Discussion on:

10 ways to be more productive

If so, please list them here.

Don't forget the human factor. Increased productivity should not be at the expense of important human needs.

I will be popping in now and then to answer any questions and to add my voice when I have something to add to the discussion.

"Don't procrastinate"
and
"Don't obsess about perfection, good enough and on time is better than perfect in never-never-land"
But they might be sub-points of one of these others.

I disagree on #4 and with your definition of multi-task. It's not necessarily doing two things at once, even though at-home moms do it all the time, but more accomplishing multiple tasks in a short period of time where you would normally do just one. I can multi-task with the pedal to the floor and have no issues at all. It's pretty much required in the world of IT.

EMD

or is it "staggered tasks"?
Staggered tasks are tasks with downtime layered to eliminate net downtime... intertwining them or with small tasks nested in the downtimes.
That's just scheduling, not multitasking.
I don't recommend trying to think about two things at once, or to do one thing while thinking of another.
Some people can pull it off, but there's no evidence that they wouldn't perform both tasks better doing them one at a time.

We disagree on the definition of multi-tasking but, that's okay, as it promotes brain activity.

I am one step down from ADHD & OCD. I cannot do one thing as it drives me crazy. If I'm waiting on a server to connect remotely I play solitaire as the brain hates the wait.

I can load software on a computer, update a web page on our intranet and be reading up on .Net stuff at the same time. I call that multi-tasking but you may not.

How about thinking about my gardening to do list while I'm editing database code? If not, then please give me some examples.

EMD

of ADHD minus the H but with a dose of impulsive compulsive (TR addiction, anyone?), I can say that I relate.
But I can't think of two things at the same time... and in your example I'd become too engrossed in solitaire and not notice when the server connect is ready.

Thinking about gardening while coding is, in my book, doing daydreaming in one part of the brain while another is engaged in something else... you should look at Toni Bowers recent blog on walking while working; In my opinion, daydreaming is the brains default mode, engaging in it keeps it running well.

But it then makes me wonder if your exclusive qualification means there is any such things as true multi-tasking. It seems even something like talking on the phone while driving is really switching attention from one back to the other. The bursts could be so short that it looks like multi-tasking, but it is just a lot of layering and context switching.

As for me, I feel good if I can be accomplishing multiple things "at the same time," but there is something to be said for meditative focus ... mindfulness.

Talking on the phone and driving:
"bla bla bla... mmm-hmm... LOL... *BEEEEEEP* *Sverwe* *Scrrrreeeeeech*... whew, yeah, what were you saying?" - in this scenario the truck coming in from the right was the IRQ from the driving-task. I sometimes drive long distances on auto-pilot, but that doesn't mean I can do something interactive meanwhile. I can daydream, but not talk on the phone, otherwise I get stuff like the above. A person perform two activities simultaneously, but then they should always be of different level; one bodily activity can be combined with one mental one. But talking is never just mental - it has too many hooks into motorical areas.


Staggering tasks means planning ahead. It involves switching back and forth.

If one is just doing two things half-assed, unplanned, then maybe that's multi-tasking, but that's usually just doing two things poorly, time saved is dubious too, but sometimes it's ok I guess.

What I'd call multitasking is conflating the tasks, modifying them into a form in which they can be combined.

Multitasking the term was coined for computers. Human brains are not computers. So, you can use multitasking metaphorically for human activity, but in it's true sense it's usually not a meaningful use.

Sitting on top of the lid of the box that holds the angry excise-Men while trying to figure out a good explanation for "everything"... that's meaningfully multitasking - but then, we're talking about a holistic human, body and mind, and how the whole human can be applied to it's own benefit.

If one is taking the train to work, knitting and planning the perfect crime at the same time, then potentially that's three things at once, but only two of those are simultaneous activities, getting into the train was one, but it's not anymore by the time you're in your seat.

Actually, it was the *BEEEEEP* that was the IRQ. The truck could have been the system crash. I think the problem is that the checkFront, checkPeripherals, checkRear processes take their little slices and go back to sleep as they are told in a timely manner. It's that talkOnPhone process that masks all interrupts and won't relinquish in a timely fashion.

Most states over here have new laws on the books prohibiting cell phone use while driving ... exceppppt it is okay if it is a hands free device. They haven't quite figured out that it's not holding the phone to the ear that is causing problems, but the driver's failure to wake-up the lookAtTheDamnRoad process.

