Employee productivity

Posted on 29. Jan, 2009 by admin in Employee productivity tips, Expert speakers

We all run around all day doing all kinds of ’stuff’ – some have methods of prioritising, some run complex lists, others just get on with it and end up muddling through.

We wanted to ask the question – is focusing on one project, or having multiple on the go better as far as employee productivity is concerned? We realise that you don’t necessarily have a choice in the matter – but given the choice – which would you choose?

There are differing schools of thought – and we wouldn’t like to say who is right – everyone works in different ways.

Some people believe that focusing on a single task alone for hours or days ensures the task gets done to the best of your ability. Others would aren’t able to focus on a single task for long – minds wander, and they’d be more productive focusing on a different task for a while and then returning to the original one with a fresh perspective.

We were always taught that Dads know best … (not sure if you agree or not!) The suggestion in this post is that their preferred way of keeping busy and engaged with tasks is to start three things at the same time… and switch between the one which best suits how you are feeling at any particular time. When your boss is not pushing you for deadlines we guess that’s OK. Sadly that’s not always the case.

These folks provide scientific evidence to suggest three things at a time isn’t such a good idea and that focusing on one thing is a much better idea.

“When you really study precisely what people’s brains are doing at any moment, there’s less concurrent processing than you might think … The brain is more of a time-share operation – when fractions of a second matter, we’re better off not doing another task.”

Hal Pashler, a professor of psychology at the University of California at San Diego.

So – what are your thoughts – if you did have the choice – how would you run your day – focusing on a single task until it was done… or good old fashioned multasking?!

Let us know what you think below.

Image courtesy of kateatyrownrisk