“Your first and most important job as a leader is to take charge of your own energy and then help orchestrate the energy of those around you.”
Peter F. Drucker
“We must always change, renew, rejuvenate ourselves, otherwise we will harden.”
goethe
Are you busier than ever and enjoy it less and less? Do you end up too tired and frustrated at the end of the day to enjoy your evening or “down” time? It is Is there any more downtime? What follows is what I believe to be the most critical information you can incorporate into your life in the coming year, both to protect yourself from an exceptionally stressful environment and to excel in your performance and productivity.
Since 2001, when researcher Joshua Rubenstein, Ph.D. of the Federal Aviation Administration, and David Meyer, Ph.D. and Jeffrey Evans. Both University of Michigan doctors published their groundbreaking research in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, we know multitasking has its problems. In their work, they showed that changing mental gear takes time, especially when switching to less familiar tasks.
To better understand executive control, or “internal CEO,” the researchers had groups of young adult subjects switch between tasks of varying complexity (such as solving math problems) and measured the speed of their performance. In all cases, their measurements indicated that subjects wasted time on tasks, actually doing less than if they were doing the tasks separately, and it took much longer to switch between tasks when they were more complex or unfamiliar.
Since then, a considerable body of research has been developed that demonstrates similar losses in productivity and performance as a result of multitasking. Even more worrisome, recent studies have shown that multitasking increases levels of certain stress hormones, particularly cortisol and adrenaline, which in the long run wears out our body systems, increasing the risk of many health problems. serious and causes us to age prematurely.
In the past eight years since this initial research was published, the challenges to our personal time and work-life balance have increased exponentially. Along with increasingly complex technology and its increasing availability have come greater expectations of our personal availability. These advances in communications technology have allowed us to be available any hour of the day, any day of the week, and the ever-expanding global nature of business has further fueled this demand. More recently, depressed economic conditions and deep staff cuts have left us, almost everywhere, with fewer people and longer working hours.
The pressure to multitask is great. In many organizations it has become the norm, but as mentioned above, the costs can be enormous. The illusion of speed and of doing more with less time is very attractive, but it is usually just an illusion. The loss of performance quality is high, but not as high as the potentially devastating long-term costs to health from increased stress and to personal and family relationships as a result of never being fully present.
What is the cure for over-reliance on multitasking and its subsequent consequences? I recently heard the term “continuous partial attention” to describe what is increasingly typical of our behaviors today and find it painfully accurate.
Several examples:
– At an important meeting at a local high school that would have a significant impact on the student’s future, the student later noticed that the principal had spent the entire meeting (nearly an hour and a half) texting under the table.
– At a recent lunch with another executive coach, as I was answering his question and taking a bite of my salad, I looked up to see him checking his email on his new phone.
– A senior job applicant told me recently that his interviewer (and potential boss) had received three phone calls and had three full phone conversations on (seemingly) non-urgent topics, while he sat there.
– Numerous clients have told me that they regularly answer emails, faxes, phone messages or text messages from home and when they are on vacation.
– Almost as many have complained that their spouse or partner “disappears in email” late at night and on weekends, effectively eliminating any “family time” or “couple time.”
What is the most important information I can give you as we begin 2009? See all three strategies below:
1. Limit multitasking. Set clear limits for yourself on time for work and non-work activities. Turn off electronic devices at set times, and teach co-workers what an “emergency” is that would warrant them contacting you outside of work hours. If you are in a leadership role, model this for your staff and organization, and clearly communicate what you are doing.
two. Be fully present. Whether it’s with a child, spouse, co-worker, or employee, make a conscious decision to be present with them without interruption from other technology and tasks. With colleagues and staff, this should be as often as they need your attention for work related activities. For family and significant others, this needs to happen every day.
3. When you work, WORK! And when you play, PLAY! In Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz’s “The Power of Full Engagement,” they repeatedly insist that the key to high performance is managing energy, not time. They argue that it is necessary to alternate periods of intense effort (or work) with periods of complete renewal (or relaxation and “play”) to maintain health, high performance and productivity. In addition, many researchers have shown that one of the greatest predictors of happiness, and one of the most powerful protectors we have against the negative effects of stress, is frequently being in a state of “flow.” In other words, being totally absorbed in an activity, so much so that we lose track of time. This is impossible while multitasking. And, the deep recovery necessary to do our best work is impossible if we never allow ourselves to fully relax and “play.”
I urge you to implement these three strategies in the coming year. Reject the trend toward “continuous partial attention” and watch the change in yourself, your organization, and those around you.
