multitasking

Here's Why Multitasking and Money Don't Mix

Dan Rafter — Mon, 17 Oct 2016 09:30:21 +0000

Think you're good at multitasking? You're not.

Plenty of research has shown that multitasking simply doesn't work. Our brains can't focus on more than one thing at a time. We might tell ourselves that this isn't true, that we can concentrate on several tasks at once. The truth, though, is that we're fooling ourselves.

Multitasking is especially dangerous when it comes to managing our money. You might think that you can juggle several financial tasks at once, everything from building an emergency fund to paying off your credit card debt to saving for the down payment on your first home.

But just as your brain can't juggle multiple tasks at once, neither can most people's finances.

Here are three reasons why you should never multitask when it comes to managing your money.

It Doesn't Work

In 2014, Psychology Today ran a fascinating feature story about multitasking. The story pointed out that the human brain can't take on simultaneous tasks. We might think we can hold a conversation on our smartphones, surf the Web on our laptop, and text another friend on our tablet at the same time. But we can't, at least not effectively.

According to the Psychology Today story, when we multitask, our brain just switches from task to task more quickly, employing a sort of stop/start process. This makes us sloppy, meaning that we make more mistakes. It can also sap our mental energy over time.

So what happens when we try to multitask with our finances? We try to pay off debt at the same time we try to build an emergency fund? We get sloppy and we make mistakes. We forget to pay our credit card bill and incur a late fee, or we go months without making a payment into our emergency fund.

The better approach? Ditch the multitasking and take on one financial job at a time.

We Don't Get Anything Done

You might think multitasking means you are being more efficient. Actually, it's the opposite. When we take on several tasks at once — say writing a report at work, answering email messages from colleagues, and trying to schedule dentist appointments for our kids — we tend to get none of these jobs done in a timely manner.

The better approach is to again move away from multitasking and attack these jobs one at a time until we finish each of them.

When it comes to managing finances, completing one task at a time again pays dividends. Most financial experts recommend that you pay off high interest rate credit card debt first by sending extra money at these bills until you eliminate them. It's hard to do this if you're diverting some funds to building an emergency fund at the same time.

Money experts recommend creating a plan that starts with eliminating credit card debt, then moves on to building an emergency fund with at least six months' worth of living expenses in it. Once you complete these two tasks, you can then start saving for retirement or for a down payment on a new home.

We Get Depressed

Multitasking is exhausting. If you're constantly juggling three or four tasks at once, it's difficult to focus on any one thing. It's also difficult to take a breather to enjoy life. The constant stress that goes along with multitasking can make you depressed.

The same holds true when we multitask money matters. If you are constantly alternating between paying down your credit card debt, saving for retirement, and investing in the stock market, you'll feel like you're not doing a good job at any of these tasks. As your credit card debt continues to grow and your retirement savings don't, it'll be easy to fall into a funk.

But if you take on one of these financial tasks at a time? You'll feel a sense of accomplishment when you are able to check off your goals one by one.

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This article is from Dan Rafter of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

Best Money Tips: The Right Way to Multitask

Amy Lu — Tue, 06 Oct 2015 19:15:39 +0000

Welcome to Wise Bread's Best Money Tips Roundup! Today we found some great articles on the right way to multitask, products you should definitely buy online, and the things extremely likeable people do.

7 Ways Your Smartphone Is Hurting Your Career

Mikey Rox — Wed, 23 Sep 2015 21:00:19 +0000

For many professionals, mobile devices are their lifeline, helping them to stay on top of the job all hours of the day — but that’s not always a good thing. Here are seven ways your smartphone is hurting your career.

1. Multitasking During Meetings

In many offices, multitasking is encouraged. But can it be considered productive when you’re in an important meeting and your attention is otherwise engaged in your smartphone? Not only is it an inefficient use of time to have your face buried in your device while a co-worker is delivering a presentation, it’s also quite rude — and a lot of us are guilty of it.

