Efficient Human Multitasking

I sometimes hear colleagues complaining that they can't get anything done, because they have too many tasks in their head. I've found that in order to increase the efficiency of my work I need a moderately large selection of pending tasks. This allows me to match the type of work I can do at a given moment with a task in the most optimal way.

Let me be clarify. Tasks that pass through my hands differ in requirments on concentration, time, location, and facilities. By juggling around tasks from a rich selection I can ensure that I often get a the chance to optimally match a task to chance I have to work. Consider, for example, requirements on concentration. It would be foolish to spend some quite hours in my office spell-checking a document, or coming up with a complext algorithm at a busy airport gate. Working on those tasks in the other way round makes a lot more sense.

Here is a list of typical work environments I find myself in and corresponding examples of types of tasks I try to keep at hand. The point to efficient multitasking is to match each task as closely as possible to the available work environment, planning ahead to have appropriate tasks available for upcoming work environments.

Work Environment	When/where	Suitable Tasks
Low concentration; interruptable	Plane Airport gates Train Boat Waiting for an appointment Eating alone TV playing in the background	Sort email Spell-check documents Take care of beaurocratic chores Annotate photographs Experiment with new software Web surfing Optimize graphical designs
Medium concentration	Work office (during work hours) Home office (when others are awake)	Fill-in pre-designed code Fill-in outlined text Implement test cases Answer routine emails Copy-edit printed text
High concentration	Home office (when others are asleep) Work office (very early or late)	Create an outline for a new publication Debug code Software design Devise algorithms Read complex papers
Broadband access	Work Home Near WiFi hotspots	Download email Bibliography research Work on code under configuration management Access issue databases Work on remote computers System administration Catch up with older tasks that required broadband access Keep up with news
Lack of internet access	In more areas than I'd like	Write code Write articles Review books and articles Organize files
Proximity in an area	A specific building or office	Meet people Distribute articles and magazines Fetch/send out snail mail Sign paper documents File paper documents Return loaned items
No laptop	Bus Traveling very light Beach	Read books, journals, and magazines Read printed papers
Unable to read	Car Bus Waiting in a queue	Listen to podcasts

Of course, as is the case with computer multitasking, there's also the case of having too many tasks chasing my attention. In such a situation I observe myself spending more time juggling tasks and deciding what to do, than actually performing productive work. In computing this is called thrashing.

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