New research has found that at least half of the working population can’t keep their mind on the job. 12 months of research by Mind Gardener has found that more than 50% of workers in professions ranging from teaching to professional services, confessed to being distracted after 15 minutes of starting a task. Over 10 years they have found that being busy and multi tasking has led to a general erosion of production across all fields. I’m challenged to put in some jokes about blokes only capable of doing one task at a time and this research being aimed at women but that would be childish and lord knows us blokes could never be accused being childish.
I’ll stay away from the gender insensitivity and put my hand up and admit this happens because it’s hard to turn off nowadays with a constant barrage of information and tasks thrown at us as part of “the job”. Adding a 24/7 timetable instigated by technology intrusion such as smart phones and constant connection, adds weight to the idea that maybe we were better at our jobs before we were so rudely interrupted by everything. The research showed that it can take 50% longer to do tasks now because we are doing so many things at the same time. 65% indicated that their minds were too busy leading to a potential 35% productivity loss. Hanging round really busy people was also considered a cause to you speeding up and picking up a few more things to do.
Okay, this calls for drastic action on both sides, employees and employers, to get things done in an orderly fashion. The boss needs to know that you can only do one thing at a time and he will have to give you a running list of tasks to accomplish by 5.30pm. They will have to be prioritised so that completion of multiple tasks can be an orderly affair without giving your brain too many tangents to consider. You will dutifully complete the said tasks and clock off at 5.30pm with a clear mind to go home and watch one TV show at a time, all the way through without channel surfing, while making dinner, discussing the day’s events with your partner and occasionally playing with your children.
I think I just time warped back to a 1950s Ford factory, production line worker. Today, unless you are seen to be doing 1000s of things at once, the perception is, you may not be a high performer. That’s a tough ideal to live up to if you want to live a long life.
The brain is capable of processing 10,000 internal conversations on a daily basis, so the key to keeping up productivity is being aware of what drives your behavior and your busy brain and perhaps getting rid of some of the daily detritus that distracts you from doing your job more efficiently. A start might be to listen to all the data about having some breaks during the day (no not the smoke downstairs) and giving your brain a break before starting something new. What about leaving the Master Chef and Dancing with the Stars gossip for lunch and concentrating on the job at hand? That sounds a little dictatorial but it’s that kind of detritus that clogs up a beautiful mind capable of so much more.
It’s hard to find that balance of productivity, creativity and time to be ourselves that we all crave, so where does the answer lie? Perhaps we could start by not answering the question of how are you, with “busy” and then not looking at our phones every 5 minutes to check messages and emails, flicking to Facebook or Twitter to check on what our friends are doing this very second and generally paying attention to what is in front of you, whether that be a task or a friend.
It’s just a thought.
A few years back a colleague recounted how he thought he was going deaf because he couldn’t hear his girlfriend when they were out at restaurants and clubs, so he went to a hearing specialist fearing the worst. The diagnosis came back all okay and when he asked the specialist what he thought, the doctor came back with a telling response, “Try to pay more attention when your girlfriend talks to you and you won’t be distracted by everything else going on around you.”
A lesson in that for all of us, in our “busy” lives.
P.S. 77% of the research population was female, so maybe they already knew us blokes couldn’t do more than one task at a time.
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