The Time Pressure Trap
Use Monotasking to Relieve the Artifice of Time Pressure
Time pressure is shaped within ourselves. People may strongly demand that we immediately spend our time on their tasks. Their demands give us excuses for creating time pressure, but the time pressure is built by ourselves. With monotasking, we don’t need time pressure.
A study conducted by Harvard Business School found that high time pressure has a negative impact on creative thinking. Curiously, even though the experiment gave evidence of less creative thinking under time pressure, the participants’ own feeling was that they were more creative.
Perceived time pressure also appears to be negative for decision making. That’s why we perform worse in decision-making games like the Iowa Gambling Task when we’re told that there’s not sufficient time to learn and complete the game.
We may solve time pressure problems by accepting that time will come to us at a constant speed. There’s no doubt about that. By monotasking the most important task, we use our time in the best way possible. There is no other way to complete things more quickly or achieve better results.
Staffan Nöteberg is the author of The Pomodoro Technique Illustrated, published by The Pragmatic Bookshelf and most recently Monotasking with Simon & Schuster.
To save 35% on the ebook version of The Pomodoro Technique Illustrated, enter promo code TimePressure35 when you check out at The Pragmatic Bookshelf. The promo code is valid through August 24, 2021, and is not valid on prior purchases. You can also read The Pomodoro Technique Illustrated on Medium.