According to the second annual Bank of America Trends in Consumer Mobility Report, a study that explores new insights into how, when, and why people are using their smartphones, nearly one-quarter (24%) of Americans fess up to multitasking on their smartphone during meetings, and 27% say they are guilty of taking a phone call on public transportation (one my biggest pet peeves). Millennials (ages 18–34) are the guiltiest generation of these behaviors at 33% and 39%, respectively.

2. Texting the Boss Something Inappropriate

Accidentally sending text messages to the boss is embarrassing and easy to do, but now we have to contend with audio messages gone awry via SMS, especially if you have an iPhone with an updated iOS (Apple has added a small microphone feature next to the text window, which is extremely easy to hit by accident).

When asked about the most embarrassing moments with their smartphone, nearly one-third (30%) of respondents on the BoA Trends in Mobility Report cite loud ringtones going off in a quiet place, followed by accidentally calling someone (19%), and sending a personal message/photo to the wrong person (16%) — at least a small percentage of which are images that will send you straight to the unemployment line. Don’t do it, don’t do it, don’t do it.

3. Checking Your Device Too Frequently

I’m sometimes amazed that my friends get anything at all done at work as much as they’re on their phones. Texting, updating social media, browsing the Internet — it’s all a time suck that can put you in a precarious position if it starts to become a noticeable and productivity-killing habit.

Which the Trends in Mobility Report says it is. A prominent majority (89%) of adults check their mobile device at least a few times a day, with 36% checking “constantly,” the BoA study reveals.

That’s way too much by any standard, but particularly at work.

4. Responding to Work Correspondences Too Quickly

We’ve all hastily responded to a work e-mail while distracted — driving to work (you know you do it), out to lunch, having a couple drinks at happy hour — and in doing so, we run the risk of being sloppy, curt, and even misunderstood. Too much of that can start to affect your reputation, or, worse, give you a new one that’s hard to live down.

“We have come to expect a response within minutes of sending an e-mail, but immediate responses aren't always the best or most productive responses,” says Dana Campbell, a career strategy and expert in stress resiliency techniques. “Hasty responses lack intuitive and sound thinking and smartphone responses are often shortened and lack tact which could lead your reader to misinterpret what you said. It’s fine to read e-mail on your phone, but hold off on responding to messages until you can focus on developing the response and can type full sentences.”

5. Letting Your Productivity Lag

I’ve touched on the productivity aspect of overuse of your smartphone at work, but it’s not enough to say that’s it’s negatively affecting how much you’re able to get done — or not get done, as the case may be. It’s also important to put a hard number to how much time you’re wasting when you engage with your device.

“Every time you check your phone it can take up to 15 minutes to refocus on the task at hand,” Campbell says. To cut back, “Turn alerts and your ringer off. Better yet, put your phone in a drawer and pull it out during planned breaks,” Campbell adds.

6. Disrupting Your Sleep Pattern

It’s not fair to place all the blame on why we can’t sleep on smartphones. We’ve been tossing and turning for centuries, and our mobile devices are just one more cause of insomnia. The Atlantic recently published the findings of a 2012 study, however, that revealed the percentage of certain age demographics that lose sleep due to technology — with Millennials at the highest percentage, unsurprisingly — and also an explanation as to why: Smartphones (and tablets) emit what’s known as “blue” light, which is picked up by special cells behind our eyeballs that essentially tell our brain that it’s morning. What I’m getting at here is that your attempts at sleep are futile, Earthlings, so long as you’re Facebooking under the covers before bed.

Nip this habit in the bud to get more sleep — and be more alert and productive at work, because duh — by moving your charging dock across the room instead of next to the bed. Set a time to disconnect and stick to it. It’ll be weird at first, yeah, but you may also find that you’re able to relax and get some of those much-needed Zs.

