It’s true that multitasking is bad for you.  It’s been proven that it’s inefficient, unproductive, and people who do it regularly have poor self-control (citation).  But here’s the marketer’s dilemma: you have to do it.  In fact, multitasking is probably in your job description.

But what is multitasking really?  Psychologists say that multitasking isn’t the ability to do many things at once; rather it is the ability to rapidly switch from one task to another (citation). So while many of us believe that we are reading our email and talking on the phone at the same time, what we are actually doing is rapidly switching our attention from the screen to the phone and back again.

Studies show that there is a kind of time delay that happens when switching from one task to another. The more unrelated the tasks, the greater the delay.  This delay causes us to be unable to truly focus on any one task, leaving room for error, poor work quality, and inefficiency.

Add the constant flow of interruptions, phone calls, emails, meetings, last minute emergency’s, and you have a pile-up of partially finished projects. Like a semi-truck that’s jack-knifed on the 405 freeway the pile up can go on for miles and miles.

Multitasking is a way of life for a marketer, so here are 6 ways that you can master multitasking, avoid the pile-up, and improve your marketing efforts.

•  Hyper-focus on the task at hand. Since multitasking is the ability to switch your attention quickly from one task to another you need to be able to concentrate on what’s in front of you. If you have difficulty concentrating then work like a sprinter runs and hyper-focus in short intervals of time, for example 3-5 minute increments.

•  Making the switch.  The most difficult aspect of multitasking is making the switch from one task to another because it takes time for the brain to adjust depending on your familiarity with the new task.  This time delay translates into lowering productivity (citation).  To improve your ability to switch tasks try physically moving from one task to the next.  For example if you are on the computer when the phone rings, then turn your back to the screen while answering your phone. This will help to prevent down time when switching from one task to the next.

•  Remove unnecessary items from your work space.  If you are easily distracted then you will have to be proactive and remove anything that is not directly related to your work or inspirational from your work space.

•  Take short frequent breaks.  If you are able to master the art of hyper-focus then you will need to take quick breaks throughout your day to keep mind fresh and your energy flowing.

•  Know your limits.  The truth may be that you have too much to do and not enough time to do it.  If that is the case then you may need to delegate some tasks or outsource some of your tasks.

•  Do what you’re good at and what interests you.  This is another case for outsourcing some of your less glamorous marketing tasks.  It is easy to get distracted from work that is boring or that you do not perform well.

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