Posted in: Focus, Invaluable, Multitasking, Productivity, Technology, Video Training | Comments (8)

I’ve been so busy this with with my new National Association of Productivity Coaches that I needed to pull a “previously unleased” video from the archives.

So, it’s an oldie-but-a-goodie. (You’ll be able to tell from the fall colors in the background!) I actually recorded this right after a workshop session with the worldwide customer service executives from Novell. They were a very fun and knowledgeable group!

In this quick video you’ll get the answer I gave to them about one of their biggest questions.

P.S. Please comment: what times of the day have YOU established for checking your email? Does this work for you?

Posted in: Multitasking, Productivity, Technology, Video Training | Comments (0)

“Other people are making me unproductive. Help!”

One of the top questions I’m asked by inherently
organized individuals is how to prevent the
disorganization of OTHERS from making them
productive.

In this special 8 minute video, I answer this question
in great depth.

You’ll learn how to:

• Clearly communicate to others how you can help each other be more productive
• Minimize the sporadic “Quick Questions” that are killing your day
• Be polite, even when telling others you can’t field their interruption at this moment

P.S. After you watch the video I’d like you to share
your experiences. How are your co-workers or employees
making you unproductive? What have you tried that’s
worked so far?

Posted in: Management, Meetings, Multitasking, Stress Reduction, Video Training | Comments (1)

Watch out Coloradoans! If you try to switchtask by texting while driving, you’ll now get a hefty ticket. Just one more clue that people are beginning to get wise to the myth of multitasking!

http://www.ncbr.com/article.asp?id=103184

Posted in: Legal, Multitasking, The Myth of Multitasking | Comments (0)

Woah! I just saw this.

The English edition of The Myth of Multitasking: How ‘Doing It All’ Gets Nothing Done is on sale right now at Amazon.com for about 50% off. That’s only $10 bucks for a $20 book. That’s better than I can buy them for direct from my publisher!

Seriously. I just bought a ton of copies for my own use!

I’m not sure why they did this, but I’d jump to Amazon right now while this pricing lasts:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0470372257/?tag=dcrenshaw-20

If you’re starting your Christmas shopping and looking for gift ideas, why not help these important people in your life stop the multitasking madness?

• Your employees
• Your coworkers
• Your vendors
• Your boss
• Your best customers
• Your spouse
• Your family
• Your high school and college students

Just a suggestion…

Posted in: Multitasking, The Myth of Multitasking | Comments (1)

I was interviewed this week for a Forbes article. He references how I compare the current multitasking epidemic to the previously socially acceptable habit of smoking. The evidence is there, and more is coming every week, of how damaging multitasking is to us. Now it’s a matter of making a cultural shift.

All it will take is some time…

____

Quote:
Even deeply ingrained habits are subject to change over time, Crenshaw notes. As every fan of Mad Men knows, smokers once routinely lit up during meetings. Now they don’t. The same thing can happen to multitasking.

“I view myself as an evangelist,” he says. “It’s going to take probably another decade of talking about this before people get the message.”

http://www.forbes.com/2009/10/08/ban-blackberrys-meetings-leadership-blackberry.html

Posted in: Multitasking | Comments (0)

I recorded this video in San Francisco while visiting the corporate offices of my publisher, Jossey-Bass. I talked my editor into working the camera for a quick message for my list.

In this free coaching video, I’ll teach you a about very important Switchbuster.

Some of you who are new to my work are wondering, “Switchbuster? What is he talking about?”

Switchbusters are little tricks and systems you can put into your day to minimize the switches that are interrupting you.

This free coaching video will teach you how to minimize what I call the “Dreaded Double Q”

The Quick Question!

How many times per day do you hear:

“Hey, Dave, excuse me, I’ve got just a quick question…”

On the video blog post I show you how to dramatically reduce the Dreaded Double Q.

For discussion:

How many times per day do you think you hear the Dreaded Double Q?

Posted in: Meetings, Multitasking, Productivity, Video Training | Comments (0)

“We found that a key limitation to efficient multitasking is the speed with which our prefrontal cortex processes information, and that this speed can be drastically increased through training and practice,” Paul E. Dux, a former research fellow at Vanderbilt, and now a faculty member at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, and co-author of the study, said. “Specifically, we found that with training, the ‘thinking’ regions of our brain become very fast at doing each task, thereby quickly freeing them up to take on other tasks.”

A study was released this week by René Marois and Paul Dux of Vanderbilt University that highlights the ability of the brain to “learn” how to multitask more efficiently. At first glance, it may appear that the findings support the idea that one can actually become more efficient through multitasking. However, what it is really saying is that one can become more efficient at multitasking.

Why do I make this distinction?

1) Notice this quote:

“Our findings also suggest that, even after extensive practice, our brain does not really do two tasks at once,” Dux said. “It is still processing one task at a time, but it does it so fast it gives us the illusion we are doing two tasks simultaneously.”

In other words, your brain is still ultimately limited by the ability to perform one task at a time.

2) When multitasking, even at a higher speed and rate of efficiency, you are still incurring switching cost. Previous studies by the same research team at Vanderbilt have demonstrated that cost. What this means is that overall, your performance will be slower than if you were doing just one thing at a time.

The best analogy for this is a computer. Programs will always operate faster on your computer if no other programs are running in the background. Even if you speed up the processer, when you try to run multiple programs at the same time, overall efficiency is decreased when compared to that same computer running just one program at a time.

In short, folks, still stick to one thing at a time. No matter how fast you are at multitasking, it will always slow things down, increase the likelihood of mistakes and increase your stress levels.

-Dave Crenshaw

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090716113401.htm

Posted in: Multitasking | Comments (2)