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Multi-tasking is a fairy tale

  jamie oliver 
  Originally uploaded by titaninang.

Last night I got pulled into watching a reality cooking show--I think it was called "Jamie's Kitchen".

The star of the show was Jamie Oliver --you know, the Naked Chef (BTW--did you know he has a podcast? Never would have guessed!), and he was training a bunch of restaurant newbies how to be professional chefs and function as part of a team in a busy kitchen.

Talk about an organizational nightmare!

Jamie needed to get 15 untrained strangers to work as a team and produce:

• High quality food (if it's not perfect, then you have to start over from scratch)
• Quickly (take too long and the customers will get fed up and leave),
• Consistently (the presentation should be exactly the same each time the dish is made),
• And in a synchronized manner (all meals at each table should go out at the same time).

So, how did Jamie bring order to the chaos?

Genius--He assigned each chef to a station and had them each make just one thing.

There was the salad station, the entree station, the dessert station and an appetizer station. When an order came in, the folks at the various stations listened for their part of the order, and then got to work producing the dish that was requested-- "One caesar salad, hold the croutons!" etc.

Imagine what that kitchen would be like if Jamie wasn't there making the frontline executive decisions about who handles each part of the order and the priority for each one.

It would be utter chaos and impossible to produce quality work quickly, consistently, in a synchronized manner.

I think most of us can relate to that kind of disorganized workflow at some time or another.

You're working on a project, then you hear your email chime, so you go look to see what "orders" just came in. Then you remember that you promised to make dinner that night, and you hadn't been to the grocery yet (there's another order).

Then you realize that you've got to figure out what to cook (another order). Then a phone call comes in, and it's a client asking you to take care of something for her (yet another order).

  Kitchen at Chez Panisse 
  Originally uploaded by cjanebuy.

Oh, and your mother's birthday is in a couple weeks and you want to do something special (another order). Then the doorbell rings and it's your neighbor asking you if you'll feed her cat when she's out of town (another order!).

Everywhere you turn, more orders are pouring in!

Pretty soon you're not really getting anything done anymore--you're just sort of sitting there stacking up the orders.

It starts to feel like that's kinda what your job is: "I've gotta take the orders, check the email, check the voicemail, take more orders."

And then you start to think, "Hey--If I'm busy taking the orders all the time, when will I have time to fill the orders?"

What each of us needs is someone like Jamie to annouce the orders at the right time, tell us the priority, and have us work on only one thing at one time.

Oh, that would be lovely!

"Where can I get one of these executive decision makers to make my life easier?", you ask. 

Well, In case you haven't guessed, the executive decision maker in each of our lives needs to be US.

We each need to play the role of Jamie in our own lives.

This means controlling when the orders come in so that we aren't constantly in order-taking mode. You can do this by turning the "You've got mail" chime off on your email, or by having scheduled email checking times. You can also do it by reducing noice, interruptions, and letting the phone go to voicemail instead of always picking up (if this is feasible with your work).

This means having an order taking process so that, no matter how urgent or non-urgent the order is, it doesn't fall through the cracks. I call this process "stop storing info in your brain". This is a GTD principle, and if you'd like to learn how and why you shouldn't store info in your brain, check you my post here.

It also means prioritizing the orders that come in--remember the newest information we receive is not necessarily the most important!

David Allen says that one of the biggest challenges he sees people face as they struggle to manage their workflow is that they aren't making effective, quick frontline executive decisions. Rather, they're procrastinating, pushing info to the side, and storing info (you know that overflowing inbox!)instead of making decisions on the front end and acting on those decisions.

Once the orders that are truly important get are moved to the front of the list, we need to tackle each one in the right order and focus on one thing at a time.

You know how folks are always talking about "multi-tasking", about being able to do 2, 3, 4, 5 or more things all at once?

I used to aim for that kind of mental dexterity, but the more I study GTD, the more I think that "multi-tasking" is just a glorified way of saying, "I'm incredibly disorganized and not focusing completely on anything at all."

Multi-tasking is a fairy tale.

Really, we have one brain, two hands, two eyes and ears--technically speaking we can really only do one thing at a time.

The sooner we relieve ourselves of the expectation that we should be able to do a million things at once, the more we'll be able to accomplish and the less stress we'll feel.

By learning to make executive decisions on the front end and focusing on doing one thing at a time, no matter how hectic or chaotic our workday becomes, we'll still be able to produce quality work quickly, consistently, in a synchronized manner, just like Jamie's team of chefs in his restaurant kitchen. 

Eat, sleep, blog: 7 Ways to get a grip on your blogging time

  Buddy 
  Originally uploaded by metallurgist.

You didn't know you even wanted one until you saw your friend showing off her new addition.

"Isn't it cute, don't you just love it? I could just play with it all day!" she beams.

You start to get caught up in the excitement and tell youself, "I want one too. I need one. I really should have one."