7. Seeming Disconnected Despite Being Constantly Connected

It’s ironic how now that we’re connected 24/7, we’ve never seemed more disconnected. Ever get that feeling? That’s because we’re buried in our smartphones and devices so much of our lives that we often forget to stop and take inventory of what’s happening around us. That can be problematic at work if you’re not able to find a balance between what needs to happen via mobile technology, e-mail, and the like, and what needs to happen in real life — like interacting with actual human beings.

Has your smartphone usage affected your career? Are there other ways that you’d like to add that smartphones are hurting our careers? Let me know in the comments below.

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This article is from Mikey Rox of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

5 Terrible Things Science Says You Do to Your Mind Everyday

Max Wong — Tue, 04 Aug 2015 11:00:15 +0000

Are you tired of your brain working at its optimal level every day? Are you too emotionally balanced? Are you sick to death of your good memory? If you are one of those people who suffer from having too much personal bandwidth, good news: You can stop having full cognitive function today! Here are five scientifically proven ways to destroy brain function that anyone can do.

1. Sleep Deprivation

Why are you sleeping eight hours when you can sleep fewer? Road rage and erratic driving due to sleep deprivation will make your morning commute much more interesting.

Also, work is so boring, so you might as well sleep through part of your day at the office or in the cockpit. Hard decisions build character, so why not make even the easiest choices into Sophie's Choices just by waking up way earlier than you should? If you are paying for college, then it should be your choice whether or not to learn anything new or remember anything old. Why bother with memorizing anything when smartphones exist?

Less sleep means more time for…other things that damage long and short-term memory. The Center for Disease Control calls insufficient sleep a public health epidemic, reporting that 30% of American adults sleep fewer than six hours every day.

2. Multitasking

Do you know what scientists call people who don't multitask? Productive thinkers. I mean who among us doesn't love bragging about our multitasking abilities! Why? Because it gives us street cred with all the OG masters of time slippage. Obviously.

Pretty much every scientific study shows that multitasking reduces efficiency and performance because the human brain lacks the processing power to do more than one thing at a time. When you multitask, you actually do each task more slowly than if you'd done them one at a time. But why would anyone want to do one thing really well, when you could do four things poorly all at once? More is more after all.

About 98% of the population, regardless of their (inefficient and low-performance) magical thinking, is physically incapable of multitasking. Which means that the 2% of the population who can actually multitask exist mainly to make all others believe that they are part of this outlier super-tasker group.

Heavy multitaskers, with all their practice at doing too many things at once, are actually the worst at organized thinking.

In addition to slowing down workflow, multitasking lowers IQ by as much as 15 points for men, the equivalent of dropping cognitive capacity from that of a Harvard MBA to an eight-year-old child. So the next time you get behind at work, you should just get your third grader to help you pick up the slack. Your boss will probably never notice. Interestingly, that old gendered argument that women are better multitaskers than men is validated by this study. Multitasking only makes women dumber by five IQ points, which is equivalent to going to work stoned. Luckily, your cognitive loss from multitasking will not show up on a urine test, however scientists have created a test that you can take that measures multitasking-induced stupidity.

3. Stress

Why settle for temporary cognitive dysfunction when you can shrink key parts of your brain permanently? Several studies have now linked stress with an increased risk of Alzheimer's disease and accelerated memory loss with aging. This is great news for poor people who live with constant, crushing stress. Why worry about planning for the future if you know you'll lose your mind before you get there?

4. Rumination

As someone who enjoys Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, I can tell you from personal experience that rumination is a fast and easy method of making yourself miserable. For newbies to repetitive negative thinking, rumination is the practice of dwelling on negative experiences or thoughts. For example, a negative thought might be "why am I so depressed about my boyfriend multitasking with that girl at the muffin shop?"

In a study of San Franciscans who had lived through the 1989 earthquake, Yale University psychologist Susan Nolen-Hoeksema, PhD found that self-described ruminators had more symptoms of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder from the experience, than non-ruminators. Practice makes perfect! The more you ruminate, the easier it is to perpetuate low confidence and uncertainty.

