How Do You Manage Your Time?

Working environments that are always online, multipurpose, and multitasking are stifling work. efficiency It inhibits creativity and makes us unhappy.

Although the information technology and communication revolution has benefited us immense, it also has a well-known negative impact: information Overload and its "close relatives" - distraction. These harms are particularly damaging to the CEO and its chief executives, because executives urgently need the time to be interrupted to analyze the information from many different sources, to think carefully about their impact on the organization, to focus on judgment, to weigh the trade-offs and to make the right decisions. Policy decision 。

For decades, the importance of retaining the whole time for careful thinking and the difficulty of achieving this has always been the research topic in management literature. Just look at the classic The Effective Executive published by Peter Drucker in 1967. The book stresses that "in order to achieve minimum efficiency, the most difficult task for business executives is to get considerable time." Drucker provides solutions for time crumbling managers - keep some time in your schedule, do not answer the phone, and call back in a short period of time once a day or two times - sounds very much like the recommendations of today's time and information management experts.

However, the implementation of these proposals is surprisingly difficult and is always more and more difficult. Each of the challenges described by Drucker in 1967 is still present: endless meetings every day, and continuing to travel to maintain contacts with customers and widely distributed organizations, representing companies participating in various kinds of banquet and activities. Among these challenges, there are increasing emails, huge amounts of other kinds of information, and a growing variety of technical means -- from endless phone calls to blogs, twitter, and various social networks -- executives can use these tools to keep in touch with their organizations and customers, and you have an exhausting secret. Many executives actually have two overlapping workdays: one is the official planned working day in their schedules, the other is before, after, and between formal jobs. At these times, they seize a moment's leisure time and time, use their laptop or smart phone to process multiple tasks simultaneously, and try to keep pace with their own information flow.

There are indeed some better solutions, and these solutions are not cutting-edge science. The purpose of this article is to provide assistance to them and their organizations by reminding them of three simple facts. First of all, dealing with multiple tasks at the same time is a very bad way to deal with it. Many scientific evidence is convincingly proving that multiple tasks at the same time reduce people's work efficiency and creativity and make it difficult to make the right decisions. If we want to be effective leaders, we must stop this practice.

Secondly, solving the problem of information overload requires great self-control. A bit like a drug addict who is on drugs, executives must try to maintain self-discipline every day by applying some unobsolete and effective guidelines. These include: focus on time, filter out unimportant information, and put down work and rest from time to time. Of course, the best thing is to preserve the benefits of connectivity and not to distract us too much.

Third, because executives' behavior determines the tone of their organization, they have a responsibility to set a better example. The popularity of various powerful communications technologies means that employees are also faced with many challenges of their management time and attention. Now, the productivity of the entire organization may be affected by information overload. No individual or group can solve this problem in isolation. For corporate executives in twenty-first Century, rebuilding a more healthy corporate culture is a crucial new responsibility.

Hazards of multiple tasks simultaneously

We tend to think that by doing a few things at the same time, we can better deal with all kinds of information coming from the surface and do more work. In addition, handling multiple tasks at the same time - interrupting another task with one task - sometimes can be very interesting. Every ringing of our favorite high-tech e-mail devices carries potential rewards. Looking at it may provide a distraction that we prefer to accept from more difficult and challenging tasks. It makes us feel, at least for the time being, that we have done something even if we just delete the e-mail in our email inbox. Unfortunately, current research shows that the opposite is true: handling multiple tasks at the same time will definitely reduce efficiency.

It will reduce our efficiency.

The root of this problem is that our brain is most suitable for focusing on one task at a time. When we switch between multiple tasks, especially complex tasks, our work efficiency will be surprisingly low: for example, in a recent study, participants who completed tasks in parallel at the same time would spend 30% more time and their turnovers doubled. The reason for the delay is due to the fact that our brain can not successfully command us to complete two activities at the same time. When we switch between different tasks, our brain also has to choose to switch: closing the cognitive pattern of the original task and starting the new task's cognitive law. This takes time and reduces work efficiency, especially for those who have to deal with multiple tasks over a long period of time. They seem to need to spend more time switching between tasks than those who have multiple tasks simultaneously.

In fact, most of us will probably admit that handling multiple tasks at the same time enables us to quickly handle some of the simpler things in our to-do list. However, it rarely helps us solve the most difficult problems we face. Most of the time, it just delays time in disguise.

It inhibits creativity.

