At work, we often spend a lot of time planning tasks, but encounter difficulties during the execution phase. It’s common to meticulously plan and prepare for important projects through various meetings, but unexpected variables often arise during the execution stage, causing plans to derail.
Even if tasks are organized in a list, various urgent situations and requests can prevent us from completing planned tasks on time, both yesterday and today.
Bridging the gap between planning and execution is crucial for improving productivity. Investing a lot of time in the planning stage is useless if the tasks are not executed. Conversely, focusing solely on execution while neglecting planning can lead to unclear goals and directions, resulting in inefficient outcomes. Daniel J. Levitin, author of “The Organized Mind,” suggests methods to address this issue.
Planning and Execution Utilize Different Parts of the Brain
Levitin emphasizes the importance of separating planning and execution to reduce the brain’s burden in our information-heavy society. This is due to the structure of our brain.
The planning and execution of tasks use different parts of the brain. This situation is akin to being both a boss and a subordinate. To fulfill both roles, you must establish and maintain a hierarchical ‘set of attentions’ and switch back and forth between them.
Transitioning from a boss giving tasks to a worker, and then to a meticulous planner, involves switching levels, which entails a cost similar to multitasking.
Repeated transitions consume a lot of energy, reducing productivity. To mitigate this, it’s essential to maintain the brain’s focused state, or ‘set of attentions,’ and create an environment that allows concentration at each stage of a task. Maintaining this environment can reduce the brain’s energy consumption.
The book uses a car wash example to illustrate this structure. In a car wash, three tasks are divided among three employees. This way, each employee forms and maintains a single set of attentions, focusing solely on their role, thus enhancing efficiency. This minimizes the metabolic cost associated with attention switching when one person tries to perform multiple roles simultaneously.
Minimizing Transition Costs by Separating Planning and Execution Spaces
To apply this, one of the most effective methods to operate different brains is to clearly distinguish between the spaces for planning and execution while narrowing the gap between these spaces. For example, plan tasks using a to-do list and manage execution using a calendar.
In the to-do list, organize tasks as a list, and in the calendar, visually arrange when to execute these tasks, thereby complementing each system. This allows planning and execution to be organically connected.
- Enhanced Focus: By handling planning and execution in separate spaces, you can concentrate better on each task.
- Efficient Time Management: Clearly allocate time through the calendar, planning when each task will be executed.
- Reduced Attention Switching Costs: The process of recording tasks in a to-do list and moving them to the calendar for execution reduces energy consumption associated with attention switching, as it occurs in one space.
Creating an Efficient Work Environment with Separate Spaces
In conclusion, the key is to separate the planning space from the execution space while ensuring they are organically connected. The more these spaces are separated, the higher the focus on each stage of a task, and the more they are connected, the lower the attention switching costs.
As emphasized by Daniel J. Levitin in “The Organized Mind,” separating planning and execution and focusing on each can help maximize productivity in complex work environments. This reduces energy waste due to switching costs, allowing you to dedicate more energy and time to more important tasks.
Now, try this method to maximize your productivity and create a more efficient work environment.
Reference: Daniel J. Levitin, “The Organized Mind”