Too busy to serve? 

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As I sat to write this blog, I was interrupted three times. What normally takes me thirty minutes, took me seventy-five minutes, and here is why. 

According to an article written by Paul Atchley for the Harvard Business Review, and called ‘you can’t multitask, so stop trying’, it takes an average of 15 minutes to re- orient yourself to a primary task after a distraction, and efficiency can drop by as much as 40 per cent. 

Three times my train of thought was interrupted, three times I was taken away from my creative flow and three times I changed my focus; this cost me an extra forty-five minutes. 

The human brain can only process one conscious thought at a time.  
Multitasking is mythical. People who multitask are busy. People who don’t multitask are productive. 

When you choose to multitask when it comes to humans, then you are serving them unconsciously. 

You see, what I have not highlighted is the impact that the three interruptions had on the people who interrupted me. Well let’s just say they didn’t get the warmest of greeting, I’m not sure I was one hundred percent listening to them, and I am certain there was not a lot of eye contact. 

No one wins. Multitasking is a bad habit which damages relationships. 

People deserve your undivided attention when you serve them; colleagues and customers.  

When you have an important task to do, and you want uninterrupted time; close your office door, set boundaries, and tell people you are not able to be reached for an hour, go somewhere where no one can find you – a café, and maybe turn off your phone notifications and switch into flight mode for a while. Get your important work done, uninterrupted. We’re all busy – don’t pass your even more busyness on to others. 

Question:  

Where are you busy being busy and where can you minimise your multitasking.. just a little bit? 

Practice: 

Pay attention to the choice you make in a day, and when you are conscious of multitasking.