5. Constant Entertainment

Do you remember what it was like before you could fill every spare moment with information? For example, do you remember what it was like to stand in a line at the post office without the ability to play Words With Friends, or how boring the gym was before they installed televisions on the treadmills? Life was super dull. But do you remember ever feeling as awesomely overwhelmed by data as you do now?

Marc G. Berman, a neuroscientist at the University of Michigan, discovered that people learned significantly better after a walk in nature versus a walk in an urban environment. His team posits that although visual noise is stimulating, our now constant access to entertainment is actually causing brain fatigue. A study by scientists at the University of California, San Francisco found that when the brain is constantly stimulated, the learning process is prevented. Just like computers take time to download information, the brain actually needs downtime to process information and store it as a memory.

Oh pshaw! I've lost entire verb tenses in Italian in my quest for a better car commute. Who needs the subjunctive mood when one can binge listen to the entire podcast of Serial?

Have you taken steps to stop your own cognitive deficit? If so, please share your methods of avoiding brain damage with your fellow Wise Bread readers in the comments section!

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This article is from Max Wong of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

Multitasking Sucks Even More Than You Thought

Linsey Knerl — Thu, 11 Sep 2014 11:00:03 +0000

College students, corporate executives, and busy moms rely on multitasking to complete their long list of things to do each day. There are papers to read, emails to send, places to be, and much to be accomplished. (See also: The Simple Way Multitasking Can Actually Work)

However, a recent study has found that multitasking actually lowers your IQ, decreases your productivity, and reduces your ability to make decisions.

Imagine for a moment that you are at home, you have kids at the table working on homework, occasionally asking questions about places they are confused, dinner is cooking on the stove, the laundry is going and needs to be pulled out of the dinner before it wrinkles, the baby is getting dangerously close to doing something he's never done before and the phone rings.

Your brain is in a few different places.

You are multitasking.

You are getting things done.

However, that multitasking has decreased your brain function slightly and reduced your ability to make a clear decision. So when the nice lady from your child's school calls and asks you to chair a fundraising committee, you commit without being able to give it thorough thought. Later in the evening, when your mind is clearer, you realize what you've committed to and how difficult it is going to be for you to accomplish.

Multitasking may feel like the way to accomplish your mile long to-do list but it is actually diminishing the core of your productivity — your decision making abilities and your brain function.

So, what can you do instead?

To increase your productivity, focus on your tasks completely, and clear out your to-do list, you need to create an action plan.

Making and Executing an Action Plan

1. Make a List

Put the most important items on your list at the top. These should be items that must be completed today, followed by items that can be put off, all the way down to items that you'll probably put off until tomorrow but would feel amazing if you completed them today.

2. Highlight Quick Tasks

Those items that only take a quick minute or two to complete, like replying to your mom's email or rescheduling your dentist appointment get highlighted. If you aren't sure how long it will take, for example there is a good possibility you'll be on hold with your credit card company, don't highlight. Just those items you know won't take very long.

3. Turn Off All Distractions

That means your phone gets silenced and placed somewhere so you don't see notifications pop up on the screen, your email gets turned off, Facebook is closed out, turn off the television and get the kids set up with something that will keep them occupied for awhile if needed.

4. Set the Timer

A timer is your best friend when you want to be productive. It gives you a boundary for when you should be working. Set the timer for 20 minutes. During that time, focus all of your mind on one task. Do not allow yourself to become distracted during those 20 minutes.

If the timer is still ticking after you've finished a task, move on to the next one on your list. If you only have three or four minutes left on the timer, do one of the items that has been highlighted.

Don't forget to cross things off as you complete them. It may seem silly but the simple act of drawing a line through something can be very rewarding.

5. Take Frequent Breaks

After 20 minutes has passed, stop working and reset the timer for five minutes. During this time do not focus on work. Get up and walk around. Fill your water glass. Check on the kids. Do a little jig in the living room to get your blood pumping. Breathe deeply a few times before refocusing on another 20 minutes of work.

