One thing at a timeEveryday life

unbry

One thing at a time

A short book about juggling several tasks at once and finishing the day with all of them half done

23 chapters12,037 wordsAbout 55 minFirst edition

What's inside

·Before you startThis is a short book and you can read it in two or three sittings. It would suit the argument if you read it without doing anything else at the same time…2 min
1Ten past fiveIt's ten past five on a Tuesday. You lean back from the screen and take stock. The report for Thursday is open in one window. It's at the third paragraph…3 min
2Why juggling seems sensibleI don't want to start by telling you the juggling is foolish. There are good reasons for it, and some kinds of it work. The demands are real. Modern work…2 min
3"I'm doing several things at once"The word multitasking came from computing, where it described a processor handling several programs. People adopted it for themselves, and it carried a…2 min
4"Switching only takes a second"Glancing at a message takes a second. Reading it takes ten. It seems absurd to say that this could do any harm to a morning's work. You look, you deal…2 min
5"I'm good at it"Perhaps all that applies to other people. You've always been someone who can keep many plates spinning. You've been told so in appraisals. You may even…2 min
6"I've been busy all day, so I must have got a lot done"At ten past five you were tired, and tiredness normally means work was done. You answered perhaps sixty messages and touched a dozen tasks. It seems…2 min
7"I have to answer straight away"A lot of switching is driven by messages, and behind the messages is a belief that a quick answer is expected of you. If you leave an email for two hours…2 min
8"It's the notifications, not me"There's truth in this, and it's worth a chapter, because part of the habit isn't yours. Most of the tools you work with are built to produce switches. An…2 min
9"I can listen and do something else"Meetings and calls are where many people do their most confident juggling. You're on a video call with your camera off, clearing email while someone…2 min
10"When I get stuck, I move to something else"It sounds like good management of your time. The report has hit a difficult paragraph and the words won't come. You could sit there staring at it, but it…2 min
11"Half done is better than not started"By five o'clock you had six things under way, and there's comfort in that. Nothing has been neglected, and every one of them has had some attention. It…2 min
12"I can keep it all in my head"People who juggle often pride themselves on this. You know where everything stands. The report is at section two, the reconciliation is at row forty, the…2 min
13"I'd get bored doing one thing"Two hours on a reconciliation is a bleak prospect. Part of the appeal of juggling is that it breaks the monotony. A bit of this, a bit of that, and the…2 min
14"My job is nothing but interruptions"For some people this is true. A receptionist can't ask callers to wait until she's finished the filing. It's the same for a nurse when a patient's alarm…2 min
15What the juggling costsYou may think of the habit as costing a bit of efficiency. Most of this chapter is my own reckoning, and I'll say where a study comes in. Time. Every…2 min
16Choosing the one thingIf you're going to work on one thing at a time, you have to choose which. For many people this is where the method stalls. There are eleven things, all of…2 min
17Working in stretchesThis chapter is about how to stay on the one thing once you've chosen it. It's built from the research in earlier chapters and from common practice.…3 min
18At homeThe habit doesn't stay at work. Saturday's damp washing and half-hung shelf come from the same place, and the costs at home can be higher, because some of…2 min
19The decisionThis chapter asks you to decide something. It comes late because at the start it would have sounded like being told to concentrate, which you've heard…2 min
20Open-plan offices, small children and days it goes wrongWhen you work in an open-plan office. Headphones are widely understood to mean that someone doesn't want to be disturbed, even with nothing playing. Book…3 min
21Ten past five againIt's ten past five on a Tuesday, some weeks later. You lean back from the screen. On a sheet of paper beside the keyboard is this morning's list. It has…2 min
·NotesThis book gives general information about working habits. It isn't medical or employment advice. The NHS guidance I mention is for England as I found it…6 min