What makes the work difficult?

An old Russian proverb goes like this, “If you run after two rabbits, you won’t catch any.”

In the company of “rabbits” we really have many to chase, and although common sense suggests focusing on one activity at a time, it is usual to devote ourselves to several activities at once and constantly shift our attention from one job to another, from one topic to another.
Beyond that sense of fulfillment derived from feeling busy and seemingly productive, we do not realize that in reality our intellectual output is limited and the consumption of mental and physical energy is definitely excessive and unrelated to results.

Whenever in the performance of a task, for whatever reason, you are forced to shift your attention to a different activity, this change of focus always involves time and mental energy, a real “tax” that we cannot help but pay: transition time.

Added to this lost time is another type of destroyed time: the so-called warm-up time that is, the time needed to enter into full concentration in the new activity

According to the studies of Earl Miller -an MIT neuroscientist among the world’s leading experts on learning and cognitive development-when we switch from one activity to another, in a process that seems fluid and free energetically, we actually pay a heavy toll because of the shift in attention.

It is no coincidence that at the conclusion of a day full of transition times and continuous warm-up times we feel tired and with the feeling that we have not really finished all the tasks to be completed.

Then there is a third category of time destroyed on a daily basis, what I have called bad quality time. What is it? Think about how many times in your day you do something, but with little concentration or with your mind turned to several things at once, without depth of attention; or when a person talks to you, but you have listened to almost nothing. These are some examples of how we have become accustomed to filling our time with many small pieces that drain mental energy, but add no value to us, those around us, or our company.

The real problem is not working in parallel, but the time losses after each interruption

Thus, the way of working that has been consolidated in recent years is more based on task switching rather than multitasking. That is, we often change topics rather than handle many at once. In fact, the real problem is not working in parallel or in series, because in practice we almost always work only in series, but how frequent are the task changes and how long are the time losses after each interruption.

The most accredited research on the subject has shown that 11 is the average number of minutes a worker can devote to a specific project or task before being interrupted, and that all interruptions have a negative effect on performance (also increasing inaccuracies and errors each time while performing the most frequently interrupted tasks) and on the well-being of individuals, affected by significant increases in stress and feelings of frustration.

From American scientist Gloria Mark we had evidence, moreover, that whenever we are working on something important, like writing a report, and suddenly we stop, pick up the phone, and start chatting or checking e-mails, it takes us on average up to 25 minutes to regain our concentration.

Gaining this awareness means having traveled a good distance to then turn onto the highway of the many strategies Lean Lifestyle that I have collected in my latest book, and to be able to get there, without pretending to make major revolutions, to gain at least 1-2 hours a day of valuable time and regain energy, focus, and well-being.

After all, being able to earn 1 hour a day means earning 5 hours a week, 20 hours a month, 30 working days a year.

And what would you do with an extra month for yourself, your employees, your business, or your family?