Some people may think that keeping in touch with new information at least makes us more creative. On this issue, the fact seems to be the opposite. Teresa Amabile of Harvard Business School and her colleagues assessed the daily working style of more than 9000 people who need to be creative and innovative. They found that when people focus on one activity for most of the day, and only one partner, they are more likely to play creative thinking. On the contrary, if people's work is highly dispersed every day, they will participate in many activities, meetings and discussions of different groups, and their creative thinking ability will be significantly reduced.

These findings are also intuitionistic. To solve problems creatively, we usually need to put different ideas in memory immediately, so that we can discover all kinds of links that we haven't noticed before and create new ideas. When our minds leap from one thought to another, we are very clear that we are unlikely to establish these vital links.

It makes us anxious, addictive and hard to extricate ourselves.

In the laboratory environment, the researchers found that subjects who required multiple tasks at the same time showed higher levels of stress hormones. A survey conducted by Reuters on managers shows that 2/3 respondents believe that information overload reduces job satisfaction and undermines their personal relationships. 1/3 respondents even believe that information overload has damaged their health.

However, there is increasing evidence that people may become quite addicted to multiple tasks at the same time. For example, Edward Hallowell and John Ratey of Harvard University wrote that those who feel connected will produce a similar effect of "dopamine injection" - the same effect as that of addictive drugs. This feeling is also very familiar: when smart phones call ringing, even if we were doing other things at the time, who never struggled to resist the impulse to check information immediately?

Coping with information flood

So what is the right way to deal with multiple tasks at the same time? In our conversations with CEOs and other executives who have tried to solve this problem, we have repeatedly heard some very basic strategies. These strategies are not very different from the methods described by Drucker more than 40 years ago in essence: the integrated application of focusing energy, filtering information and combining work with rest. The real challenge for these executives and for all of us is that it is more difficult to implement these strategies in a permanent online working environment than in Drucker. It requires great self-control, and we can't do this alone: in our top management team and the whole organization, we need to establish a set of behavioral norms that support a more efficient way of doing things. {page_break}

Concentrate

Chief executives and other senior executives work all day after another. Sometimes, an activity can not be extended for more than 15 minutes. Gary Loveman, CEO of Harrah s entertainment, described the significance of this: "you must avoid the danger of an" intelligent buffet "overeating. In a day's work, I often need to involve a lot of functional areas, but I am careful not to skim over the topics that deserve attention, and to spend time on meaningful in-depth thinking on the most important issues. The overload of digital information, through various enquiries, and problems that can often be solved by others, inundates leaders in the flood of information, exacerbating the danger of "eating and drinking too much", so that these leaders' attention can be distracted from those difficult, unpleasant and high-risk problems, which are the most important issues they need to pay attention to and solve.

Many executives respond by creating the old strategy of "alone time". For example, Mike Splinter, chief executive officer of applied materials company, found solitude time between 6:30-8:00 every morning. The head nurse of England Christine Beasley lady used her travel time alone to enjoy tranquillity; the CEO of San Francisco Symphony Orchestra Brent Assink arranged any time of her day to be alone. Bill Gross, chief investment officer of PIMCO, has taken an extreme approach: "I don't reply or read any e-mail I don't want to see." I don't use cell phones; I don't have BlackBerry smartphones. My motto is, "I don't want to be connected; I want to break the line."

Assink says that unless the management team realizes that it does not require the highest level of coherent instructions, it can also keep pace with the times every day. Otherwise, these methods may not work. Assink has always spoken to his employees: "if you want to get an immediate answer, you must call. If you send e-mail, you will have to get a reply at work. "

Can we stop the rush of information? Management information may be as easy as cutting off input, and it is also so difficult. Turn off e-mail, turn off Internet browsers, turn the phone to voice mail automatically, and let your assistant and team know that you are concentrating on a job meeting. Christine Beasley said: "if you put your BlackBerry in your pocket or handbag, you can hardly extricate yourself from it. You can't trust yourself to not look at the information in your cell phone. You have to take it with you."

Filtering information

Of course, closing all communications means that when you re connect, the information in your inbox will soon be overrun. There is also a danger of throwing babies together with bathing water: no one is willing to lose the ability to keep in touch with organizations, customers and other stakeholders, or, as Mike Splinter puts it, "give short and direct answers to urgent questions", plus "you don't want to be a stumbling block in the business cycle."

Therefore, it is very important to adopt an appropriate filtering strategy. First of all, we must give up the illusions that leaders must take care of themselves, and this view is deeply rooted as all kinds of information become easier and more continuous. On the contrary, the old way of delegated authorization is very important for information management, just as it is very important for task management. As Gary Loveman said, "it takes me a lot of time to keep track of what is happening now, but I am personally deeply involved in solving the most critical questions that I need to intervene in, the performance of the company, whether it is now or in the future." Christine Beasley also holds a similar view: "you can't read all the information. I do look at the most important things that I really need to make decisions.

