttered brain makes it much more difficult to be creative and productive. External memory can be as simple as a pad of paper or using technology more effectively. Use the calendar on your computer to remind you of important dates or appointments and quick lists to organize your tasks.
• Batch your work. Rather than checking e-mail multiple times per day, set times for reading and responding. Let your phone go to voice mail, if possible, and return phone calls during a specific time. Put similar tasks together, like paying bills and balancing your checking account, to increase efficiency.
• Remove distractions. Control interruptions and noise. If the workplace is loud, discuss with co-workers ways to control the volume. Set times for consultation or questions rather than allowing unlimited access to your time. And make sure you don’t “interrupt yourself” by running to get more coffee or making a quick phone call. Use “butt glue” until the task is completed.

They are all very good suggestions, however, I am torn on using the external memory as much as possible. I think it’s important to use both your brain’s memory as well as your computer’s memory. We are becoming so used to looking into the Google oracle that we might be losing some of our natural memory ability or at least sending it into hibernation. To combat this, I still use flashcards to test my memory on an almost daily basis.

Here are 6 of my own tips from my goody bag of staying focused and productive:

1. Repeat a Productive Mantra - As you work, try repeating the phrase “I will complete this task 100%” or you might choose “100%” as your mantra. Drive a wedge deep into your brain about how important it is to achieve 100% on a task. Five tasks 1/2 done are useless compared to one task completed 100%. This is also a good visualization strategy. When you are thinking about your goals and the steps needed to complete them, think “How can I complete task A 100% today?” It gives you a direction and focus.It may sound corny, but there’s the old song “One day at a time sweet Jesus”. Sometimes I find myself humming “One task at a time sweet Jesus.” That may not be for everyone, but it is a powerful reminder to keep my eyes focused clearly ahead.
2. Get back in the game faster - If you fall of track as the Microsoft workers did, do you really need to be off track for a full 15 minutes? Of course not. You can get back on the horse in 30 seconds if you stay alert. Therefore, make a note to yourself to be alert to when you are off track and then get back to the original task as fast as you can. Make it a game. Shoot for 100% completion. This will require some dedication on your part to develop it as a habit. But as time goes on it gets easier with practice.
3. Seal your environment - I like to call this tip sealing the environment. This means closing off all distractions by arranging your physical environment. What works good for me is to seal myself off from distractions with these 4 steps:
   1. Close office door - Nothing distracts like other people busting in with their immediate demands. I’m as guilty of doing this others as others are of doing it to me. But one universal symbol of DND (do not disturb) is a closed door. At least with a door closed, they typically knock, allowing you the freedom of finishing up a thought or setting a reminder to get back on task in 5 minutes.
   2. Adopt an earplug strategy - Noise gets me every time. Whether it’s my daughter singing Going to the chapel at the top of her lungs or a server fan going bad, noise can take the wind out of my sails. For these occasions, I keep earplugs nearby so I can pop them in and get to work. Sometimes in-ear headphones will do the trick too as long as the music isn’t too distracting. It might surprise you that I can still carry on a brief conversation while wearing earplugs. They also send a visual cue to my people that I am busy and don’t want to be distracted. So when they see me wearing them, they often turn and go the other way - or they at least keep our impromptu meeting short.
   3. Sit at a different seat - If I really need to get in the zone and my mind isn’t cooperating, I change my environment entirely. I will turn my chair around facing the opposite direction. I’ll stand at a countertop or place my materials on a bookcase and work from there. I’ll go work in my car with the radio off if I have to. The important thing is breaking the cycle of distraction through environmental change.
   4. Turn off gadgetry - Set your phone, computer and PDA to the off position and prepare for takeoff.
4. Shoot for 100% completion of each task before moving on - When did it ever become acceptable to 1/2 finish a task before moving on? For as long as I can remember, my family called that doing something half-assed. Sure, that term doesn’t make a lick of sense, but it is motivating in a way. From now on, shoot for 100% on any task you start. Following Barbara’s tip from above, see if you can estimate how long your task will take before you start. Based on that estimate do you have enough time to finish 100%? If not, pick a task you can complete in the time you have and don’t stop until it’s done.There’s something wonderful about 100%. It’s the relief of a job well done - a job done completely. Shoot for 100% and you can look back at your days feeling as though you were successful.
5. Keep your eye out for boring - All tasks can get boring or tedious. At the point of boredom it’s easy to move on to something else. When you get stuck or bored, try to work through the problem instead of jumping on email or something easy. Not everything you do can be easy - especially when your goals get bigger and brighter. There is some hard work ahead, some of it is boring. Just be aware that boredom can be a trick - don’t fall for it. Fight your way through boredom and there is light on the other side.
6. Unplug Your Internet connection - Internet take me away! Surfing, Facebook, Google; they can all take you away from what you are doing. Remember the Microsoft study - all it takes is a beep or boop and you’ve lost 15 minutes. Solution? Unplug your Internet cable. Granted, this can be difficult for some IT workers. But by disconnecting the Internet connection over a “break” and turning off your phone for an hour during lunch can be some of the most productive time you have all day.

