1 00:00:01,493 --> 00:00:05,753 Sometime in the 1960s, when computers were getting better at performing 2 00:00:05,753 --> 00:00:11,063 tasks, the concept of multitasking was introduced while this concept was 3 00:00:11,063 --> 00:00:15,233 intended to describe computers during multiple operations at the same time. 4 00:00:15,608 --> 00:00:19,838 Productivity experts quickly adopted it in an attempt to get us humans 5 00:00:19,898 --> 00:00:21,878 to get more done in less time. 6 00:00:22,478 --> 00:00:25,898 However, multitasking doesn't only make us less efficient. 7 00:00:26,078 --> 00:00:30,368 According to some studies, it also could potentially damage our brains. 8 00:00:31,088 --> 00:00:34,538 In this episode, I'm going to discuss a simple but powerful 9 00:00:34,538 --> 00:00:36,098 alternative to multitasking. 10 00:00:36,098 --> 00:00:37,568 That actually works. 11 00:00:38,168 --> 00:00:40,238 I'm Amin Ahmed and welcome to be. 12 00:00:40,238 --> 00:00:41,138 Well do well. 13 00:00:42,361 --> 00:00:46,201 There's a popular video on YouTube that I recently watched that demonstrates 14 00:00:46,201 --> 00:00:48,931 this idea called inattention blindness. 15 00:00:49,501 --> 00:00:52,561 You can find it by searching selective attention test. 16 00:00:53,251 --> 00:00:56,011 I've also included the link in this show notes. 17 00:00:56,911 --> 00:01:00,001 Take a minute and watch the video and then come back here and will continue. 18 00:01:01,111 --> 00:01:01,561 all right. 19 00:01:01,711 --> 00:01:04,531 If you watch the video, you'll see that the test was to count. 20 00:01:04,531 --> 00:01:09,421 The number of times a basketball was passed between players wearing a t-shirt. 21 00:01:10,201 --> 00:01:12,661 What you probably didn't notice was in the video. 22 00:01:12,661 --> 00:01:16,351 A gorilla actually walked across the screen and banged on its chest. 23 00:01:17,341 --> 00:01:20,251 This video is also referred to the invisible gorilla. 24 00:01:20,641 --> 00:01:22,951 It shows how our focus is limited. 25 00:01:23,401 --> 00:01:27,001 It's hard for us to be zoomed into something specific, like counting 26 00:01:27,001 --> 00:01:30,991 the passes between players and at the same time, be zoomed out, 27 00:01:31,411 --> 00:01:33,991 noticing all the other things happening around like the Gor. 28 00:01:35,566 --> 00:01:40,276 Daniel Leviton, a neuroscientist and the author of the organized mind 29 00:01:40,636 --> 00:01:43,786 explains that when we multitask, we're actually depleting the 30 00:01:43,786 --> 00:01:46,126 neurochemicals that we need to focus. 31 00:01:46,606 --> 00:01:51,226 The result of this is fatigue, exhaustion, and in the long term burnout. 32 00:01:52,546 --> 00:01:55,246 So what exactly is this solution to multitasking? 33 00:01:55,636 --> 00:02:00,196 How can we get more done in less time . If hopping back and forth 34 00:02:00,226 --> 00:02:02,356 between tasks doesn't actually work. 35 00:02:02,416 --> 00:02:03,136 What does? 36 00:02:03,916 --> 00:02:06,346 What actually works is batching your work? 37 00:02:06,706 --> 00:02:09,196 This is by far the best way to get things done. 38 00:02:09,686 --> 00:02:12,836 If you're asking me, can I listen to music while working out? 39 00:02:12,926 --> 00:02:13,706 Absolutely. 40 00:02:14,006 --> 00:02:18,266 What I'm actually talking about is highly focused tasks, where you've 41 00:02:18,266 --> 00:02:20,096 got tasks that you need to focus. 42 00:02:20,101 --> 00:02:23,846 Batching is actually, what's going to help you get things done more efficiently. 43 00:02:24,326 --> 00:02:26,906 It sounds counterintuitive, but it works. 44 00:02:28,046 --> 00:02:32,516 The best example I can give on a power of batching is to show you what doesn't. 45 00:02:33,911 --> 00:02:37,421 Now, when it comes to email, we get lots of emails a day, sometimes 46 00:02:37,421 --> 00:02:39,401 even a hundred or more emails a day. 47 00:02:40,031 --> 00:02:44,291 Most people when they're working will keep their email program, whether it's Gmail or 48 00:02:44,291 --> 00:02:46,781 outlook open all day long on their screen. 49 00:02:47,201 --> 00:02:50,681 And when they get a ping ding or buzz, they'll jump into their email 50 00:02:50,681 --> 00:02:53,981 and check what came in and then read and respond to it right away. 51 00:02:54,761 --> 00:02:58,301 This takes us away from the task that we're actually working on at the moment. 52 00:02:58,491 --> 00:03:01,101 And slows us down as we switch back and forth. 53 00:03:01,881 --> 00:03:05,331 Now it's obvious that it slows us down because we stop working on the task. 54 00:03:05,691 --> 00:03:09,291 But when you get back to the task that you were working on, there is 55 00:03:09,291 --> 00:03:12,971 a bit of a delay that takes you time to get back into what you were doing. 56 00:03:14,411 --> 00:03:18,851 Some estimates show that it takes 50% more time when you switch back and 57 00:03:18,851 --> 00:03:22,271 forth, because then you have to realign yourself to what you're working on. 58 00:03:23,171 --> 00:03:27,881 As an example, if you're working on, let's say creating an email for your email 59 00:03:27,881 --> 00:03:32,471 newsletter or you're working on social media content and an email comes in and 60 00:03:32,471 --> 00:03:37,621 you leave, and then you go back to your task, well, then you have to get back 61 00:03:37,711 --> 00:03:39,181 to understanding what you were doing. 