The Downside of Multitasking in Small Business

Multitasking is not something I promote in my small business. Essentially, I despise the term. As a small business owner with my husband, I do not ask anyone who works for us to multitask either. I cannot trust that someone who boasts of multitasking is genuinely focused or efficient for that matter. I would rather encourage straight up organization and productive balance skills.

I suppose that sounds like an obsolete methodology by today's frenzied standards. Sorry, the very word multitasking makes me feel pressured and stressed out. I certainly did try multitasking. I overlooked running a high credit card purchase in the process. It was a disaster.

Studies Show Multitasking Not 'All That'

I am relieved to know, though, that ongoing studies show multitasking is not all that. Do not be fooled. It may indeed have a downside. This is a great article from the Harvard Business Review. Peter Bergman, who is the CEO of a global management consulting firm, makes some eye-opening points. I am sticking to the tried and true method of completing one task at a time.

Multitasking and Time Lost

Because of the never-ending chatter in the last few years about the intrinsic worth of multitasking: I blamed what I mistakenly believed was a multitasking shortfall, on my age. This was despite the logic that even though I am no multitasking genius, I have been a successful business owner in distribution, sales, and service for 18 years. For some reason, though, I felt compelled to join the ranks of those who were multitasking .

Each day at my office, I ran the business as usual. This generally includes replying to about 50 e-mails, responding to roughly 20 phone messages, answering on a quiet day, a minimum of 30 phone calls, writing up detailed proposals, and whatever else needs to be done to keep the business running smoothly.

Foolish me, I added to that; writing articles for several sites on the Internet, researching, posting to Facebook and Twitter, and following articles and news posted all over the Web. I was reading the blogs of fellow writers, and e-mailing jokes to friends and family. In the midst of this, I had the audacity to chitchat with my daughters or my sister by phone in the middle of my workday.

Multitasking Mistakes Pile Up

About three months into my new watch-me-do-a-gazillion-things-at-once routine, I found myself completely frazzled. I forgot to return a couple phone calls. Three days passed before I realized I had not made those calls. They were important calls to great customers who were waiting for information. I felt bad.

I left a pile of already addressed catalogs I was to mail at the post office, in the trunk of my car for a week. Customer e-mails started to pile up. I was behind on a replying to a few, then eight turned to twelve and before I knew it, I was behind in 18 e-mails. The plants in my office were dying because I forgot to water them. Nevertheless, I was multitasking.

$3600 Multitasking Oversight

As my production at work continued on a downhill slide, my husband was losing patience with me. He had every right to be upset. Naturally, as business partners, we began to argue at home. Instead of relaxing, and enjoying each others company at night, we battled about me suddenly not being able to keep up with the same work I have done for years. It was terribly unpleasant.

I was so busy multitasking, I overlooked processing a credit card for a $3600 phone order. Thankfully, the customer was honest enough to call, to say she noticed the amount did not show up on her statement. Unfortunately, she called my husband at our store. I did not realize until he called me at my office, that I had not processed her card.

Needless to say, my husband was not happy about my error. I had been multitasking (quite badly) for just three months, and that day it was over. If not for the honesty of the customer, that was a lot of money our small business could have lost.

Slow and Steady for Me, Thanks

I know how I got to this point as a successful business owner. I recall every single step of the way in vivid detail. I also know for certain it did not -- could not -- happen by precariously juggling 20 different tasks at a time on any given day. After my $3600 blunder, it was back to focusing on one task at a time. On the one hand, it appears that multitasking is often unavoidable. On the other, perhaps the old slow and steady wins the race desperately needs to make a comeback.

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