Multi-Tasking – The Enemy of Personal Productivity.
If
you multi-task your way through the day, when evening comes you may
find it difficult to figure out what you actually accomplished.
Multitasking, a skill frequently requested by prospective employers, is
the enemy to personal productivity according to Paul Chin in his
article “Unplugged: Information Overload Requires a Human Solution.”
Chin states that “Technology alone won't solve all your personal
productivity and information overload problems – it can only ease
them.” He also says that “Time management and personal productivity is
a behavioral process; no software can teach you this.” We need to take
control of our behavior, our “internal causes” of personal
unproductivity such as:
- Obsessive need to be “plugged in” such as constantly checking e-mail or calling the office
- Poor attention span and lack of focus
- Rempant multitasking and the inability to prioritize tasks
Of course, one of the reasons that librarians are proud of their
multi-tasking abilities is because interruptions are impossible to
avoid in this line of work, and responsiveness is most definitely
highly valued. This puts us at high risk for information overload. But
if you're your proud of the fact that you respond to all emails within
30 seconds of receiving them, regardless of importance, you may need a
10-step plan to get you to prioritize and take control of your work.
I'm trying to do my part. Until Outlook can tell the difference bewteen spam and an urgent message from my boss I'm keeping the darn preview/alert feature turned off.
I'm not ready to turn off the vibrate feature on my Blackberry yet,
though I'm trying hard to learn to ignore it. We've all got to take
these things one day at a time [LawLibTech]