Strange & Charmed

Today I want to set the record straight on an often controversial and misunderstood aspect of productivity; multi-tasking!

As a society, we get a lot of mixed messages on multi-tasking. The American #hustle culture projects a narrative that your productivity is measured by the number of tasks you can check off your to do list in a day, and that busy is the ultimate sign of success. 

Everyday I see images on television and social media that glorify doing multiple tasks at one time, apparently a sign that you are using your time efficiently? 

I see posts on Instagram about how you can sleep when you’re dead and how humorous it is that career professionals in their 20s and 30s have no time for their social lives.

Blowing off your friends and family to sleep because you’re burnt out from work is a right of passage.

Having to drink a bottle of wine or take prescription sleep aids in order to get rest at night is the accepted norm.

But despite all the social signals that working non stop and doubling or tripling up on tasks is the way to go if you want to look like a successful human, productivity research is very clear that when you try to do more than one thing at a time, you are going to do both of those things poorly. In fact, studies show multi-tasking decreases productivity up to 40%. 

Now, if the tasks you are working on are not very important and don’t require any skill or level of precision, then by all means, multi-task away.

I’m all for listening to your favorite podcast episodes while you fold the laundry or do the dishes. 

I very often listen to a book on tape or catch up on YouTube videos when I’m in the bath.

There are some things you can do adequately at the same time.

For instance, I use essential oils and listen to a guided meditation when I’m trying to fall asleep at night. It’s a wonderful way to stack healthy sleep habits to ensure a restful night’s slumber.

But when it comes to tasks that do matter. Tasks for work or business, attending meetings or calls, and even relaxing or spending time with loved ones, you really should focus on the task at hand if you want to see and feel results.

I’ve learned from much trial and error that I can’t listen to a non-fiction book while I’m working or else I won’t do much work or I won’t remember what I’ve learned from the book. I can’t have it both ways, I can only focus on one important thing at a time if I want to do it right.

I can’t attend a Zoom meeting and try to do anything more than take notes if I actually want to absorb the information from the call. And even in this case, while I’m taking notes I often miss new information that is being mentioned.

Multi-tasking just doesn’t work on the important things because humans need to focus in order to learn or create. 

Sure, you can work on multiple tasks a day, but you can’t work on multiple tasks at one time.

So, I advocate for focus. For doing one thing at a time, giving it your full attention, and doing the thing very well.

When you do this, focus on one thing at a time, at first you might experience a bit of fear because all your attention and pressure are on one task. 

Some of you I’d bet have been multi-tasking not simply to get more done in a day, but to actually keep you from going all in on certain work. 

Multi-tasking relieves the pressure of perfectionism for some people because you know deep down inside that you just want to rush through certain tasks and get them over with. Multi-tasking can be a type of distraction for us, and a boundary that keeps us from doing our best work at the same time.

Done is better than perfect, right?

Well, it depends on the context.

You can do two things at once, check the box on them and move on to the next thing without even stopping to evaluate if the work was necessary or impactful.

So many of us check the box on tasks with the expectation that it is going to move the needle on an objective or goal, but we give up because we don’t see the fruits of our labor. Perhaps, if we had focused on one thing at a time and did our best with each, we would have seen the impact we were expecting.

This brings to mind the example of working out alone versus working out with a trainer. Working out alone of course benefits our health, but it’s been shown that working out with a trainer gives greater results because the trainer is there to ensure you are holding proper form and putting in a full effort for your time. When we work out alone, sure, some of us may be disciplined enough to remain in proper form or push ourselves to the limit each workout, but truthfully, most of us are just trying to get thru the experience rather than doing it right. We have a belief that just finishing is enough, and when we don’t see the results we expected after weeks of effort, we give up. 

What if we just put in the full effort and gave the task our full focus to begin with? 

Well, then we would start seeing results that would likely blow us away.

Wouldn’t that be a nice feeling for once?

So, from now on, let’s hold ourselves accountable for doing one thing at a time when it comes to tasks that are important or are tied to our goals and objectives. 

It’s fine to multi-task in small ways on mindless tasks that don’t have a significant effect on our lives, but when you do, take note of whether you got all you expected from your experience, and if you feel unfulfilled you know not to multi-task on that item again in the future. 

If you enjoyed this post and are looking for your own productivity personal trainer of sorts to ensure you are remaining accountable to your tasks and goals, I invite you to join me in the Productivity and Planning Mastermind Membership Group. Consider it your on demand productivity and planning Netflix subscription! As a member of the mastermind, you’ll get access to live monthly master classes and Q+A calls, weekly accountability check-ins, extra daily content from me on a variety of personal development topics and some great digital tools intended to help you learn to live your best life. Click here to learn more about the membership and enroll today for instant access to thousands of dollars in productivity tools and resources!

xoxo,

Hello My Charmed Ones!

Working from home is a concept I am all too familiar with. Even before quarantine and before I left my job to go full-time for my own business, I was a home based employee.

Working from home has a certain allure that many office goers are often curious about and sometimes envious of, but trust me, working from home is no cake walk! I’m often asked about how I stay productive when I work from home because to be completely honest, working from home can be a total productivity killer. Unlike working in a structured office setting, home based workers are faced with many different obstacles that often cause them to be less productive. This may not translate to all at-home workers, but I know I have experienced challenges working from home and I know others who have as well. The way I see it, there are three main issues that home based workers face.

