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Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Be Here Now: Why Multitasking Is Holding You Back with Liz Hutson 6-20-26
00:16:47
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- [00:01]
A
When you're a maintenance engineer in a beverage manufacturing plant, you keep production lines moving and quality on track because there's no room for slowdowns. With Grainger's vast selection of high quality motors, sensors, belts and hard to find parts, you can get what you need fast and all in one place. So nothing gets in the way of getting the job done. Call 1-800-GRAINGER clickgrainger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done.
- [00:30]
B
This is Scott Becker with the Becker Business and Becker Private Equity Podcast. We're thrilled today to be joined by Liz Hudson. Liz is an amazing consultant, leader, engineer, incredible career, built her own business. Liz, tell us what we're going to talk about today. She's a regular guest on the Becker Business podcast and just a fantastic leader. Liz, tell us what's on the agenda today.
- [00:58]
C
Yeah, absolutely, Scott, it's great to talk with you today. I want to talk about a tough topic today, which is this idea of be here now in this world, in this culture where we're trying to go fast, we're trying to get more done, we're trying to get more output. A critical tool that I think all of us have started to use to employ is multitasking. And I want to talk about multitasking and, and why we use it, why it hurts us, and maybe some areas that we could think about to consider an alternative to multitasking.
- [01:35]
B
Thank you. And there's been so much written on multitasking, on how it's not as good for quality of work. But at the same time, so many of us are just overwhelmed. So we find ourselves often doing two things at once. You know, whether it be recording a podcast and also checking notes for a second or trying to plan the next activity. But what are your thoughts on multitasking and how do you move yourself away from that? Even though we know quality work can be better, if you could stay calm and stick to one thing at a time. Talk to us about that.
- [02:09]
C
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. You know, the reality is what exactly what you said is that we do use multitasking in the incorrect assumption that we'll get more done, we'll have more output. But the reality is multitasking is really backfiring on us. It's not doing us any favors. More and more and more research is coming out that it's really hurting us cognitively, physically, mentally. You know, there's the idea that when you're switching tasks, there's a ramp up time between going from one task to another. And so we lose productivity and that switching action. We're a lot more prone to errors. It actually impairs our memory. It adds to our stress and burnout. We know this, right? We all feel this and experience this. But the reality is we have a lot to do and we have a lot to do. And so we find ourselves going to that. And I'll tell you a story later on when we're talking today about something that I did on Friday that actually made this topic I wanted to talk about today. And I want to talk about some of the tactical steps that we can take to decrease the need for multitasking
- [03:16]
B
and talk about that first. Give us a story from Friday that sort of led to this discussion today. And do that and then tell us what are some things we could do to move ourselves in the right direction. We're not going to give up multitasking, but how can we do it less to protect our brain, to protect our nervous system, and to produce higher quality work? What are some of the tactics we can use? Let's start with what drove you to
- [03:39]
C
the topic today for sure. Yeah. Friday afternoon I had a great meeting with a client and I was working with them on a post mortem session. And with many of these kinds of workshops and presentations or teaching coaching that I'm doing, I do actually shut everything down. Some of the tactical steps I'm going to talk about here in a moment. Turned everything off, turned off my email, took my watch off my wrist, took me a text, everything set aside for an hour and a half straight. We had a really, really, really great meeting. Meeting finished, I hung up and I of course connected right back up. And I started catching up on my email, catching up on my text and moving pretty quickly. And then a phone call came in and another message came in and I was trying then to do seven things at the same time. And I shot off an email while I was on with somebody else saying, hey, don't do that thing, we need to do this other thing instead. And I hadn't caught the three emails that had come before that that gave the context of why that needed to happen. So I gave a misdirection. It was the wrong direction that I should have been given. It hurt what was going to happen. I had to pull it back. I added a lot of confusion to it simply because I didn't take five minutes, finish my phone call, hang up, process my emails in the right way, and then give clear and simple direction. I thought I was going fast, I thought it was time sensitive, I thought it was the right thing to do and so stupid on my part. And it ended up being, you know, what, four or five more emails and texts to clean up the mess that I'd done when I should have just taken the couple minutes it needed in the beginning to do it the right way in the first place. So it is what prompted today, Scott? A conversation. I thought, you know what, I struggle with this. I know my clients struggle with this. I think it's something we need to talk about.
- [05:28]
B
But yeah, no, 100% but, but think about what a. What a good day. You had an hour and a half meeting. We turned off everything I once said on a board of directors where they required us to turn off our phones during the board meetings. And of course what it led us to was all kind of hiding our phones because none of us could actually do that. It's so hard to actually do it, you know, and we once in a while get, get called on or called out by the chair of the board saying, I sort of see you looking at your phone, but you're on a board, you're running a meeting, but you're also trying to stay in touch with a million other people. You're doing a million different things. And we're all guilty of it. At least I'm guilty of it often. So how do you move yourself to a spot where you're doing less of that? Because I don't believe any of us are going to be perfect at it. You know, it's, you know, but, but, but we can be better at it. And that better would be better for our brains, better for our health, better for our content and quality, for sure.
