Slow-motion Multitasking
4 benefits of the creative minds
Slow-Motion Multitasking, refers to the process of moving back and forth between projects depending on the situation or mood.
Instead of the usual multi-tasking where you do two or more things at once, you focus on one project at a time and shift between projects when you meet a dead end or for other reasons
Ever since Tim Harford gave a TED Talk on Slow-Motion Multitasking, more people have been taking advantage of this technique in some way or another. It helps to unleash the creativity in new ways.
If you don't know whether it's good or bad to incorporate Slow-motion Multitasking in your life, here are 4 benefits that worked for me:
1. Helped me to organize my creative life
There are times when I feel overwhelmed by all the great ideas I have. I want to achieve them all.
But slowly, I realize that everything is just getting out of control because I can’t decide which one to focus on first. That’s where Slow-motion Multitasking comes in and helps me get my life back in order.
When you are working on a project, sometimes you can notice your mind starts drifting off. That’s the cue for your next project in line.
If there’s suddenly a spark of an idea for one of your previous projects, you can always jump back to it.
Working on one project, can recharge your batteries to the project you are not currently working on. Then when you shift your focus to that project, can recharge your batteries to the other project, and so on.
This way, you won’t feel overwhelmed but instead, filled with excitement every time you start a new project.
2. Get out of creative blocks
When you feel stuck and can’t raise any new ideas, applying slow-motion multitasking and swapping between different projects can help free your mind.
After spending so much time on one idea, your mind becomes fixated on this idea. But by jumping onto another project, you can release your mind and allow it to think from outside of the box.
You might even find yourself with a better and improved idea.
The reason you can’t figure out the answer is because the wrong answer is stuck in your head.
— Tim Harford
3. Prevent procrastination
Procrastination has left countless great ideas forgotten in the back of our minds. It happens most often when we get bored and tired of working on the same idea and lose motivation.
With nothing to follow up on, the project eventually gets abandoned as we procrastinate and forget.
You can prevent procrastination by switching between projects whenever you’re bored or out of ideas to a new project (or a previous project you’ve been working on) and starting fresh.
4. Encourage the learning process
When you dive into other fields for various projects, you might notice how these different fields are somehow related in one way or another. And learning new things for the project you’re working on might benefit you in previous or following projects.
The more knowledge you acquire, the easier it will be for you in the future.
CONCLUSIONS & TAKEAWAYS
If used effectively, Slow-motion Multitasking can boost your productivity levels without losing any motivation between projects.
If this works for you as well, start applying it today and watch how your life starts changing.
