If multitasking is a myth for some, how do you get it all done?

This article is written by Rell DeShaw, Assistant Director at Government of Canada.

• The problem: Multitasking is impossible for my brain but it feels like it is what everybody wants in a good worker.
• Why it matters: To be successful in many roles, you’ll have to be able to juggle multiple tasks at once
• The solution: A thoughtful and disciplined approach to priority setting and ‘time boxing’ will help, but the cognitive costs of task switching cannot be avoided.

I recently worked in a job where it would have appeared on the surface that multitasking was the name of the game. I worked with a team to triage about 200 emails a day on behalf of a busy executive. As one example, we could rarely be fully attentive at a meeting where we were supposed to note action items and share them with the management team because we were keeping half an eye on our generic mailbox to advance urgent tasks.

I was good at getting many things done in a day. You might call it multitasking but I don’t actually think that multitasking exists. So how do you get better at finishing a variety of things in a day?

Here are some suggestions if you are struggling with having confidence that you are doing the right thing at the right time.

Some ideas on how to rank your tasks

Deciding what to do when is a bit of an art — I can offer some guiding questions but some decisions are very context and boss dependent. On the upside, you can carry out investigations that will support you to be more solid over time.

Here are some questions to guide you:

• Who is asking? Start at the top.
• When is it needed and is that deadline soft or hard? Though it should be rare that you have to ask, if needed, can you ask for an extension?
• Is this a short or long piece? The short things may float more to the top of the list.
• Will you be able to recycle or update new material or do you need to start from scratch?
• Is this high-profile, including a text to be sent to the general public?
• What is your boss most concerned about?
• Are you the only one who can do this or can you ask for help?
• Can you task partners and use the waiting time for other work? If you need data updated for your briefing note, ask for that early in the process and use the waiting time for something else.
• What quick tasks can you get out of the way before you move to more time-intensive tasks? Don’t underestimate the power of accomplishing a few small or short things to boost your overall momentum and productivity.

There are undeniable cognitive costs of task switching but also a few upsides

It is undeniable that there is a lot of lost time when you switch from task to task. It can take you up to 20 minutes to re-engage with a task you have put to the side. The costs are more than retracing your steps to pick up where you left off. You may question the value of what you have already done and be at a loss for all the great plans you may have had to muscle through a task in the first place. Even worse, it is possible that the context will have changed since you started your work.

That said, there are some advantages to picking something up again: you will get a fresh perspective if you take a break and return to something – from typos to flow issues, you will see ways to improve your work.

How to put it all together – pick priorities and assign time blocks

Here is my suggested attack strategy when your “to-do” list is long:

• Write your master “to-do” list with everything – it will get it out of your head and onto the page which may lower your blood pressure.
• Using the questions above, write your top three to five items for the week onto your short list. If you are feeling worried that you don’t have the right short list, ask your boss or a trusted colleague to validate. The order of the list may be less crucial than knowing where your focus must be and sticking to it.
• For each thing on the list, ballpark a time estimate to finish the whole task.
• Take a calendar for a week or a month (align with your medium or long-term deadlines) and write down the deadlines for each of your top three to five items.
• Using blocks of time that make sense for your taskings (would suggest using half days or less), block out time for your top items. These time blocks are estimates but it’s a start to showing how the week/month contains enough time to get all your work done.
• Once you have mapped out your main time blocks, consider how to further mark out the main milestones for each task. This may include:
  • Translations and editing
  • Approvals by management
  • Updating statistics and other key facts
• Once you have mapped out your week, do an honest assessment: Can you get your top priorities done? If not, do you need to seek a second opinion on whether your products are too ambitious or do you need to ask for help?

I have my list and I have my general plan but I am still freaking out – what else do you have for me?

Other suggestions that may help you:

• For bigger tasks, chunk out the major elements – write an outline for a speech, list the stats you need to pull, verify that translators are available over the weekend if needed.
• If feasible in your job, signal that you are going to be offline for specific periods to plough through things. Then shut your email, mute your messenger services and turn off your personal phone while you work for a defined time.
• Some folks have found the pomodoro method helpful – get out a timer and stay on task until it dings.
• If you have not tried analysing your tasks with the urgent and important matrix, you may wish to check it out.

Many jobs have very long to-do lists but with a bit of strategy, you may be able to map out a path to a manageable list each week.

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