It doesn’t work like this

I admit I am terrible at multi-tasking. I am the guy who can’t hold a conversation and watch TV, much less write eMail, read Twitter, think about a new company in a new market, interview a new hire for a portfolio company and be engaged in the flow of conversation on Slack…

Lots of people say they can multi-task but I always thought focus was a better way to go. Now I have proof.

I spent some time with an old friend, Scott Crabtree, and he gave me this test:

1. get a stopwatch

2. time yourself counting to 26 and then saying the alphabet A-Z

3. write down your time

4. clear the stopwatch

5. time yourself counting and saying the alphabet at the same time — 1-A, 2-B, 3-C…

6. write down your time

7. divide your time in step 6 by your time in step 3

I may be an outlier in my inability to multi-task, but my answer is almost 10x.

To make the point more tangible — divide the number of hours you worked today by the answer in step 7. Everything you did today, you could have done in way fewer hours with some discipline and focus — and alternatively, you could have gotten way more done in the same number of hours. Either way, it seems worth it.