Now, some leaders explicitly refuse to reply to any e-mail that they just copy as a way to filter out information that others think does not require leadership to take action. You may also need to educate the staff around you, which is worth occupying your limited time. Christine Beasley explained, "in order to get my own time, I have to pay considerable cost. You need to do some work to provide me with data and insights, so that I can read some information in advance. Setting such a simple threshold can exclude a large number of relatively less important matters from my work schedule.

Although winning the respect of others for your email inbox, you won't be able to achieve your goals at once. But for executives, establishing an effective daily information management support structure has become a key element of success. This support structure may be more complicated, including the office director for a chief executive of a large company. It may be relatively simple and requires only a competent assistant. As Christine Beasley said, she is "very good at managing my e-mail traffic, and will delete the mail that I do not really need to see."

Strike a proper balance between work and rest

It is worth reiterating that in order to process new input of knowledge and information, let our brain rest is a key factor in creative learning and thinking, which is not only a conclusion drawn by researchers, but also by many business leaders. Bill Gross said, "some of my best ideas really come from yoga when standing upside down. After about 15 minutes of yoga practice, suddenly, some important bulbs seemed to be lit. AMike Splinter also found the value of exercise: "I found that it is to maintain good physical condition, and help me keep a clearer mind every day."

Getting external help -- recent research has found that compared with walking in cities, people's learning efficiency is significantly improved after walking in nature. Moreover, emotional communication with other people can also divert attention from conscious rational work, which is a good start for entering the subconscious mind. "When I go home at night, I just want to say," well, I don't have to read my BlackBerry for two or three hours, "explains Sheri McCoy, chairman of Johnson pharmaceuticals. I just relax myself. I want to save my energy and concentrate on my work. " Christine Beasley has some rules for protecting private time on weekends. The reason is, "if things are urgent, people will always find me."

Press the "recovery button" responsibility.

If we go back to the era of Drucker, all of this will be easier. At that time, we could not talk with mobile phones every day when we went to work. We would not carry all kinds of devices that could achieve connectivity when we were on holiday, and there was no wireless Internet connection at that time. Because of the various codes of conduct surrounding the twenty-first Century team collaboration, it is becoming more difficult to implement strategies focusing on energy, filtering information and combining work with rest. Today, most leaders feel guilty about not replying to an e-mail within 24 hours. Few people feel comfortable with avoiding their team during the day working hours (or driving home, or evenings) in order to concentrate on the most complicated problems. Besides, they also get a sense of personal satisfaction from feeling that they are needed by others.

However, considering that information overload can significantly reduce the quality of learning and decision making, it is the responsibility of enterprises to reformulate these work specifications. Handling multiple tasks at the same time is not a "heroic act". It reduces work efficiency. With the increasing capacity of information transmission and storage technology and increasing speed, our cognitive pressure will only increase. Unless we stop now and redesign our work standards, we will be faced with the danger of reducing the number of professionals who are able to think carefully and creatively.

First of all, we must recognize and reassess the mindset that makes us dependent on existing behavior patterns. For example, we must admit that when we can respond quickly to other people's requests, we will feel very satisfied, and this is also verified. We hope to feel that it is so indispensable for enterprises that we seldom forget behind. There is nothing wrong with this feeling, but we must also consider that doing so will pay a considerable price for our long-term efficiency. No one will think that consuming all the resources of an enterprise is a good strategy for its long-term success, and it is also true for its leaders and their spiritual resources.

Second, leaders must be more determined than ever before in all areas of business, except those who have to solve problems independently. It takes a lot of effort to decide which business areas to be authorized to others, and to have skills to guide others in effectively completing tasks, and to have clear expectations of both sides.

Finally, in order to really make this approach work, leaders must work with their team to redesign work specifications. A person, even a CEO, can't do this alone. Who wants to be the only person in the executive team who doesn't have a smartphone on vacation? If there is no clear discussion in advance, such behavior may be considered as a lack of responsibility for the enterprise, rather than a useful attempt to break contact and recharge. Therefore, we encourage corporate leaders and their teams to openly discuss what ways they should choose to focus their attention, filter unimportant things, and temporarily lay down their work; how they should support each other, create the necessary time and space to make themselves the best; and how they can make the rest of the organization do likewise. This conversation can also be a correct starting point, which enables us to have a deeper understanding of the needs of all knowledge workers in the company for information and technology.

The benefits of reducing the burden of information overload - the benefits of efficiency, creativity, morale and performance - will far exceed what is worth doing. The deeper we learn about these benefits, the easier it is to persevere in new habits.