If you like this post, please share it with others by book-marking it to del.icio.us, Digg or StumbleUpon - Thanks!!

Don’t Complain, Wallow or Whine - Get Educated!

Think about your most pressing problem or challenge for a second. Unless it is health related there is most definitely a solution out there.
Read everything you can on the subject. Take a class or two if you can find one. Join a local “enthusiast” club dedicated to solving your problem.
The fringe benefit of self education [...]

A Great Way to Study - No Scheduling Required

Many of us have 3 or more hours per week in forced idle time. 
We might listen to music or jibber-jabber on the radio.    It’s time that once gone is gone forever.  Yet, this is still our time.  So it’s up to each one of us to decide how we spend it. 
We can stick [...]

Master Time & Money By Accounting for It

“Those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it.” ~ Edmund Burke
An article by Melissa Raffoni asks if you are spending your time the right way. Well are you?
It’s a good question.
Her concept here is mainly geared toward managers, but I think some of the points are good for anyone who wants to [...]

Finding Your Most Important Task of the Day

If you have ever struggled with what you should do here’s a simple tip that can help.

We know we are supposed to first focus on our top priority.  But sometimes determining which is the top priority, that’s the $1,000,000 question.  

I know when I’m stuck between two or more top priorities, I get stressed and often it takes much longer to start.  So here’s a trick I use to sometimes find out what I should be doing so I can get to work.

It’s pretty simple really.

1.  Take the tasks that are on your immediate mind, write them all down.   You don’t have to spend an hour doing this, spend five minutes if you’ve got it.

2.  Rank each task for DIFFICULTY:   You might say that taking out the garbage is a 2, while sitting and writing 3 pages of your book is a 9.

3.  Then, simply pick the most difficult task on your list and get to work.

Odds are, the task you feel is most difficult is also your most important. We have a tendency to put off tasks that we feel are most difficult. But tough work is also what brings the highest value. We get more rewards for completing the tasks other We get a lot of benefits from doing the most important tasks on on our list. We might be paid higher, we might receive more love or more commitment or more energy.

Do you have any unique ways of divining your most important action of the day?  If so, feel free to let us know about it in the comments below. :)

Links of Late…

Here are some pages that caught my interest in the past few days:

My favorite Text to speech app Text2Go is on sale at BitsduJour today.
RulesofThumb is a Cool site discussing little DIYs, How To’s for just about everything. Information from building you McDonalds to never get into a fistfight, this is a great place to [...]

Power Posts from March ‘08

Today being the number 1 fools day of the year brings to close a cold and windy March. And March, although a tough month, was good for the self-development posts here on Persistence Unlimited. (How’s that for a segue?)
Here are 5 of my favorites:

The Little Roomba That Could; Or 5 Reasons Why Persistence [...]