The innocence of it seduces you and makes you think, "How hard can it be to take care of this little thing? I can handle this-- no problem."

So, chocked full of enthusiasm and good intentions, you take the plunge and get one.

A blog, that is.

  IMG_0535 
  Originally uploaded by Vaughan.

And just like the cute, tiny, irresistible puppy eventually turns into a bounding, bouncing, leaping 150 lb behemoth of a dog, your blog duties start growing out of control and threatening to take over your life.

You're writing, researching, responding to comments, answering emails, dealing with all the spam.

And the exhausting part is that it's a never ending cycle of work; there's never a point where you can celebrate and say, "Whew, it's complete now!"

Thank God there are some things we can do to tighten up our blogging routine.

1) Blog by an editiorial calendar. I have started doing this for myself, and I can tell you it works. Here's what you do: write down the main topics you blog about. For me it's productivity, marketing, small biz development, personal development, and web media. Assign each of your topics to one day a week. This saves me time because I know on Monday that I'll be writing about productivity. That means I only have do research on productivity for that day, rather than aimlessly wandering through my RSS feed reader trying to decide what topic to write about .

2) Organize your RSS feed reader by categories. Although I have lots and lots of blogs in my RSS account at Bloglines, they are neatly organized into just 5 folders. Guess what those folders are? Yep, you got it--they're the very topics that I blog about ( productivity, marketing, small biz development, personal development, and web media), so if I'm writing on web media, all I have to do is go to my "web media" folder in Bloglines to look through the blogs that write on that topic. Saves a bunch of time.

3) Firefox is a blogger's best friend. Remember the days when we were using Internet Explorer and we had to open a trillion different windows? Ugh. Darren says, "I use Firefox and the ability to open new windows all in the one browser via tabs changed my life when I discovered it. Instead of having 20-30 windows open I now have one window with multiple tabs open. I keep things open as a reminder of things to do at times."

4) Use a blog client. Andy swears by ecto, a desktop blogging client that allows you to compose posts offline with links, spellcheck, and the whole shebang ($17.95). I don't completely understand how that saves time, but if he says it does I'll take his word for it ;-). I think Darren also uses ecto.

5) Mix it up--Different types of posts require different amounts of time. The trick is to mix up the types of posts you do. Obviously if you try to write a 1,000 word essay every time you post (like I used to do!) you're going to get in over your head fast.

Quickie posts are news posts, video or photo posts, speedlinking, and blog debt.

On the more labor intensive side are the essay or instructional (HowTo) posts. Those are the posts with most meat in them, but man, they can take a bunch of time to write! You might want to limit those to only once or twice a week.

6) Start timeboxing. Darren explains how he applies this productivity trick to blogging:

"Basically, just plan out your day by allocating a certain amount of time to various tasks. One hour for research, one hour for writing new posts, half an hour for random surfing, one hour for answering email, etc. Stick to the time limits, and if anything isn’t finished just leave off where you are and pick it up again later. The underlying theory is that it’s better to make some progress in every area, than to spend all your time in one or two areas and completely ignore others."

7) An assistant? This isn't a practical solution for every blogger due to the fact that it costs money, but there's really one simple way to tell if the assistant solution would work well for you:

If you can make more money per hour than you're paying your assistant, then it makes sense to delegate some of your blogging (and other) tasks to a skilled VA. Also, if being able to spend time with your family (or whatever you like to do with your free time) is worth more to you than the amount of money you're paying the VA, then it's worth it to shell out the dough so that some of these blogging (and other) tasks can be taken off your plate.   

For me, the bulk of the time I spend blogging is in writing the actual posts and deciding on photos. It's consoling to hear that a lot of the daily bloggers say that the longer you blog, the faster you get at writing the posts. The rest is just a matter of practice, investing the time, and implementing basic time-saving tricks.

I'd really appreciate it if you'd share any tips that you've found to be effective. I know we could all use all the help we can get! :-)

Work less, get more done

You know, since I only bill clients for the time I spend productively working on their stuff (as opposed to the corporate kids who get paid for sitting at a desk from 9-5, no matter if they're working the entire time or not) I decided that it would be a valuable investment in my business to learn how to maximize the efficiency of my time.

I aim for an 80% efficiency ratio, which factors out to mean that for every hour I spend in my office, my goal is to productively work for at least 48 minutes.

This is a lot harder than it sounds. Just for a frame of reference, I've heard that the average office worker only produces 1.5 hours of productive work for an 8 hour work day. That's an 18.75% efficiency ratio.(This is an corporate office employee, mind you, not a home biz owner.)

I have been doing much, much better at this since I started implementing David Allen's Getting Things Done time management system back in November of last year.

I still have a ways to go, but let me tell you, for the past 3 months or so, I have cleared out my inbox every single work day, and I can't even remember how overwhelming it used to feel before I got my email under control. Leaving the inbox crowded with emails at the end of the day would be like going to bed without taking off your makeup. It just feels icky.

