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WORK-LIFE RESOURCES for INDIVIDUALS
and ORGANIZATIONS
TIP SHEETS
from Programs for Working People:
A FEW GOOD BOOKS:
Brooks, R., and Goldstein, S. The Power of Resilience. New York: Contemporary Books, 2004.
Harvard Business School. Time Management: Increasing Your Personal Productivity and Effectiveness. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2005.
Gambles, R. et al. The Myth of Work-Life Balance: The Challenge of Our Time for Men, Women, and Societies. West Sussex, England: John Wiley & Sons, 2006.
Morgenstern, J. Making Work Work: New Strategies for Surviving and Thriving in the Office. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2004.
Society for Human Resource Management. Work/life Balance: Challenges and Solutions. Alexandria, VA: SHRM, 2007.
Yost, C.W. Work & Life: Finding the Fit that Works for You. New York: Riverhead Books, 2004.
IMPORTANT MEMBERSHIP ORGANIZATIONS:
Alliance for Work-Life Progress
www.awlp.org
Boston College Center for Work and Family
www.cwf.bc.edu
World at Work
www.worldatwork.org
USEFUL PUBLICATIONS:
WFCResources Newsbrief
www.WFCResources.com
Work Life Today
www.worklifetoday.com
RESEARCH ORGANIZATIONS:
Catalyst
www.catalystwomen.org
The Families and Work Institute
www.familiesandwork.org
Sloan Work and Family Research Network
www.wfnetwork.bc.edu
ARCHIVED "Spotlight On…" ARTICLES:
ARCHIVED “Content Corner” ARTICLES:
"Mindfulness, Meditation and Moment Management"
"Managing Stress During The Holiday Season"
"Goal Setting for Success"
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In this section of our website, you will find highlights from selected seminars, including the seminar description and excerpts from the content as it is presented at corporate sites. For additional information, please contact our office.
The Perils of Multitasking and Task Switching
THE SEMINARS: Multitasking is a subject covered in PWP's seminars on time management and goal setting.
THE SEMINAR DESCRIPTION - Time Management:
There never seems to be enough time to accomplish our countless workplace responsibilities and tasks, let alone focus on setting long-range professional goals and priorities. If you feel overwhelmed by your workload, find yourself muddled by disorganization, or simply want to increase your level of efficiency, this seminar is for you! Learn basic time management strategies and more, so that you can take charge of the limited hours available to you.
THE CONTENT: Learning to Stop Multitasking Madness
Most working people in our culture have developed the habit of doing more than one thing at a time. In many organizations, workload requires that managers and employees master multitasking, as well as switching from task to task frequently during the course of the workday. One might view these habits as productivity boosters. However, this is hardly the case.
It seems to be a well-guarded secret that multitasking and task switching are detrimental to getting work done quickly and efficiently, although the research is as plain as the nose on your face. Doing two things at once can actually reduce brain power, depending on the specific tasks at hand. Multitasking works best when a person is working on two disparate tasks, such as meeting with a colleague over lunch or listening to music while driving a car. We know that talking on a cell phone while driving is a dangerous distraction, even when using a headset. Reading email while talking on the phone, something over half of us do both at work and at home, is neither efficient nor polite.
"Task grazing," doing a little of this and a little of that, has significant negative consequences, including decreased efficiency. It takes the human brain four times longer to recognize and process information when switching from one task to another. The time lost increases with the complexity of the tasks at hand. Long-term consequences can include impaired ability to concentrate, decreased sense of control, short-term memory loss, and increased stress levels. Some people experience physical complaints and difficulty sleeping. It is hard to imagine that we are working productively in this manner.
Employees do not like working in this manner either. In a study conducted by the Families and Work Institute, 45% of workers indicated that they feel they are expected to work on too many tasks at once. Many employees complain about being interrupted far too frequently by seemingly urgent tasks that must take precedence. They often feel powerless to set priorities and stay with a task through its completion.
Employees and managers need to pay attention to their productivity levels and the degree of stress they experience when multitasking or constantly switching from one task to another. Noticing how much time is lost "gearing up" to an activity that has been left behind is also very important.
Here are a few tips that can help individuals change inefficient work patterns, and recover from multitasking madness and task-switching mania:
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Give yourself the chance to continue working on a task until it is completed. This is, by far, the most effective way to work. |
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Work on your ability to estimate the time it takes to complete a task. Make a habit of adding on, if that's what it takes. |
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Remove distractions that can pull you away from an activity. |
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Stop interrupting yourself. Resist the impulse to attend to another activity. |
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Politely discourage others from interrupting you when you are working on an important task. |
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Find a quiet space for uninterrupted work, and let others know your intentions. |
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Silence the beep that announces a new email message. |
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Resist the impulse to pick up the phone every time it rings. Consider that there might be a better time to take that call. |
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Develop an "external memory," to give your brain a rest. Write things down, and use other creative reminders. |
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Learn to recognize that, when your effectiveness has waned, it's time for a break. Do something totally unrelated, such a walking outdoors or listening to music. |
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Advocate for work redesign in your organization. |
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