I learned a new word today: demi-task

Jody Gilbert at TechRepublic asks, “Do you listen 100 percent of the time or are you usually mentally engaged in several things at once?”.

In her article 10 great ideas from five great bosses Jody states:

Top dogs know that nobody can multitask effectively over the long haul. They’ve figured out how to focus with laser-like precision. And their team members come to know that their boss is really hot and can’t be bluffed. This makes the team better at being clear and precise in their communications to you, and it saves both time and energy for everyone.

I know I am guilty of multi-tasking on many occasions. What works for me is to set time limits – for one hour I will work on this project, without checking emails, and without stopping until the hour is up. Generally what happens for me is, 15 minutes into working on something I remember I was supposed to email someone back or ask someone else about a different project. I use the beginning and the end of the day to think about and handle all of those little reminders. For a great read on the side-effects of multitasking I recommend New York Times article, Slow Down, Brave Multitasker, and Don’t Read This in Traffic. Time magazine also published an article in 2006 (ages ago according to internet time) stating that we are The Multitasking Generation.

Are you a demi-tasker? or a multi-tasker? Do you think multitasking is a generational trait?

Update: This post is also featured on Brazen Careerist, there are some great contributions in the comments.