Week of March 8- Stress and multi tasking

[andream]

Whether your desk is in Birmingham, Alabama or Birmingham, UK, it’s probably your job to make things “happen” in your work environments. The dreaded buzz word “multi-tasking” is your mantra, and while you’re making things happen, you’re also making it look seamless, simple, and effortless.  

I get lots of letters from people who are feeling overwhelmed, short staffed, undervalued. Lately I’ve gotten lots of E-Mail from people who think they should be able to extrapolate last year’s budgetary lines items into a 2005 format while answering the phone, planning an event for 700 and ordering a birthday Bouquet for Beth in accounting.

They think that’s what multi-tasking is, i.e. doing things all at once, being able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, take a bullet for bossie and still keep that professional demeanor which separates the leaders from the losers in the world of the Administrative Professional.

The cost of that line of thinking is sometimes an increased level of stress and a lack of work life balance.

You might have noticed on both the UK http://www.deskdemon.com and US http://us.deskdemon.com websites this week there are Quick Quizzes on Stress and Work-Life Balance.  

So, this week’s Sound Off has to do with stress.  How do you handle it in the office? What triggers it for you? Has the way you handle stress changed as you have evolved professionally?

And what about this buzzword “multi-tasking” what’s the definition of that term in today’s office? And what does that mean in your world?

Do tell…

Andrea

[sobriquetnic]

Hi Andrea

A few years ago when I was working in our IT department, we lost our computer systems throughout our branches for the entire day and to top it all I was coping alone as my boss was on holiday.  I started my day at 6 am and finished it at 8 pm - in tears.  However, I was lucky because everyone realised that it wasn't my fault and no one really got at me.  I was just frustrated because I couldn't fix the problem.  But then we found someone that could and just like that everything was back to normal.  The valuable lesson that it taught me was that no matter how long it takes - it will get resolved!  

Since I've been working as a PA, I've been having to meet more deadlines, organise more staff, take constant phone calls and find the answers to the questions that everyone else is asking!  This is my idea of multi-tasking.  I try adapt to whatever is thrown at me, but my boss always has to come first.  If I am doing something else to which I have a deadline, if he asks me to do something else, then I do it immediately.  I have to be able to adapt and change my priorities.  The one frustration that I have is that I can often forget things and I hate how inefficient this must make me look.  Multi-tasking can mean that you have a lot on your mind.  The key I think is to keep updated lists on what you must achieve, and follow them religiously.

That's just my bit of waffle!  Hope it makes some sense!

All the best,
Nicola.

[ozbound]

Multi-tasking for me means I'm juggling more than one project--usually, I'll work on one while I'm waiting for the other to be reviewed or waiting for the stuff I need to complete it.  I don't have to do too much of that at my new job here (though it's getting busier). But at my last job, I had to do it all the time, being the only Word Processor in the house! Sometimes there were multiple last-minute deadlines all going on--that drove me nuts!

[tippy]

Multitasking has become an workplace idiom for taking on more work than time reasonably allows.  The use of it as a skill to be admired is propostorous.  It short changes all involved, the employee, the product, and the customer.  Multitasking by employers means a way to save on the number of necessary staff and thus distributing heavy workloads to the remaining work force.  I have seen over the past few years numerous full-time positions be eliminated and never replaced.  Employees are forced to take on the extra work with minimual or no extra compensation or advancement.

Everyone expects to be doing 2 things at once, but the quality of work produced can only be deminished when we increasingly are being asked to do numerous tasks at one time.  There is always the constant double/triple checking to make sure something has not been forgotten or overlooked because your focus was divided.  Home life is greatly affected due to exhaustion, bringing home office work, guilt over taking time off, stress and stress related illnesses.  

But despite the lunacy of this workplace practice it is prevalant in most business.  So after 19 years I've learned to write everything down.  Messages in and out.  Bosses are multitasking and they think they've told you've something when they actually haven't.  Be able to show where you are on everything and why it isn't or is further along.  Needless to say Bossie asking me how a project is coming along when he's never given me the project or knows I haven't been able to work on very much due to other deadlines is my trigger.  My favorite is when I'm up to my eyeballs with several projects and he strolls in, looks at the "to file" box and says you gonna have this filed by >>>>, right?  I find leaving the office for lunch and refusing to eat at my desk helps the most.  Just to get out in to the sun, rain, snow whatever makes me breath easier.  Also despite no pay I find a Venti Latte and playing music after hours makes filing a doable task.

