What is the Remedy to Multi-Tasking?
The remedy to Multi-Tasking is called Unit Tasking.Unit Tasking is the act of focusing on a single task without any distraction for a given time. I feel productive on a given task when I remain unobstructed for at-least an hour. It depends on an individual & the task
Unit-Tasking offer the possibility of attaining the state of “flow”. In a state of flow , a person is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus & involvement.Simply to say, Time flies and the person attains peak performance.
So How to accomplish Unit-Tasking ?
I have been following principles outlined by David Allen in Getting Things Done (popularly known as GTD) along with the online tool called www.rememberthemilk.com with a fair level of success. He outlines the following five steps to Organize the tasks better which is the essence of Unit-Tasking
1) Capture -Brain-Dump all the items in your Mind on a notebook.When I did this for the first time it took an hour(of-course without distraction!!!) to dump all things on my mind.
2) Process- Process the Items that are on the list for the next physical action that you need to to move forward on the task.
Your task may be a direct actionable or Project. For ex., Buy Grocery from the Store on Saturday is a direct actionable task while Building a house (Any thing that needs more than three tasks to complete) is a Project.In case of Projects you would have to break it down to the Physical action that you have to take.
3) Organize - Once you have identified the next actions list, its now time to consolidate
If its a Next action with definite deadline, it goes to the calendar.If it needs to be done as soon as possible, it goes to the Next Actions list.
4) Review- An essential piece of Getting Things Done is to Review the tasks frequently.I prefer to review the tasks weekly for Addition/Deletion/Updating of tasks or Projects. It is an important step without which Tasks will start falling through the crack.
5) Do - This is the final step.Its now 9 am on Monday. What should i be doing now? Look at the calendar for any appointment and Do it. If there is no appointment,pick an item form the Next actions based on the Context,Priority,Time & Energy. “Doing” should feel like breeze if the first four steps were done correctly
In Summary, I would recommend Unit-Tasking using the Getting Things Done approach to achieve Tasks Effectively & Efficiently to attain Peak Performance Day-After-Day
The remedy to Multi-Tasking is called Unit Tasking.Unit Tasking is the act of focusing on a single task without any distraction for a given time. I feel productive on a given task when I remain unobstructed for at-least an hour. It depends on an individual & the task
Unit-Tasking offer the possibility of attaining the state of “flow”. In a state of flow , a person is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus & involvement.Simply to say, Time flies and the person attains peak performance.
So How to accomplish Unit-Tasking ?
I have been following principles outlined by David Allen in Getting Things Done (popularly known as GTD) along with the online tool called www.rememberthemilk.com with a fair level of success. He outlines the following five steps to Organize the tasks better which is the essence of Unit-Tasking
1) Capture -Brain-Dump all the items in your Mind on a notebook.When I did this for the first time it took an hour(of-course without distraction!!!) to dump all things on my mind.
2) Process- Process the Items that are on the list for the next physical action that you need to to move forward on the task.
Your task may be a direct actionable or Project. For ex., Buy Grocery from the Store on Saturday is a direct actionable task while Building a house (Any thing that needs more than three tasks to complete) is a Project.In case of Projects you would have to break it down to the Physical action that you have to take.
3) Organize - Once you have identified the next actions list, its now time to consolidate
If its a Next action with definite deadline, it goes to the calendar.If it needs to be done as soon as possible, it goes to the Next Actions list.
4) Review- An essential piece of Getting Things Done is to Review the tasks frequently.I prefer to review the tasks weekly for Addition/Deletion/Updating of tasks or Projects. It is an important step without which Tasks will start falling through the crack.
5) Do - This is the final step.Its now 9 am on Monday. What should i be doing now? Look at the calendar for any appointment and Do it. If there is no appointment,pick an item form the Next actions based on the Context,Priority,Time & Energy. “Doing” should feel like breeze if the first four steps were done correctly
In Summary, I would recommend Unit-Tasking using the Getting Things Done approach to achieve Tasks Effectively & Efficiently to attain Peak Performance Day-After-Day
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