- [06:24]
C
I want to talk about three specific things that we can do to help decrease. It's never going to go away entirely, but I think there are a couple things that we can do to help make this better. I think first thing is decreasing of the priorities and the actions and meetings that are going on. So a lot of times when there's so many things going on, when do we find the time to actually do the work? We do it during meetings. And so the first thing I want to talk about is this idea of maybe there shouldn't be so many meetings. It really asks the question, does that meeting need to exist? And if it does need to exist, do you need to be there? Is it 17 people that need to be in that meeting or is it actually three critical and there's 14 others that. Yeah, 14 others that we could just follow up with afterwards? Does it need to be that long? Does that hour long meeting default need to be the case or could we get it done in 13 minutes? Right. So how do we, how do we be really smart about those? And it's not just prioritization, it's actually outright elimination of those meetings and taking them off the calendar, allowing yourself, allowing your teams, your organizations to actually have time to get work done. And I think that starts with leadership, setting that tone for it in the beginning. Does it need to be there? Who needs to be there? Does it need to be that long? And I think that is one of the biggest things that we could do to just allow people that time and space to get the work done that comes out at those meetings.
- [07:45]
B
No, And I love that, and I love the concept of time and space because all of us need that for recuperation recovery and to keep our brain sharp so we're not just constantly going and dialing up the nervous system. So I love that.
- [07:59]
C
Exactly.
- [08:00]
B
Can you eliminate it entirely or can you make it a lot shorter? Either one. But the concept here, eliminating it, or are there people that don't have to be in it and what do you lose by not having them in it? And is it worth the benefit of not having in it to give them some time and space?
- [08:16]
C
Exactly, exactly. The second thing is managing the meeting. So if you're going to have a meeting, if you're going to have that thing that's going on, then this idea of be here now. Right. You really want to. You talked about the board of directors meeting, Scott, that you're on. I think it's a great idea to have people be really present. A lot of times what's happening is they're doing something else at the same time, particularly in settings that are virtual meetings. Right. I can't. I can't see if somebody has their phone underneath their desk or is they're working on, you know, an email at the same time. I don't know that that's happening. But we cover a topic. Let's say at minute four of a meeting, we make a decision on it. Okay. We come to some conclusion with the people around there. We all nod and smile and agree, and all of a sudden we've come back to it at minute 28 of that meeting and we're rediscussing it because the person was working on something else and didn't really pay attention to it, or maybe they were late to the meeting and they missed that part of the conversation and we're talking about it all over again and sometimes even revisiting that decision. So what a waste that is for all the other people that were part of it that made the decision at minute four and were coming back because one or two people weren't paying attention or just weren't present. It's so wasteful. Right? So we can manage those meetings, be on time for them, be really present for them, be fully in the discussion, hash out what we need to and then we can move on rather than coming back and reworking those because it's just not, it's not a great use of anyone's time.
- [09:54]
B
And how much of that sometimes I'm invited to meetings and they've made the meeting an hour and a half or two hours or three hours when it seems like it could easily be a 30 minute meeting.
- [10:05]
C
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [10:07]
B
How much is the, the fault of the meeting organizer and not having clear agendas? Not even clear. Here's the four things we're going with. Sometimes meeting, meeting people are running meetings where they feel like they have to be too creative for some reason versus like okay, here's the core business, here's what else we need to talk about and get us in and out. How much of that like, like I, in some ways I don't blame myself for multitasking doing a long board meeting. I often blame the board for why are they turning this into a 3 hour meeting when it should be 45 minutes.
- [10:38]
C
Wholeheartedly agree with you, Scott, on this. I think we do default to these like durations whether they belong there or not. I am a big proponent of semi agenda ahead of time. And again, to your point, like if you're only going to be on at minute 45, why do you need to be there for one through 44? Right. Like just have you join on at 45 or say I'm not going to be present during this, I'm going to turn my camera off, I'm going to be doing something else and I will jump on at 45. Right. But having that agenda and that clarity allows freedom for the people that are attending that meeting. And yeah, it's a lot on the meeting organizer. I think it has to be an absolute necessity that an agenda is sent out ahead of time. That again, the attendees look at that agenda in advance, they're prepared for the meeting and they ask the question, hey, none of these topics are relevant to me. I don't know that I need to be there and that. Okay, but I, but I think you don't allow the participants to make that decision if they don't have structure that is an agenda and times associated with it.