62 00:03:39,181 --> 00:03:40,831 And that takes a little bit of time. 63 00:03:41,701 --> 00:03:45,781 The better way to do this is to pick a time during your day, maybe once in 64 00:03:45,781 --> 00:03:49,381 the morning and once in the afternoon for, let's say 30 minutes where 65 00:03:49,381 --> 00:03:54,871 you're going to open your email and go through a top to bottom and even better 66 00:03:54,876 --> 00:03:58,531 approach is to go through your email in layers when you have this 30 minute. 67 00:03:59,926 --> 00:04:01,096 in the first layer. 68 00:04:01,366 --> 00:04:05,056 You're going to decide whether you need to delete it, archive it, or skip 69 00:04:05,056 --> 00:04:06,616 the items that need more attention. 70 00:04:06,946 --> 00:04:08,356 You're not going to respond to it. 71 00:04:08,361 --> 00:04:09,496 You're not gonna address it. 72 00:04:09,526 --> 00:04:11,686 You're just simply gonna skip it in the first layer. 73 00:04:12,316 --> 00:04:16,216 Then once you've deleted and archived all the emails that are in your way, 74 00:04:16,516 --> 00:04:19,876 you go through it again at the second time, and either respond to the 75 00:04:19,876 --> 00:04:24,136 emails that you skip the first time, or maybe delegate and forward it on. 76 00:04:26,416 --> 00:04:28,486 Batching can be used for various tasks. 77 00:04:28,486 --> 00:04:32,446 Like I mentioned, email is one of those, but we're all trying to get 78 00:04:32,506 --> 00:04:34,216 more attention on social media. 79 00:04:34,636 --> 00:04:39,256 And so batching can be used for social media planning and creating. 80 00:04:39,646 --> 00:04:42,376 You don't wanna be doing those two things at the same time. 81 00:04:42,676 --> 00:04:46,606 Planning your social media content and recording or creating your 82 00:04:46,606 --> 00:04:49,336 social media content, use two different parts of your brain. 83 00:04:49,756 --> 00:04:52,846 If you're trying to plan and create and then go back to planning and 84 00:04:52,846 --> 00:04:55,966 then back to creating, you're just going to end up burning out and 85 00:04:55,966 --> 00:04:59,866 it's gonna feel like a drag instead. 86 00:05:00,196 --> 00:05:01,996 You can take some time to plan it. 87 00:05:01,996 --> 00:05:06,406 So let's say on a Tuesday, and then on Thursday you create your content for the. 88 00:05:07,996 --> 00:05:13,096 So to recap, multitasking actually reduces productivity and could potentially 89 00:05:13,096 --> 00:05:15,346 cause long-term damage to our brains. 90 00:05:16,096 --> 00:05:20,536 Batching on the other end helps us get more done in less time and definitely 91 00:05:20,536 --> 00:05:24,856 reduces that feeling of exhaustion and eliminates that feeling of burnout. 92 00:05:25,726 --> 00:05:29,056 Now we've created a planner that works on these principles 93 00:05:29,056 --> 00:05:30,266 that we've discussed here. 94 00:05:30,686 --> 00:05:31,706 The be well do well. 95 00:05:31,706 --> 00:05:33,566 Planner has three main components. 96 00:05:34,286 --> 00:05:37,526 In the beginning, you start in your morning with your morning mindset. 97 00:05:37,676 --> 00:05:41,156 You plan out what it is that your life is going to look like in six months. 98 00:05:41,486 --> 00:05:44,066 And then you work on that one project today. 99 00:05:44,066 --> 00:05:45,806 That's gonna get you closer to that. 100 00:05:46,016 --> 00:05:49,886 That's the be well component then in the middle, you're gonna 101 00:05:49,886 --> 00:05:51,176 work on your tasks for the day. 102 00:05:51,176 --> 00:05:53,636 You're gonna plan it out based on your chronotype. 103 00:05:54,566 --> 00:05:57,026 now, if you don't know what a chronotype is, it's essentially your 104 00:05:57,026 --> 00:05:58,616 energy pattern throughout the day. 105 00:05:58,916 --> 00:06:01,226 Some people have more energy in the morning and others have 106 00:06:01,226 --> 00:06:02,306 more energy in the evening. 107 00:06:02,366 --> 00:06:04,916 I go through it more on the website and you can check the link in the 108 00:06:04,921 --> 00:06:06,866 show notes to learn more about that. 109 00:06:07,586 --> 00:06:10,816 At the end of your day, you wrap it up by writing down the three 110 00:06:10,816 --> 00:06:12,016 things that you're grateful for. 111 00:06:12,991 --> 00:06:15,601 It's a really cool planner and it's completely free. 112 00:06:16,021 --> 00:06:19,741 Visit the website@bewelldowell.fm slash daily planner. 113 00:06:20,341 --> 00:06:22,411 And I'd love to get your feedback on it. 114 00:06:22,411 --> 00:06:23,341 Let me know what you think. 115 00:06:24,541 --> 00:06:28,651 I hope this discussion on multitasking was really helpful to you and that you enjoyed 116 00:06:28,651 --> 00:06:30,241 it as much as I did talking about it. 117 00:06:30,841 --> 00:06:33,691 Join us tomorrow, where we're gonna be talking about whether you're 118 00:06:33,691 --> 00:06:36,331 planting mental seeds or mental weeds. 119 00:06:36,571 --> 00:06:37,771 It's gonna be a great episode. 120 00:06:38,371 --> 00:06:39,931 Thanks and have an awesome day. 121 00:06:39,991 --> 00:06:41,101 And I'll see you tomorrow.