Single Tasking In Meetings

Ever feel like you are talking to the top of people’s heads during your meetings?

Sure, we are all tempted to take a peak at our emails or shoot off a quick response to a text during a meeting, but what does that mean for the productivity in the room?

Nothing good, according to Dr. Joanne Cantor, an expert in taming digital distractions. She suggests unless you see your people’s eyes, they aren’t really involved in your meeting.  As much as we like to think we can multitask, her research on the brain proves we truly can only focus on one thing at a time.

So, how do you run a single task meeting?  Here are Dr. Cantor’s suggestions:

Make meetings as rare, as short, and as efficient as possible, and invite only those people who need to be there. Then, if someone becomes absorbed in their iPhone, try one or more of the following suggestions:

• Say, “is it time for an email break?”
• Call the person’s name (which should catch their attention) and ask them if they have any objections to the proposal you’ve just made.
• Pass them a note on top of their device, saying, “come back to the meeting–we need you!”
• Show them the Stroop Test to demonstrate how difficult it is to do switch back and forth cognitively.
• Give them my Multitasking Exercise to make them understand how much faster things will go if everyone’s “there” mentally as well as physically.

Read Dr. Cantor’s full article in Psychology Today: Don’t Speak ‘Til You See the Whites of Their Eyes

Read other Embrace Your Heart posts inspired by Dr. Cantor

Joanne Cantor, PhD, is a professional speaker, author, and researcher who helps people make the most of their time and their talents by effectively managing the technology in their lives. Through her consulting firm, Your Mind on Media, she speaks on productivity, creativity, and stress reduction to business, professional, and educational organizations. Her latest book, Conquer CyberOverload: Get More Done, Boost Your Creativity, and Reduce Stress, grew out of her research and workshops.

Eliz Greene works busy people to improve heart health, so they can work well, feel better, and stress less.

She is a heart attack survivor and the author of the Busy Woman’s Guide to a Healthy Heart as well as 3 other books on wellness. She writes one of the top 50 health and wellness blogs and is a sought-after wellness & stress management speaker.

If you are planning a women’s wellness program, workplace wellness program or programs for healthcare professionals check out EmbraceYourHeart.com to see if Eliz would be a good fit with your organization.