The Myth of Multitasking: How “Doing It All” Gets Nothing Done by Dave Crenshaw is a nice, quick read and covers some familiar ground for people who talk about multitasking and the sorry effects of high work-in-process (WIP) for people and their businesses. The story is of working with a busy executive, rather than with a busy team, so it has some different takeaways than I have usually seen.

Aug 21
Aug 21 You can't "stop multitasking"

Jack Vinson

continuous improvement, personal effectiveness

No, I don’t want to give up on this topic. But I want to clarify something: Multitasking is an effect - a result of the system in which we find ourselves. In order to “stop multitasking”, the system has to change. And this is where we get to apply some thinking - what can we change in the system?

May 25
May 25 Manipulate time - focus and finish

Jack Vinson

personal effectiveness

Going into a long weekend in the United States, I came across John Rampton's list of 20 time management tips, Manipulate Time With These Powerful 20 Time Management Tips at Forbes. Many of them sound familiar, but they are good reminders nonetheless. To me, it is primarily about focus-and-finish.

Apr 25
Apr 25 High WIP - break out the whip

Jack Vinson

continuous improvement, theory of constraints, project management

Too high work-in-process (WIP) is dangerous for all sorts of reasons in almost any organization. It slows everything down like the molasses in winter. But simply saying “cut WIP” without understanding why it remains so high is a recipe for disaster. Let’s think about this a little.

Apr 24
Apr 24 Why is multitasking so attractive?

Jack Vinson

personal effectiveness

Our daily practice says more about ourselves than we like to admit. If my practice has me multitasking, there must be something about it I enjoy. Is it possible to change my practice? Of course, it is.

Jan 11
Jan 11 There are disruptions and then there are disruptions

Jack Vinson

personal effectiveness

Digital tools (and other humans) can interrupt the flow of work. But are they necessarily bad? Can I allow disruptions in such a way that I can still work and get stuff done?

Jan 8
Jan 8 TOC in software

Jack Vinson

theory of constraints, product management, business

Andrey Salomatin has started a nice series on Theory of Constraints in software startups: "Systems thinking in management" and "Work hard enough and you won’t finish anything" and "I bet you look good on the plant floor." I'm wondering if there will be more in the series.

Sep 13
Sep 13 Multiteaming - inducing more multitasking

Jack Vinson

personal effectiveness, business

By now, most people who read this know that multitasking causes a lot of problems in organizations. It creates delays, lowers quality, and creates more and more tension in an organization.A recent HBR Ideacast with Mark Mortensen described a variant that I have talked about but had never named: "multiteaming" - being assigned to multiple (different) projects.

Aug 25
Aug 25 Do nothing for a while

Jack Vinson

personal effectiveness

Every time we switch attention, it causes us to burn mental energy. And that energy lost ends up costing us: I usually focus on the fact that everything takes longer when my focus shifts. But we also lose creativity, sleep, energy... and more.

Dec 6
Dec 6 Multitasking video from engineer viewpoint

Jack Vinson

theory of constraints, project management, personal effectiveness

A video about multitasking told from the perspective of a design engineer who was lost in the world of multitasking - it took him four weeks to do a 2-4 day design task.

Nov 14
Nov 14 Drop one to the floor

Jack Vinson

personal effectiveness, project management

"The rule of five" is a new-to-me idea for managing multitasking at the individual level. It's a combination of the task board and the idea of dropping things to the floor. Have an explicit list and keep it in control. Interesting.

Oct 21
Oct 21 Focus via Henrik Kniberg

Jack Vinson

personal effectiveness, continuous improvement

I came across a great illustration by Henrik Kniberg, summarizing a talk he did recently on the topic of how to create and maintain focus. The blog post is a set of short commentary, all revolving around the three points illustrated: Create slack; Say no; Stop thinking, "I don't have time".

Sep 28
Sep 28 Attention residue, task switching and multitasking

Jack Vinson

personal effectiveness

Want to be more effective in your work? Stop "just checking" those notifications. They drain your attention and slow you down.

Aug 17
Aug 17 It's only millennials who multitask?

Jack Vinson

personal effectiveness

People are notorious multitaskers - not just one age group. I see my mother respond to every ding and jingle of her phone or iPad. And my kids. And me. And many others. Change the behavior by teaching and showing and expecting different behavior.

Aug 11
Aug 11 No thanks, Too busy

Jack Vinson

culture, personal effectiveness

Another version of "too long, didn't read" is this cartoon. A friend sent me a slightly modified version, so I tracked down one that looked more original.

Apr 8
Apr 8 Swimming in a lake, or rowing down the river

jackvinson

personal effectiveness

We seem to be addicted to busy. Does the busyness help? Does it hurt? Do we swim around in a lake, getting nowhere? Or do we row down the river, ensuring we don't get stuck?

Nov 25
Nov 25 Apparently there are many #1 things

jackvinson

project management

A quick article with opinions from six people on project killers: 6 Experts Share the #1 Thing That Derails a Project | Smartsheet. Of course, there are six different things listed as "the #1 thing." And there are a few more listed in the comments.