We better learn mono-tasking (and forego multi-tasking) if we are to excel at component design. Experts tell us that even a 2-3 second interruption can double the number of errors in an assigned task. Ouch! Every designer knows the painful personal toll of errors, and every plant manager knows the incredible cost. All the more reason to establish periods of near-isolation to escape distraction from customers, from the shop floor, and from our incessant and insistent smart phones.
Improving mono-tasking requires lots of homework, beginning with formal education, and continuing with internet based (self) instruction, especially on quantitative subjects. Often after work and family hours, away from the truss plant. Practice makes perfect. Quiet time improves designer productivity.
Mono-tasking also improves human interaction. It enhances the ability to focus intently on, and to connect with, the person to whom you are speaking. This practice is essential in resolving dimensional and other detailed technical issues that must be resolved to provide quality component designs. And it can’t hurt spousal relations either. Research has shown that even the presence of a cell phone inhibits mutual understanding in the course of face-to-face conversation.
Mono-tasking pays off via the good results of your dedicated work, and by improving communication with customers and co-workers.
(Much of the content above was based on the May 1 New York Times article, “Drop Everything and Read This” by Verena von Pfetten)