Multi-tasking for Women: Home vs. Work
- Date: 2007-05-24 - Word Count: 408
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If you're a woman, more than likely you are fairly good at multi-tasking. If you are a woman with children, multi-tasking goes from an optional way of approaching things to a habitual necessity. How else could you possibly focus on shopping for groceries, removing gum from a child's hair, and keeping a wild toddler in a shopping cart all at once?
But what works best for dealing with family life and what works best at work are not always the same thing. I have found that the best strategy for me is to leave the multi-tasking at home. Before I decided this, I spent my time at work jumping from task to task and not getting as much done during the day as if I had focused solely on each task until it was completed.
If you have noticed that at work you jump from project to project or task to task before completing each one individually, slow down and ask yourself whether it would be more effective for you to give your focus to one task and finish it before turning your attention to something else. Along with increasing your work productivity, you may also find that this is a less stressful way to approach your work because it gives your brain a chance to focus on one thing at a time as opposed to spreading your thinking energy between multiple tasks at once.
So if you've been habitually multi-tasking at work and find that your work time is too hectic and less than efficient, try the following simple steps:
1. Start the day by making a written list of the tasks you need to complete.
2. Pick the task that is the highest priority and begin working on it.
3. As much as possible, stay focused on that one task until it is completed. Unless absolutely necessary, don't pause in the middle of the task to check email, pay bills, clean your desk, or take on a different task on your list.
4. When the first task is complete, tell yourself you did a good job, congratulate yourself!, then check that task off the list, and move on to the next task. And so on...
Try this for a few days and see if your work days aren't more productive and less hectic. Keep the multi-tasking energy for when dinner is ready, your sister's on the phone, the dog just threw up, and your toddler is pouring his own drink.
But what works best for dealing with family life and what works best at work are not always the same thing. I have found that the best strategy for me is to leave the multi-tasking at home. Before I decided this, I spent my time at work jumping from task to task and not getting as much done during the day as if I had focused solely on each task until it was completed.
If you have noticed that at work you jump from project to project or task to task before completing each one individually, slow down and ask yourself whether it would be more effective for you to give your focus to one task and finish it before turning your attention to something else. Along with increasing your work productivity, you may also find that this is a less stressful way to approach your work because it gives your brain a chance to focus on one thing at a time as opposed to spreading your thinking energy between multiple tasks at once.
So if you've been habitually multi-tasking at work and find that your work time is too hectic and less than efficient, try the following simple steps:
1. Start the day by making a written list of the tasks you need to complete.
2. Pick the task that is the highest priority and begin working on it.
3. As much as possible, stay focused on that one task until it is completed. Unless absolutely necessary, don't pause in the middle of the task to check email, pay bills, clean your desk, or take on a different task on your list.
4. When the first task is complete, tell yourself you did a good job, congratulate yourself!, then check that task off the list, and move on to the next task. And so on...
Try this for a few days and see if your work days aren't more productive and less hectic. Keep the multi-tasking energy for when dinner is ready, your sister's on the phone, the dog just threw up, and your toddler is pouring his own drink.
Related Tags: women, self improvement, career, work, productive, productivity, multi-tasking, multitasking, multi-task
Judy Braley is a parent of two, an attorney, and an author. Her personal development blog at www.GrwoFromWithin.com contains free articles and information on inspiration for your life. Your Article Search Directory : Find in Articles
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