- [11:44]
B
Liz, we've talked a lot about what people should be doing who are organized. Me organizing meetings or leading organizations about allowing people more time and space in not providing an impossibility for people to not multitask. What are some things we can do as individuals to better manage ourselves and manage our time and not multitask?
- [12:04]
C
For sure, yeah, this last one is on us and this is something that we can do individually. This is something that we must do, but it takes a lot of discipline and that is shutting off the distractions. This is something that I think is so difficult to do, but particularly when it's a critical meeting or it's a presentation or a coaching session. I have started to do this in the last, call it year and a half and I have found myself more able to focus and that is closing down, down my email, turning off my messages, my teams, my slack, my watch, taking my watch off my wrist so it's not buzzing while I'm in the middle of presenting or listening to someone having that discipline to not do work at the same time. Angela Duckworth, I was trying to think of her name. Angela Duckworth is doing a lot of research on this. And it's not just that the phone is in use in your hand, but even if it's proximate to where you are, it's a distraction because part of your br brain is preoccupied with the fact that it's nearby. And so she talks about if you're trying to get really hard or focused work done, literally take your phone or take that distraction, put it in a different room because it really is taking away from your ability to focus. But that's on us, right? That's on us to have that discipline. You know, talk to my kids about phone usage at, you know, various times, hey, put that thing, get it out of your hand, like be here, be have a real conversation eyeball to eyeball with other humans beings. But that's on us too, right? That's on us to say, I'm going to have this meeting. I don't want it to go an hour. And so if I don't want it to go an hour, let me not be distracted. That is also a reflection to the person that's on the receiving end of it to also not be distracted because they're going, wow, Liz is really present here, is really focused on what I'm saying. I'm going to do the same thing for her too. So it actually is a kind of a contagious behavior. So I think the more we take those things away from ourselves, the more we're actually sharing that behavior with others. That our meeting now just got down to maybe, you know, 37 minutes. That's sound time. And I think it's amazing how much that can help us.
- [14:19]
B
Your point is so well taken because even having the phone in your hand, if you're not opening the email, not opening the text, which you see them go off, is tremendously distracting, both to ourselves and our nervous systems. And trying to stay focused on what the real thing that we're focused on is. Liz, let me ask you this other tips you have for staying focused and not multitasking. Other things that come to mind when you think about.
- [14:46]
C
Yeah, one last idea. I have seen this recently in a couple of projects with my clients. When we're in the last lap and we're saying, hey, we've got to get this project done by June 30th. We've got 15 days left to go. It is amazing to me how teams rally. They are present in meetings, they are catching the ball, they are throwing the ball. They are so present because it's ruthless prioritization and intensity in that last lap. And I oftentimes have thought to myself, if we could take that same kind of laser focus that we have in the last lap and use those disciplines, for example, focus prioritization, managing those meetings, shutting off those distractions, and being super present, if we could do that from the start. I imagine that project that took, let's say, nine months to do could have been done in six months if we had that kind of intensity. So I asked myself that question, like, should I be working on 10 projects or should I be working on two? And if I work on just the two, wouldn't I be far more efficient and effective and less stress, less prone to errors, not messing with my, you know, my body and my brain on this. Wouldn't we be more efficient if we could take that last lap mentality and apply it from the very beginning and the messy middle and all the way through to the end?
- [16:07]
B
But. But isn't that so true? And so much. This comes back to great prioritization. I know that when I do good tactics early in the day, like set up, here are my three big priorities today. And I don't have 20 volume, or here's what I really want to focus on today, I am far better off. And it sets me clarity about, here's what I'm trying to accomplish today. And it leads me to be a little bit less likely to multitask some more focused on, okay, this is what I have to do now. This is what's important now. And I think that is a great way to look at it and approach it.
- [16:42]
C
Yes, absolutely. And you know what, we're all working towards this. I don't think we're ever done with that. But I think when we start those disciplines early in the day, early in the year, early in the month, you know, I think we, we are better off and we surround ourselves with people that encourage us in that way. So, yeah, for sure. I think, I think we'd all be better off 100%.
- [17:02]
B
Liz, always fantastic to visit with you. You're one of the very best. I love the topic. So important to all those. Thank you so much for joining us today on the Becker Business and Becker Private Equity Podcast. Thank you so much.
- [17:13]
C
Thank you, Scott. Great to talk with you.
- [17:18]
A
When you're a maintenance engineer in a beverage manufacturing plant, you keep production lines moving and quality on track because there is no room for slowdowns. With Grainger's vast selection of high quality motors, sensors, belts and hard to find parts, you can get what you need fast and all in one place. So nothing gets in the way of keeping getting the job done. Call 1-800-granger-cranger.com or just stop by Granger for the ones who get it done.