How to Multitask Better

(MoneyWatch)  A couple of week's ago we posted on a study out of Stanford that found multitasking basically makes you bad at everything. But with teams leaner than ever and the pace of communication and business increasing steadily, plodding along doing just one thing at a time doesn't really seem like an option. In the modern office, anyone handling only one form of technology at a time practically comes off as a slacker. So how can we keep up the pace and productivity we associate with multitasking without sacrificing the quality of our work? The HBR Conversation Starter's Ron Ashkenas has an idea -- focus on value rather than volume:

The answer is to shift our mindsets from a focus on volume to a focus on value. Instead of checking off all the boxes and trying to get everything done, let's identify those activities and initiatives that will truly add value. It's OK not to do certain things, or to do them later. For example, in a recent merger, a team was debating whether to adopt Lotus Notes or Outlook as the standard email system. It's an interesting discussion, but in the short term it's not a value-creator for the combined company.

We all have choices to make, as individuals and as managers of organizations. What can you do to make sure that those choices are based on value rather than volume?

So next time you have a manic day at work, instead of asking yourself how much you got done at the end of the day, focus instead on how valuable your work was. It's a subtle shift but one that might provide a better way than frantic multitasking to do more things in less time.

(Image of multitasking man by Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com, CC 2.0)