[mathwhizchick]

I've been pondering on this for most of the week, trying to come up with something that is reasonably succinct and 1000 words or less.

On the multi-tasking--it is a bit unnerving that this has become such the kudo and prime skill for us.  For me, it brings to mind the saying "jack of all trades, master of none".  You do lose something when you have to do so many things at once.   IMHO, I think it's something we've done for a long time, but has been taken to impossibly high levels at our work.  Think about it, when you cook a meal, you are multi-tasking, making sure that everything gets done at the same time and the table is set.  If you have kids, you are keeping an eye on them and cooking/cleaning/doing something else.  Unfortunately, this skill that we've perfected in our private lives has turned into a monster at work.

Regrettably, multi tasking will not go away, so you have to find a way to keep it in check.  In my office, it means keeping track of everything, and making sure that everything has been done and there are no loose ends and nothing unravels. (yea, RIGHT!)    I have found that David Allen's book, "Getting Things Done" has been fantastic in terms of focusing my multi-tasking, so that I don't spin my wheels and I can maximize my efforts.  As a previous poster mentioned, I write down EVERYTHING so I don't have to waste memory space trying to remember it.  I also am very good at setting boundaries.  It does help that I'm 40+++++ and this is my second career, so I don't get "encroached" on as much by the disaster-prone office incompetents.  I have also been told that I am not very "approachable" (read--doormat), which helps with the boundaries as well.

In terms of stress, you simply must learn to let things go.  If something goes wrong or you get blamed or, or, or, you cannot keep flogging yourself.  Take copious notes, put procedures in place to avoid it in the future, then let it go.  When other folks keep reminding you about it, smile professionally and change the subject.  It's not easy, and it WILL take effort and time, but it is an absolute skill.  How you do this varies from person to person.  Mediation, cognitive/behavioral techniques (like thought-stopping), physical exercise, crafting skills are all possibles (I do meditation, yoga, knitting and being slobbered on by my basset *grin*).  It will take time and discipline, but it is a learnable skill.  I learned it in my former life as a musician, and it is probably one of the more valuable things I survived with from those 20 some-odd years.

Sorry for the book.  It's one of the topics that the hubster and I can converse on for HOURS.

[katrybarczyk]

Multi-tasking is something I have gotten quite used to in my years working as a medical secretary/ administrative assistant.  Right now, I work full time, have two young children and a hubby that works the night shift, and am taking my pre-requisite classes for Nursing School.

At work, I am the PA for my Departmental Director and the Ops Manager, as well as the Coordinator for the Forms committee here at the hospital.  Since we're under interim management by an outside consulting group (who are FABULOUS!) I'm also helping them as well.  At school, I'm in class on Mondays and Wednesdays for 1 1/2 hours and then another 3 hours of lab after class on Wednesday night.  And my kids and hubby and house and pets and extended family also keep me hopping.

I  don't see multi-tasking as doing more in less time.  I see it as know when to say no, prioritizing your life, organizing, and keeping track of what's going on.  I live by my planner at home and Outlook at work.  I make a ton of lists (in what I call Mom's Steno of Doom!)  I use email and phone and notes to track things and communicate.  And my Dining Room has a white board, a bulletin board and 2 calendars on the walls!  

Without all the communication devices, the whole network would collapse.  And I think that is what multi-tasking is all about - keeping the network up and running.  And frankly, viewing life's curves as a challenge rather than a problem also makes one heck of a difference.

:O)  Kat, The Mistress of Multi-tasking
(that's what MOM stands for, LOL!)

[movinonup]

My stress has been at a high level since I started my current position in 2001, where I report to 3 separate divisions.  I've learned to stop and do deep breathing exercises when I'm close to the breaking point...short walks around the building are helpful, too.  Luckily, I have suffered no health consequences as a result of the overload..

We are now undergoing a reorganization, and the thought of the additional workload resulting from it is filling me with dread.  I had finally gained the confidence to say no, and now I've got to determine my adjusted workload structure from all angles in order to determine when to say no all over again.  It's the only way management will get the message that all this work cannot be done by just one person.  They just don't get that, unless someone knocks them over the head with the info.  


Movinonup