Executive Time Sink
| Time management is one of the most common focus areas for my executive coaching clients. With full calendars and long work weeks, the busy executive can feel that demands are never-ending. After twenty-one years helping senior executives achieve greater productivity, I observe that the single greatest waste of time for an executive is. . . Multi-Tasking! Multi-tasking stems from the subtle and pervasive belief that (since computers can do it) humans can successfully complete two complex tasks at once. Here are some of the most common forms of wasting time through multi-tasking: Reading email while on a teleconference Texting while in a meeting Reading materials during a presentation Reading anything when someone is speaking to you Checking email while in a meeting If you are doing two or more things at the same time, you are wasting time on all of them. Rather than giving your full attention once, you are only giving split attention, which inevitably results in errors, omissions, repetition and rework. As an executive, making an error has huge impact on projects within your purview. If you miss the opportunity to ask a clarifying question, a team may head off course for weeks or months. By not giving your full attention, you will miss details that will need to be revisited at another time. Your lack of full attention does not just impact your own personal productivity, but also has a huge ripple effect on the members of your organization, resulting in even more wasted time. While perhaps simplistic or repetitive tasks can be combined with less obvious loss of effectiveness, the high level contributions of a senior executive cannot be diluted in this way and still be effective. Multi-tasking is the siren call of the 21 st century, luring you to believe that more is possible through instant access to all forms of information and communication at your fingertips. Interrupting an ingrained habit of multi-tasking can be challenging, but it is very achievable. The benefits are rich and deep. - You will find yourself more fully immersed in each task, discovering subtleties you did not know existed. - Absorbing materials in advance of a meeting will allow you to add value at a higher level. - Interactions that once required back-and-forth can now be handled more quickly. - Misunderstandings will decrease and your ability to read between the lines, and read the subtle, non-verbal clues of others will increase. - Time will subtly slow down and you will find yourself in a flow, absorbed with the topic at hand. - Most beneficially, you will find that your satisfaction and enjoyment of each day increases. To get started, pick one situation today where you will give your full attention and observe the changes in yourself and those around you. Notice how your experience of this situation is different from when you are multi-tasking. When you observe that you are caught in the habit of multi-tasking, question what belief or assumption is telling you that you have no choice, or that this approach is better, or that multi-tasking saves time. If you are not sure where to start, pick an interaction with someone closest to you such as a partner/spouse, child, or your executive assistant. We frequently give the least attention to those with whom we are most familiar. Rather than be ensnared by the auto-pilot habit of multi-tasking, after approaching one interaction per day as if it was vitally important, you may then expand your practice to two interactions per day. You will be glad you did. |