If, on reading this headline, your first response was “If I don’t multitask, how do I get through my long and varied To Do list?”, then read on.
If you switch regularly snd swiftly between tasks, or even worse, try to do two things at one, (like handle your emails while in a meeting), you simply switch your focus too often, ruin your concentration on any one task and show little respect for others you are dealing with. This is not a recipe for effective and productive work.
Of course you need to address a variety of tasks but you need to work on any one task for sufficient time to remain familiar with all the contextual information and give strong focus to the current steps in your process of handling this task.
This is why you should not have too many task on your ToDo list. If you cannot give this level of focus to each task in turn ,there are too many on your list. You need to delegate some tasks or negotiate with others (including your boss) to reduce the number to a level where you can give full focus to each and deliver quality outcomes.
Then you have to schedule your day to provide periods when you can give full concentration to tasks in turn.
This presupposes that you know what you want to achieve.from your workday – and you understand the key priorities for your focus of attention.
I know that the above is not necessarily a simple process but if you don’t address the problem, your ToDo list will get longer and the quality of your work will deteriorate.