In the first part of this series, we talked about task saturation in terms of its impact to our productivity, accuracy, etc. It is deceiving in the sense that we are genuinely busy all day long, but busy and productive are not always the same thing. Task saturation strips you of your productivity and can paralyze or halt progress. Today, we’re going to talk in more detail about how it creeps up on you and how to control task saturation so it doesn’t control you.
You’re trying to get more things done with less resources or just trying to get things done. Task saturation comes from customer calls, vendor relations, the toilet overflowing, an incorrect invoice, marketing, website, sales, business planning, forecasting, an employee bending your ear, doing someone’s job for them, keeping up with demand, dealing with low demand, investment strategies, etc. It also comes from over-analyzing things, deferring the decision because you’re caught up in the process. The truth is that the process may give you a greater sense of control than making the decision. Sounds weird huh? But it happens. Many of these things may truly need your time and attention but what needs consideration is the timing around when these things need your attention.
Take a look at your day-where are your distractions, and activities versus your priorities? Which items get most of your time? Are those the right things? With task saturation, you can avoid the tasks altogether, focus on one thing to the neglect of others (as with the commercial pilots) or shut down (work avoidance). What is your tendency and what are the tendencies of the people you work with?
Just to give you an example of this…as I was writing this blog I went to the kitchen to get a glass of water. I turned around and starting cleaning the kitchen sink because I meant to do that yesterday. Then I cleaned the counters and started thinking the cabinets could be wiped down, perhaps time to clean the oven. Oops. Work avoidance. I caught myself and I’m back in the office. It is amazing how many excuses you can come up with—starting with “this will only take a minute!” Had I stayed in the kitchen, I would probably be power cleaning the whole place. The point is that I have a list of things I need to accomplish today, and finishing this blog is one of them. But in that moment, I had put my energy into something else and could have been busy all day long. It’s the discipline of managing priorities with a to-do list—prioritized and with completion dates—that keeps me on track.
Another way task saturation creeps into your day is the mindset of “it’s easier if I do it myself”. Have you ever said this? I have, especially when I’m pressed for time. What I realized is that it is easier if I do it myself—for the person whose work I’m doing. It doesn’t give them the know-how to do it for themselves in the future, so the ask and the task keep coming back to me. It’s a slippery slope…! When you build independence, skills and initiative in others you give your team strength. Delegate and rely on the resources and expertise around you. Your goal is to build self-sufficiency, capability and a properly functioning work machine, so all the work doesn’t fall on you.
Have you ever reached that point when you are tired and yet you still push forward? Have you ever made an error on a proposal (or project, invoice, etc), and subsequently made two more errors while you corrected the first one because you’re tired? No? Just me? Are you sure? Task saturation affects judgment, accuracy and decision making. But with so much to do, we don’t often quit when we should. One of my first bosses had a working rule about this: “If you have a bad day and you’re no longer productive, leave the office. I would rather have you come back with a fresh start the next day rather than perpetuate the current state.”
We have a saying in sales that says all non-selling activities should occur outside of prime selling hours. It means that all activity that isn’t driving sales acquisition or retention, should be handled after general business hours. Non-sell activities should occur before 9:00 a.m. and after 4:00 p.m. Surprised huh? Sales people actually start their day before noon and end it after 1:00 p.m. 
In other words, returning that customer call about their invoice can wait until 4:00 p.m., particularly when the customer appointment you have drives new business. What are your non-sell hours and what tasks can you defer until that time?
Have daily, weekly, monthly and yearly priorities for yourself and your business—this is what you—and your staff—are accountable to. Set expectations, communicate them and measure progress. Be accountable to each other and the priorities. If what you are being asked to do doesn’t help you grow your business, is it worth doing during your “prime selling” hours?