After three cycles of work, take a longer break of 15 to 20 minutes. This is the time when you can check Facebook, check your phone, or gossip with a friend in the next cubicle. Don't forget to have your timer set and do not go over your break time.

6. Assess Your Progress

After your work day (or hour) is complete, assess your to-do list. Determine if there are items that need to be rearranged or crossed off. If it is the end of the day, write a new list for tomorrow before you leave for home.

Productivity Hints

There are a few things you can further do to increase your productivity.

1. Keep It Simple

This is especially true for tasks like organization. Break up larger tasks into smaller, simple ones that will get you moving faster through the project. If you are working on organizing a space, don't get up and relocate every item you touch. Instead, put them into categories (like donate, toss, recycle or living room, kitchen, bedroom) that can they be put away later.

2. Group Like Things Together

If you have a number of similar tasks that need to be done, do them at the same time or one after the other. For example, if you have three phone calls to make, make them in the same 20 minute time frame, or if you have files that need to be delivered throughout the office, deliver them in the same trip.

This also works for errands you are running. Combine them so you aren't running across town multiple times wasting your time and energy.

3. Set Yourself Up for Success

Whether it is putting a sign on your door that says "do not disturb," putting your phone in another room, or hiring a babysitter to occupy your children for two hours, find ways to decrease distractions. This will ensure that you are successful with completing your tasks.

If the only danger in trying to do too many things is that you're not able to do any of them terribly well, then it might not be enough to stop multitasking and start focusing on each task individually. Now that we know that it can also make you dumb, it may be time to start slowing down and truly live in the moment.

Are you still multitasking? Why? If you aren't, what are you doing instead to get things done?

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This article is from Linsey Knerl of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

The Simple Way to Make Multitasking Actually Work

Linsey Knerl — Thu, 06 Mar 2014 10:48:24 +0000

At the moment, as I am working on this article, I am also watching television, checking Twitter and Facebook, texting with my daughter, checking on dinner, and chatting with a colleague on G+ chat. I am attempting to multitask, but judging by how long it has taken me to write these first few lines of text, I don't think I'm all that successful at it. (See also: "Life Hacks" You Shouldn't Bother With)

Multitasking is a part of our lives. We are busier than ever before. Whether it is juggling kids' schedules while speaking with clients on the phone and writing notes down for the grocery list, we are all trying to cram more into our lives. The question is, however, is it effective? When does multitasking work and when doesn't it?

When Multitasking Gets in the Way

If you routinely find yourself attempting to multitask, you may be doing more harm for your productivity than good. Some research has shown that multitasking actually increases the time it takes to complete tasks and decreases productivity. (See also: This Daily Activity Is Ruining Your Productivity)

Multitasking does not work when you are trying to do two or more tasks that require conscious effort. Take, for example, the two tasks of texting while driving. Many people will tell you they are great at multitasking, but are they really? You aren't able to focus on the road when you are looking down at your phone to find a number, open an app, or type out a message. At the very minimum, you'll make mistakes typing with one hand. The New York Times points to research that shows texting while driving is akin to drunk driving. Your ability to focus on what lane you are in, your speed, and the distance you are from other cars greatly decreases when you are also focused on the phone.

This phenomenon is no different when you are trying to multitask at home or work. Have you ever tried to have a phone conversation with someone who is typing on their computer, dealing with their children, or ordering a coffee at Starbucks? The phone conversation fails to progress because the person on the other line is unable to process two thoughts at the same time.

Use Layers to Make Multitasking Work — Sometimes

Multitasking works when the tasks you are attempting to complete require different levels of thought and only one requires you to really focus your thought processes. For example, folding laundry while you are having a phone conversation (with the phone on speaker) or typing a letter while dinner simmers on the stove.

