Advertisement If that idea fills you with fear — or elation — you might have a few too many demands on your time. And if you’re now checking your BlackBerry to see what you missed while reading that sentence, you might be one of the many modern-day multitaskers who’s overtaxed, over-stressed and overwhelmed.
“You have this younger generation who have grown up with multitasking and know how to do their math homework and IM and download music all at once,” said Gina Trapani, the editor of Lifehacker.com. “There’s also a little bit of a backlash: ‘I’m trying to focus on work that involves numbers or writing or research.’”
Advances in technology have created a paradox of productivity: We all seem to get more done while feeling like we’re accomplishing less. Instant messages and text messages compete for our time along with e-mail and voice mail. Multitasking is required and expected, but many tasks require our undivided attention. Free time on workplace calendars is available for all to see and reserve.
That’s why Mike Monteiro came up with meeting tokens — bumblebee-colored poker chips good for 15 minutes of a colleague’s attention, inscribed with a warning, “Don’t Waste My Time.” Monteiro, the director of San Francisco-based Mule Design Studio, designed the tokens after tiring of disorganized and lengthy office meetings.
In his utopian vision, workers would receive a pack of tokens each Monday. A 30-minute meeting with two colleagues would cost four tokens; an hour-long call with 12 folks from three department: an unaffordable 48 tokens. Some bags would contain the prized Red Merlin, which ends any meeting on the spot, no questions asked, with its imposing slogan: “We’re DONE Here.”
That token is named for Merlin Mann, part of a new generation of productivity gurus who have moved far beyond the File-o-Fax and color-coded folders of the workplace of yore.
Mann, who runs the Web site 43folders.com, has attracted a following among “knowledge workers” with an empowering message: your time and attention are scarce and valuable, so give them away wisely. (How to tell a knowledge worker? Smooth hands and an ability to take lunch whenever, Mann said.)
What follows are tips from Mann and Trapani, whose “Upgrade Your Life: The Lifehacker Guide to Working Smarter, Faster, Better” will be published this month.
Check yourself
One of Mann’s tips is to reduce the number of notifications that steal away your attention.
For instance, stop your e-mail program from checking new mail every five minutes. Each ding announcing a new message distracts from your work and tends to move less important issues to the top of your to-do list. Checking e-mail manually brings in messages in batches, and makes e-mail requests seem less urgent.
Prioritize
Trapani suggests filing e-mail messages into archive, hold or follow-up folders she calls the “Trusted Trio.”
She also suggests a style of note taking that quickly identifies to-do items, assigned tasks, important facts and issues to research.
The ‘qualified yes’
Another of Mann’s favorites: Learn to give a “qualified yes,” an affirmative response to a request that puts the ball back in the other person’s court. Get a request for a long meeting? Ask for five bullet points that could be covered in 20 minutes. Someone need you for an event? Leave them with a maybe, and ask for more information or a reminder in a few weeks. Many times the person will reconsider or forget.
Start ‘office hours’
Mann also encourages team standards to build a culture of getting things done. Agree that part of the day is reserved for uninterrupted work. Teams that provide services for other internal groups, like graphic artists or attorneys, can set up “office hours” reserved for answering questions or discussing ideas.
Stop meeting
In speeches, Mann appeals to tech workers to convince makers of popular calendar software, such as Microsoft Office and Apple iCal, to change the default length of a new calendar item to 15 minutes, from one hour. If not, those hourlong meetings might be tempting targets for the Red Merlin — if they ever get made.
“We got stuck in the production,” Monteiro said. “We’re trying to figure out different ways to make them. If you’re ever had to deal with producing small, plastic wooden tokens, you’re dealing with people with like 90-year-old technology.”