Isolation: Working from home often times means working alone and this issue often caused me a lot of grief even when I did work for a Fortune 50 company and technically had co-workers. When I worked in an office I often felt like my co-workers were a major distraction to me because they would pop in and out of my office all the time, but when I transitioned to working from home I realized that those interruptions actually forced me to take a break from my work every so often. You see, when you work from home you don’t have the same pressures and excuses to get work done that you do when you work in an office. There is no “Oh, I really need to finish up this report quickly before my co-worker stops by to chat about our project.” Although many of us dilly dally when we work in an office, we also have some institutional pressures that actually help us get our work done!

Lack of Accountability: Depending on the type of work you do and whether you work from a home for a company or for yourself, you may feel a lack of accountability looming over your head to keep you productive. This is something I felt as a home based employee and something I struggle with now that I work for myself. When your supervisors or co-workers aren’t watching, you feel like you can slow down your pace, engage in more distracting behavior (like turning on the TV or doing the laundry) that can waste much of your time when you should be working.

Distractions: As much as a formal office setting has its own unique set of distractions, nothing is more distracting that working from home. Seriously, your bed is never more than a few steps away from you at all times which is a very tempting trap I often fall into! Working from home gives you a lot of freedom, many of us think that if we work from home we can get all our work done and clean the house and make dinner as well, but in my experience that isn’t the case. Unless you are highly disciplined it’s going to be hard for you to get your full 8 hours of work in and then a bunch of extra personal items as well. Other than the time you get back from your commute, you really don’t get anymore hours in a day when you are a home based worker!

So, what can we do about this very common issues that at home workers face?

I have a few tips that I use to keep myself productive and I suggest you put these into practice for your own home/work balance!

Create a defined office space: It’s very important as a home based worker to have a defined office space. Your bed cannot be your office! Get a desk and a chair, set yourself up an area of your bedroom or home to be your office. I am lucky enough to have a dedicated room in my home that I use as my office space and I feel drastically more productive when I work from it. Make sure to add personality and decor to your office or workspace as well by adding inspirational artwork to your walls, keeping a supply of stationery and office supplies on hand and of course, having all the necessary office gadgets you need to get your work done like a printer, fax machine etc. Now, although you may have a defined office space, I also find it helpful from time to time to get yourself out of your space and work from another location. In non-covid times, that would mean take your laptop and some paperwork and head over to a local cafe or library to get some work done at a remote location. With covid, however, I think we need to get a little more creative. I have some alternate spots in my home that I use as my occasional office (including my bed) and I know for a change of scenery some people have taken to working inside their cars from a more scenic location near their homes. So, even in social distancing, we can still switch it up when need be.

Engage in a morning routine: For a long time I woke up, got out of bed and went straight to work in my office. Since I didn’t have to get ready to go into the office, I thought there was no reason for me to establish a morning routine, but I find that having a morning routine and getting dressed and ready in the morning is a major boost to my productivity. Although no one sees me when I work from home except my family, I find that I actually get more done on the days where I actually wake up, put on a cute but comfortable outfit and do my hair and makeup just a bit! The ritual of getting ready establishes a sense of accountability for me that really helps me to stay focused and productive during the day.

Connect with other remote workers: To combat the isolation that comes from being a remote worker, I highly recommend connecting with other remote workers to create a support system. These workers could be other home based employees as your company, or friends and family members that also work from home. I think it’s a great practice to have an instant messaging application open on your computer and connected with these individuals so that throughout the day you have people to talk to. You can even schedule lunch dates to meet up with a friend during your lunch hour or have a Skype date during lunch time with another virtual co-worker!

Another great way to stay connected with other at-home workers is by joining an accountability group like the Productivity + Planning Mastermind. We chat daily via Slack, have regular accountability check-ins and I host two live calls a month. It’s like having some virtual co-workers and friends at the same time!

Set a consistent work schedule: Another issue I have is that since I work from home, I end up working at all hours of the day and night. Usually I do this when I haven’t felt particularly productive all day and feel like I need to make up for my laziness by working well into the night to complete a project or tasks, but it is a terrible practice that I highly suggest avoiding. To combat this, I think it’s important to set a work schedule for yourself. Set your start time, breaks, lunch and end time for the day and try to stick to it. It will be hard at first, but if you can set yourself alarms to remind you to start and stop working that may help you build the habit.

Define an end of day routine: Like your morning routine when you get up to go to work, I realized that as an at home worker part of the puzzle I was missing was also an end of day routine. When I worked in an office I had this end of day routine where I would stop working on my projects, organize any in-progress information for the next day, clean up my workspace, and then shut down my computer before I left. As an at home worker, I think it’s very important to establish an end of day routine like this that works for your own situation. It will help you prepare your mind to shut off from work for the day, and leave your space ready for you to pick up and get back at it again in the morning!

I hope these tips gave you some inspiration and ideas for how you can be more productive when working from home.

Being a home based worker isn’t always as easy and care free as you might think so if you are an office based worker that is considering transitioning to home based, I highly suggest giving this some thought before making the leap and establishing good habits from day one that will make your transition easier!

Of course, let me know if any of these tips helped you or if you have any more tips to share with the community!

xoxo,