Multiple tasks can be completed when they are layered by their level of attention needed. If you only need minimal attention on one task, for example, doing the laundry while another task is in process (such as getting dinner started), then you can layer in a more complex task, like answering a few emails. This layering of different types of tasks is still multitasking, and it can be done successfully. However, once you add in another task that requires more thought processes (taking a phone call from your boss, for example) one of the tasks must stop. In this example, answering the emails should be halted.

Setting Up Your Layers

Once you understand that you actually can multitask with a layered system, go ahead and set one up.

1. Make a List

Prioritize the most important tasks on your list that need to be accomplished. Refer back to that list as you complete activities. (See also: How to Achieve All Your Goals)

2. Look for Layered Tasks to Pair

Find an activity that can be paired with a higher level item on your list. For example, if you need to contact a business, and you know you'll be on hold for 20 minutes, use that hold time to address a few emails. Or if you need to do laundry, cook dinner, and call your mom, then start the wash, get dinner to the point where it is simmering, and then make the phone call (see #4).

3. Turn Off Other Distractions

That means you need to put your phone on silent. Exit out of Twitter, Facebook, and email. Reduce the noise level in the room, and tackle the most pressing item on your list first.

4. Set a Timer

When you are working on tasks, set a timer to check your progress. If you anticipate that a task should take no longer than one hour, set a timer for sixty minutes. Check where you are when it goes off. Are you distracted? Did something pop up that you felt needed addressed immediately? Are you on the phone with mom for too long and dinner is about to burn? Using a timer will keep you focused on your tasks and keep your productivity level high. (See also: How to Stay Focused at Work)

But Is Layering Enough?

When I began this article last night, I was attempting to multitask. It took me well over an hour to write the first three paragraphs. I decided to do my own unscientific study to see how well I was doing. I turned off everything.

No email. No Twitter. No Facebook. No G+ chat. No cell phone. No television.

When everything was off and my attention was solely focused on writing, I was able to finish the rest of this article relatively quickly. Lesson learned on my end. I will continue to minimize those activities that I once deemed multitasking when I really want to be productive.

Are you able to multitask? What works for you? Please share in comments while you wait for the tea kettle to whistle!

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This article is from Linsey Knerl of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

When Multitasking Can Work

Thursday Bram — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 10:36:30 +0000

It's not news by now that multitasking is not really a useful strategy to get more done. If you’re working on a task that needs your attention, the task will suffer if you try to share your focus with another task. But there are some situations when multitasking can make sense. (See also: The Fallacy of Multitasking)

Finding those situations requires taking a broader look at what multitasking is.

Filling Empty Task Downtime

Literally doing two things at once won't work well, but there are plenty of situations where you can set yourself up to accomplish a lot during the downtime a particular task requires.

Consider what it takes to do the laundry with the help of modern appliances. You’ll need to sort your clothes and put them in the washing machine. Then you’ve got a big chunk of time before you need to move those clothes to the dryer. You’ve got another chunk of time there, until you can take the clothes out of the dryer, and, if you’re on top of things, fold those clothes. Planning your day to make full use of the time you have to wait to complete other tasks is a more practical approach to multitasking.

Know Your Schedule

In order to find those pockets of time when you can accomplish more than just watching the minutes tick by on the clock, you’ll need to know what it’s going to take to actually do the tasks on your to-do list. If you don’t have both an understanding of when you’ll have downtime and what you need to accomplish, you can’t put together the puzzle of what you can do when. It’s like having a bunch of puzzle pieces with no idea of what the final product should look like.

You won’t always be able to fill every hole in your calendar ahead of time. But as you’re more aware of how you spend your time, you can start looking for opportunities to do a little more. It’s not a bad idea to keep your task list with you at all times, particularly if you can note items that you can do quickly, while you’re waiting. Knowing the difference between what you can do in 10 minutes and what will take longer is an important step. Otherwise, you can spend the entire time you have available trying to figure out what you can accomplish in that slot.

