Where was I?
The daily journey that we all go through without even noticing.
It’s 9 AM, with the caffeine running through your veins you feel ready to conquer the world. Your first enemy, that report that has to be presented today. Bring it on, you are READY!
As the fight with the beast began, an urgent email appears. A truce is set in place while you check it out.
Done! The fight is back on.
After a couple of great uppercuts, you realize that you haven’t sent the appointment to your boss. It only takes a couple of minutes and since she has a packed agenda, it will be better to do it right away.
Sent! As you turn back looking for the frozen battle, another enemy was waiting for you. The Question …
Where was I?
And like that, without noticing, you already paid the price.
The cost behind the switch
Context switching is a common practice nowadays, aggravated by the overloaded communication channels. The worst part is we’ve got used to it. It even makes us feel productive.
We couldn’t be more wrong.
Checking emails, chats or interacting face to face with colleagues are necessary things. Are we doing them at the right time? To check it out, we can start by asking ourselves:
Was I already working on something else before engaging on any activity as the ones described above ?
If the answer is Yes, bad news. We are switching contexts and by doing so, paying the price (without knowing how costly it is).
How much is it?
Let’s try to put a value on this price statement. I’ve run an experiment to check if there is any real switching cost.
It’s a simple exercise, take a piece of paper and draw 3 columns to fill them as follows:
Numbers from 1 to 10 | Letters from A to J | Numbers from 10 to 1
You have 15 seconds to write as many values of each column as you can, and you have to do it twice.
In the first run you have to fill the first value of each column, then the second, the third and so on. For example, you will write 1 | A | 10 then move forward to the second line and write 2 | B | 9 and keep going.
For the second run, fill one column at a time, moving to the next only when you’ve completed the previous one.
Fairly easy, right? Anyone can do it.
After completing the experiment 7 times with 7 different people(including myself) the results were consistent. We at least filled 70% of all columns on the second attempt without the context switching compared to 45% on the first attempt which we were constantly switching.
Price: 25% of efficiency.
It’s a fun experiment and you can feel your mind struggling with the switch in the first run, even with this simple task. Now imagine that you are working on something much more complex, like that report. How difficult do you think it is for your mind in those cases? And, how costly in terms of efficiency it could be?
Then what?
It might be better to close/avoid any source of distraction (mails, mobile phones, chats, etc). Focus on one task at the time, complete it and then attend your next open topic.
But let’s be honest, this may not be possible for everyone. So I will leave 3 simple tricks/tips that you can use to reduce the price that you are paying.
Pomodoro Technique
This is a time management technique focused on splitting your tasks into 25 minutes intervals. It is during these intervals that you have to avoid any distractions. Once the task is completed, you take a break before jumping into the next one.
It will be easier to avoid interruptions during smaller intervals than thinking that you will be able to work 2 hours with no interruptions.
Note: Many resources explain this technique much better than me. Go check them out.
Make a schedule
This may sound dumb but there are time slots during the day where it is more likely that someone may require your help.
To give you an example I will use my reality (yours may be different).
Between 9 AM and noon, people tend to do their daily plan or revise open topics. Between these hours, it’s more likely that someone/something appears requiring my “immediate” attention. Compared with the slot between 2–6 PM where things are getting closed and people are more focused on going home than starting new things.
Having this in mind, I tend to work on tasks that do not require much mental effort during the morning. This way it will be easier for me to switch context if necessary. I leave the tasks that require more concentration to the slots where I know it’s less likely that someone will require my support.
Think about your day and check if there is any time where you are more demanded. Build a schedule of your tasks around that.
Unplug yourself
This one is extreme and I use it only for critical situations, but the results are outstanding.
If you are able to sit alone in a room. No phone and no internet connection (or at least no communication apps like Skype or email). It’s a lot easier to focus and work on just one thing.
I know, this one might not be suitable for everyone, but it’s still something worth trying.
Repeat the experiment, test it with your friends and experience it yourself. This is something that we all suffer, but there are a lot of simple tools available to help us deal with it.