Yeah, daydreaming is nature's way of an abstract form of multi-tasking ... using excess cycles productively (in a non-conventional sense). Daydreaming seems to know how to play well together with more cognitive processes.

"Most states over here have new laws on the books prohibiting cell phone use while driving ... exceppppt it is okay if it is a hands free device. They haven't quite figured out that it's not holding the phone to the ear that is causing problems, but the driver's failure to wake-up the lookAtTheDamnRoad process."

You nailed it. It doesn't surprise you that the law makers haven't figured this out yet, does it? Hey, they did their job; they passed a law perceived by the public to fix the problem.

I like your process names!

When you're driving: you're steering, changing gears, pressing on the accelerator/brake, looking in the mirrors/in front of you, listening to music. Not one at a time but all at once.

I think there's been a push to change the definition of multi-tasking recently. We will probably still disagree on this item but it's been a good conversation!

EMD

Does the radio poll or present an interrupt to make you hear each beat or syllable? Is turning the wheel a different task than pressing on pedals?

When you are learning to drive a vehicle with a manual transmission you have to consciously think about what you are doing. That's why new drivers are more prone to accidents. After some practice you don't have to think about shifting; it gets 'wired in'. The same goes for accelerating and braking. Looking in the mirror is a separate task and takes your attention away from the road ahead of you - even if only for a moment.

I find that if I turn on a radio talk show and try to code at the same time I focus on coding and lose track of what is being said on the radio. But then I have trained myself to focus on one task at a time.

It is an interesting discussion.

Looking in the mirror is especially revealing. I tend to freeze my pedal and wheel use when looking in the mirror; which is not always useful. Consequently I wait for that freezing to be safe before trying to overtake a driver ahead.
Another thing to consider; how does the conscious mind and the subconscious figure in?
When I'm driving on autopilot, thinking about something else, daydreaming... do I drive less well?
No, instead I find that my conscious mind is actually more prone to errors of judgement than going on autopilot.
How about when you code? Do you get "flow experience" then? Do you code in a low-level consciousness state, ever? Or is that more of a consciousness-only endeavour?

"Do you code in a low-level consciousness state, ever?"

That's a tough one. I experienced that when playing pinball. I get very focused when coding but it's mostly on a conscious level. Perhaps if I were an expert programmer I would 'get in the zone' more often. Maybe 'auto-pilot coding' is what separates the average programmers from the crack programmers?

Interestingly enough, the term multi-tasking is borrowed from the computer industry according to Wikipedia. True multi-tasking is performing two or more tasks at the same time and the evidence so far says that the brain cannot do true multi-tasking.

I see your point though. It is all about how you define multi-tasking and I agree, you often have two or more tasks that you must work on at any given time in the day. You do, however, become less productive overall when switching quickly between tasks.

Visualizing the scheduling, seeing the tasks as seperate and how and when you need to switch from which subprocess of the one into which subprocess of the other... it helps.

Getting interrupted in the middle of a task is always annoying, our circles are disturbed - hopefully not as fatally as in archimedes' case. There's no planning for that, but maybe keeping track of the segmentability of tasks can help. Then you don't have to remember the whole task from A-Z and where you'd gotten to, instead you remember that you were on what corresponds to Bol-Dok of your twenty-volume encyclopedia. But that's just me maybe.

Hi Ansu.

Visualization is often discussed as a way to do better in sports, why not other tasks?

The Wikipedia article I read mentions that the brain might be trained to multi-task better, especially before age 17. But the brain still works less efficiently and with more errors than working on only one task at a time.

is a way of writing a script in the consciousness, then compiling it for the subconscious. It's a way of cutting the consciousness lag out, without losing the benefits of checks and balances.
So, I guess it will work in just about any activity.

Your workload will increase.

We have had this conversation on TR several times and the general consensus I felt was that although Telecomuting has definate advantages, the ability to seperate personal and professional in ones own house is too difficult. Kids running around, the dog barking, partner asking for "one small favour" and the train of thought is lost.

For me personally, I have found that scheduling in work as and when it came into my head helped me manage my time far more efficiently than saying "I really must get that done". Even really small things like posting a letter would have a slot in my Outlook at a time when I knew I would be at my least productive.

Now, absolutely everything I need to do is "written" down in one place leaving me free to concentrate on the work that I do without any unnecessary "I'm sure there is something I have to do"s.

Don't waste valuable time reading loads of 10+ ways blog posts, no?

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