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Context switching is killing your productivity (here's what to do about it)
Switching between tasks
Most of us spend our days jumping between tasks and tools.
In fact, most people average only 3 minutes on any given task before switching to something else (and only 2 minutes on a digital tool before moving on).
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Switching between tasks
Most of us spend our days jumping between tasks and tools.
In fact, most people average only 3 minutes on any given task before switching to something else (and only 2 minutes on a digital tool before moving on).
Task switching and focus
Taking on additional tasks simultaneously can destroy up to 80% of your productive time:
- Focusing on one task at a time = 100% of your productive time available.
- Juggling two tasks at a time = 40% of your productive time for each and 20% lost to context switching.
- Juggling three tasks at a time = 20% of your productive time for each and 40% lost to context switching.
A schedule for sustained attention
- Large chunks of focused “flow” time for more demanding projects.
- “Themed” days to reduce the need to recalibrate between different tasks.
- Advanced planning so you can prioritize meaningful work.
- Realistic time set aside for admin, communication, and meetings.
- Clear expectations for your teammates so they know when not to interrupt you.
Sustained focus and rest
You can’t expect to focus non-stop on a project for days on end. But at the same time, you won’t see any real progress if you mindlessly jump from one task to another.
You need a work schedule that pairs periods of sustained focus with rest in a way that’s purposeful and powerful.
Use an A/B Schedule
... to reduce FOMO and productivity guilt. This will also help you to stay in the same mental space without worrying about what needs to be done:
- Go through your main tasks and divide them by either project, task, client, or topic.
- Divide those tasks into two categories based on their connection, an A and a B schedule.
Theme your days
... and use office hours to keep your focus throughout the week. One example is the Free, Focus, Buffer system popularized by business coach Dan Sullivan:
- Free days are completely separated from business activities.
- Focus days are spent on your most important work.
- Buffer days are for planning, admin, and busywork.
Maker and Manager schedules
Split your day between Maker and Manager time:
- Managers cut up their day into one-hour intervals (or less) and bounce between tasks.
- Makers need long stretches of uninterrupted time (usually at least half a day at a time).
To protect your focus, try to schedule at least a bit of Maker time into each day.
Effectively switching your work schedule
- Examine your current schedule (if you have one). Get real with where your time goes each day.
- Communicate with everyone about how your schedule is going to change and why it’s important.
- Experiment to find what works for you. There’s no one perfect scheduling or time management strategy.
- Focus on your health.
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Flow is the state of mind
... where we are so immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity that we lose sense of space and time.
It is thought to be t...
Why it’s hard to achieve flow in your workplace
- The processes, policies, and busy work gets in the way.
- Most jobs don’t have a clear goal.
- Feedback can be inadequate.
- The pace of work has increased, and it’s hard for people to spend time thinking deeply.
- Your skills aren’t well matched to the challenges you are allowed to pursue.
- There’s a lack of control over interruptions or when and how you work.
- The job doesn’t push you out of your comfort zone.
Take more risks
... to push your mind beyond its comfort zone. Flow happens when we get a bit out of our comfort zone. Too much, and you get anxious; Too little and you get bored.
You need to know your physical or emotional limitations and consciously push past them.
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Time Debt
The choices we make to ‘borrow’ our personal time to get work done works against us in the long run, just like the money borrowed from a credit card has to be paid back with interest in the future....
Track Your Time
You need to find out just where your time is going currently. You can use a pen and paper, a spreadsheet, or an app to visualize where you spend most of the hours in your day.
Create A Time-Blocking Template
- Block your time for specific types of work, not individual tasks.
- Block your time for core work like coding, designing or writing, for shallow work like daily tasks and maintenance, for meetings and emails, and fill it with frequent breaks to replenish yourself.
- Give yourself space between blocks so that you can decompress and keep your energy levels high.
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Habits Are Not Blind Routines
Conventional wisdom states that strong habits improve our productivity. Daily habits done in an autopilot mode are not the only route to peak performance.
While our habits help us stick to g...
Revisit What You Do Daily
Some of our daily to-dos should not require a constant daily effort and could be optimized further. Look for such habits and if the daily effort is straining you, look for other innovative solutions.
Time and Energy are limited resources, and as we grow, our habits may become obsolete. We could use the same time and energy to explore new and better options.
It is a good idea to pay attention to where we spend our time and see if there is something we do daily but have outgrown long ago.
Consistency and Boredom
Being consistent can also lead to burnout and lack of growth, and to be creative and innovative, we sometimes need a break from our daily activity. When we stop and do something new, we start to be part of a creative process, instead of simply repeating the same thing every day.
The key is to not rely on a rigid consistency but to be resilient enough to withstand any breaks. Our resilient habits are usually the old ones and have some psychological rewards while involving some external accountability.
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