Extra Set of Hands (Multi-tasking)

[susan silva]

How often to do you wish you had an extra set of hands?  What are the small tasks that you mutli-task everyday in between the many other projects you have?  What are the type of tasks that actually take more time than you wish they did?

[gee4]

Not really Susan.  I do my job as best I can....any more hands and we'd look a bit silly, huh?

Travel usually takes time to sort, especially if people keep changing the details.

[jennika]

I think we already do have extra set of hands!   I can't get around those small tasks that just come up, phones are the biggest time consumer, getting signatures, even if it electronic take up time, and the biggest one is the local gossipers.  That may not be a task, nor need hands, but that is the one area that takes up some of my time that is unnecessary.  (yes I do tactfully tell them I am busy, but like a day or two later they are back to tell me about the lastest kid sports event, or what they had for dinner.... (insert rolled eye)

[Alice P.]

I am an octopus!  I am very used to overseeing a meeting in the conference room next to me, having a report I am working on my computer, multiple phone calls on hold, and someone standing asking me a question all at the same time.  The projects that take more time then I would like them to..... hmmmm I think I would say the phone calls are the tasks that can put everything else on delay.  Most calls I have to stop and research the answer.  Rarely is it just a "take a message" type of call.  The report I am working on right now  "should" take about 45 minutes from start to finish if I was uninterrupted, but so far it has been over an hour and not done.

[BeckyA]

Alice you said it all!  I can have 4 or 5 things going on all at the same time.  Like Gee, I do the best I can.  If I could have an extra set of hands, I would get it to filing my backlogged filing projects while I juggle everything else!

[chikky]

I could use two extra sets of hands!  This is what they call multi-tasking.  The truth is you can only do one thing at a time.  You can try to do it quickly, but only one thing at a time.  You can not be on the phone, filing, preparing a spreadsheet/presentation, answering a colleagues request, and out going to get bossie's lunch.  Unless I had three heads and six hands, it is impossible, since I would have to take it all of them with me to get the lunch.  LOL!!

[chikky]

I also meant to say we are able to get it done, but not in the time the manager thinks.  I have had a 15-minute task take me 45-minutes to complete.  I am on my LEGAL break right now and I am still be interrupted. 

[Katie G]

The truth is you can only do one thing at a time.  You can try to do it quickly, but only one thing at a time.  You can not be on the phone, filing, preparing a spreadsheet/presentation, answering a colleagues request, and out going to get bossie's lunch.

Exactly.  There really is no such thing as "multi tasking" in the way some managers use the term.  I can have multiple things to do in a set amount of time, but I cannot be doing them all at the same time.  I can't have five tasks which take ten minutes each and have all of them completed within ten minutes total!