If you are at all curious about what all the "GTD" hubbub is about and why David Allen has a cult-like following of geeks all over the internet, please check out this post over at 43 Folders. Merlin has very kindly corralled all the info a newbie needs to start implementing Getting Things Done.

What does your email style say about you?

I've got a new post over at Coachamatic called "What does your inbox say about you?"

Don't worry, I'm not trying to say that the organizational state of our inboxes is a reflection of who we are as people.

Yikes! That would be scary for most all of us!

But there were a couple gems, I thought, of advice from Merlin Mann about the obstacles "people pleasers" face with dealing with email and what they can do to be more efficient.

HowTo Master Workflow: Stop storing info in your brain

A few weeks ago I decided to finally take the plunge and whole-heartedly embrace the "Getting Things Done"(GTD) productivity system.  So far, I've experienced a bunch of positive changes as far as workflow goes, but probably the biggest impact is in the priority determinating department.

I'm starting to see that having a lot to do doesn't necessarily mean that you need to feel frazzled or overwhelmed.

As long as you're able to determine what are your most important tasks and also handle as much incoming info on the front end as you can, then you don't really reach "emergency status" that often. Wow--what a revelation.

HowTo: Have more peace of mind and increase your productivity

In case you're not familiar, "Getting Things Done" (GTD) is an extremely popular book about productivity and workflow management. It's written by David Allen, a productivity coach who has worked with tons of major companies training everyone from executives to mailroom clerks how to manage their workflow more efficiently and approach their job with a "mind like water" .

That's the GTD mantra: "Mind like water."

What happens when you toss a stone into a completely calm pool of water?

Ripples emanate from the center in perfect response to the impact of the stone. The water neither underreacts nor overreacts. It simply reacts appropriately to the situation, then it returns to calm.

The concept is that our ability to be productive is directly in proportion to our ability to relax.

Getting Things Done with Email: 7 Ways to Tame Your Inbox

Does it sometimes feel like email is threatening to take over your life, or at the very least, like you're spending more time than you should parked in your inbox?

I thought so--Me too, but I'm determined to get a handle on things!

I recently listened to Merlin Mann's latest installment of his productivity podcasts with David Allen of "Getting Things Done" fame, and let me tell you, their interview on email management has changed my life.

I took copious notes and translated the interview into 7 potentially life changing tips for handling email overload syndrome.

My article is posted at Coachamatic.com. If you struggle with the dreaded email monster like I do, you'll want to check it out: Getting Things Done with Email: 7 Ways to Tame Your Inbox

The Top 5 Ways To Immediately Improve Your Life

"Getting Things Done" guru Merlin Mann wrote a post called "Merlin's top 5 super-obvious, "no-duh" ways to immediately improve your life" that caught my eye a while ago.

Ironically, I've been so swamped that I haven't had time to write about it on eSoup until now.

Apparently I haven't been "getting things done" enough. Also, apparently one needs to do more than just read and write about productivity to have it make an impact in one's life. :-)

Since I started the 4-Hour Workday Experiment and have had a chance to talk to others who were doing it also, I've noticed some common observations emerging from almost everyone (myself included).

Folks are excited, hopeful, and they want to make better use of their time, but training yourself to handle your workflow in a more efficient manner, getting yourself to adopt new ways of working, and also coming up with a plan that is customized to your needs and suits your lifestyle sometimes feels like a Hurculean task.

Some days things just flow and go smoothly, and other days all hell breaks loose.

Here are some of my favorite tidbits of conversations I've had with folks over the past couple months surrounding the quest for the "optimally productive" grail:

• "Sometimes obsessing over being productive is just another form of procrastination."
• "Organization isn't an accomplishment."
• "Planning isn't progress."
• "GTD is not working."

The consensus with everyone is that being optimally productive can sometimes seem like a whole lot of work!

HowTo Transition Into Working A 4-Hour Workday

Last week I started a little productivity project that I called my "4-hour Workday Experiment". My goal was to work only 4 optimally productive hours a day and to keep my efficiency ratio at 80% or higher. I think I did pretty well with it, considering that it turned out to be one of the hardest things I've ever done. 

No kidding--it's tough, and I'm not gonna fudge and say that I didn't fall off the wagon once or twice. I did. Those of you who received emails and skypes from me on Saturday and Sunday know what I'm talking about :-). But in comparison to the hours I used to work, last week was a HUGE improvement, and I feel like I'm moving in the right direction.

I'm so excited that bunches of other small biz owners have expressed an interest in doing their own 4-hour workday experiments. Since I learned some great lessons already and am tweaking my plan, I'd like to pass on some pointers for how to make the most of your 4-hour workday:

7 Ways To Tame Your Email Inbox

Email is the Bermuda Triangle of productivity.

Nuff said. I think everyone knows what I'm talking about --no need to convince you that email is a major time sucker-upper.

Let me just cut to the chase and give you the 7 tips on how to take back your life from the dreaded email monster: