"Suckers for irrelevancy"

I talk with people regularly about the pitfalls of multitasking. The majority of the time I receive enthusiastic agreement about the productivity downsides of trying to juggle multiple things at the same time.

And yet take even a casual look around our workplaces and roadways.... What do you see? I see plenty of evidence that our actions don't align with what we say we know.

Talking on the phone while trying to look up some information--while driving. Trying to draft an e-mail while having a conversation with someone. Checking messages on a Blackberry while sitting in a training session.

Earlier this year I interviewed Dave Crenshaw, author of The Myth of Multitasking, for my People and Projects Podcast. Dave talked about how we actually switchtask rather than multitask, adding stress and wasted time rather than efficiency when juggling multiple creative tasks.

A new study recently released from Stanford confirms Dave's point. According to Professor Clifford Nass, high multitaskers are "suckers for irrelevancy", easily distracted by the noise that bombards us all every day.

Want to get more done today? Work on focusing on one thing and get it done.

And here's an idea! Check out the video below (but don't check e-mail while doing so)!

Labels: e-mail, Information Technology, multitasking, podcast, time management

posted by Andy at 10:05 AM  

Spell Checker is Not Always Your Friend

I was in Milwaukee delivering a project management workshop on Monday. During a break, one of the participants just started roaring with laughter.

He was reading his e-mail. I wondered, "What could be so funny? "

He told me, "I just got a message from a co-worker asking for help. Instead of saying 'sorry for the inconvenience' the e-mail reads 'sorry for the incontinence!"

The curse of spell checker/auto-complete strikes again!

Potential actions
Consider re-reading your e-mails today before hitting the Send button. Pay close attention when having the computer automatically fix your spellings. Double-check that presentation you're sending to your project sponsor or key stakeholder. I wouldn't want it to cause you any incontinence!

An extra minute of review now can save much more time later in confusion or embarrassment.

For advice on issues like this, check out my e-book How to Organize Your Inbox & Get Rid of E-Mail Clutter.

Labels: communication, e-mail

posted by Andy at 6:12 AM  

"Could I have a translator for what this IT guy said?"

If you're not an Information Technology (IT) professional, you probably have to work with one. A common complaint about communication across organizational boundaries is the use of jargon, and the IT people I interact with are often guilty of this communications sin.

According to the results of a survey conducted by IT recruitment consultancy Computer People, 75 percent of respondents admitted that they waste over an hour a week finding out what something means so they can complete their work.

For the record, that seems like an exaggeration to me (but then again, I grew up as an IT guy). Regardless we can all use a reminder to be careful with the jargon that we inadvertently insert into our written and spoken communications.

Potential actions
Consider re-reading your e-mails today before hitting the Send button. Double-check that presentation you're sending to your project sponsor. Do they really understand the metrics?

An extra minute of review now can save much more time later in confusion or poor decisions.

For advice on how to use e-mail more effectively, check out my e-book How to Organize Your Inbox & Get Rid of E-Mail Clutter.

Labels: communication, e-mail, managing stakeholders, project sponsors

posted by Andy at 10:28 AM  

What Not To Say: E-mail Edition

I continue to be amazed by the e-mail horror stories I hear as I intersect with companies around the world. As they say, "Guns don't kill people. People kill people." The problem isn't e-mail. The problem is we often aren't sufficiently thinking before hitting "Send."

Though this list of "10 Things You Should Never Write in an E-Mail or Instant Messsage" may seem obvious, it's a good reminder to think before you send.

Do you have an e-mail story worthy of a Darwin Award? I invite you to share your story in the Comments.

Also, I invite you to get a copy of our e-book entitled How to Organize Your Inbox & Get Rid of E-Mail Clutter. You'll get helpful insights to tame the e-mail monster for less than $10 USD.

Labels: communication, e-mail

posted by Andy at 11:32 AM