Don’t Take It Too Far

You can accomplish a lot in the time you spend talking to your friends when hanging out. But that doesn’t mean that you should. You shouldn’t fight to fill every moment of your day with work. It’s easy to get caught up in things, especially considering that many of us have smartphones in our pockets full of things we could be doing right now. However, most of us know when we really ought to be paying attention to the people we’re with.

It’s harder to make a decision to not try to cram in another task when we need some downtime. Just the same, though, it’s OK to just sit quietly and think, sometimes. There are days that the best use of your time while waiting for the laundry to run is relaxing with a book or even a nap. That’s perfectly fine.

Find a combination that works for you. Multitask when you’ve got downtime during specific tasks and need to accomplish more, but don’t be afraid to choose to do nothing.

What strategies are you using to fill your downtime with productive action (or quality relaxation)?

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This article is from Thursday Bram of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

8 "Life Hacks" You Shouldn't Bother With

Thursday Bram — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 11:24:33 +0000

Life hacks — or tricks intended to make life easier — are everywhere. There are life hacks for food, family, work, and everything else under the sun. But not all hacks are really beneficial. Some will just add another step to your daily routine. Some may wind up costing you much more than just your time. (See also: My Personal Productivity Rules...What Are Yours?)

1. Unlocking a Door Without a Key — in a Way That Requires the Door to Be Open Already

There are a lot of life hacks that may seem useful, like this one from Buzzfeed, but leave you with a solution for which there is no problem. If you can unlock a door to begin with, you probably have access to the key, and if you make it so that you can open the door without a key, anyone else can, too.

2. Extending a Deadline By Sending the Wrong File Type

I’ve heard this trick — sending a file as a .png rather than the expected .doc — recommended both for work and school situations, and I consider it downright dishonest. It may get you the end result that you want, but that’s not good enough. If a hack crosses the line into unethical or even illegal behavior, it’s not a good hack.

3. Using Doritos as a Seasoning

There may be a few people for whom that Dorito flavor is the greatest flavor ever, but it’s certainly one of the least appealing cooking hacks I’ve personally seen.

4. Taking Prescription Drugs in a Non-Prescribed Manner

You can find a lot of different hacks that involve taking prescribed medication for affects not intended by doctors, like making it easier to study. Unless you have a degree in pharmacology, though, it’s generally a bad idea to muck around with drugs without your doctor’s advice. If you really want to try such a hack, get your doctor to sign off on it first.

5. Multitasking

Many life hacks offer ways to do more than one thing at a time. But research has established that multitasking doesn’t work. You just wind up with two tasks that are both completed at a lower level. It’s better to just focus on one task and get through it quickly — and well.

6. Changing Your Family Traditions

Every year around the holidays, I’ll see a post or two that recommend hacking some other aspect of your holiday celebrations. The danger that you risk, though, is that you’re not just hacking your own life at that point — you’re changing how you interact with your family. There may be some changes that would be mutually beneficial, but it’s rare that you can change the status quo and still keep an extended family happy.

7. Anything That Requires Buying More Gear, Tools, or Apps

Most life hacks are inexpensive, but there’s always another piece of software you can buy to make your life easier or a new gadget that will change everything, at least according to the marketing team. The reality is that, most of the time, the change isn’t enough to make up for the money you’d have to spend, so it’s better to just hold on to your cash.

8. Continuously Tweaking Your Hacks

The pursuit of complete productivity is alluring, but you can wind up focusing just on perfecting your system rather than using the time you’ve saved to live. This recent essay on Lifehacker lays out the experiences of someone who went too far in his life hacks.

This article is from Thursday Bram of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

Double-Duty Protection: Multipurpose iPad 2 Cases

Mikey Rox — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 09:48:43 +0000

Gadgets and their accessories are expensive — that's why it’s in your best interest to take care of them as best you can.

In the world of iPad 2, there are lots of cases to choose from, but many of them don’t do anything more than keep the device safe from falls.

To get the most out of your iPad 2 case and the fee you forked over for it, consider a product that serves more than one purpose. Here are four from which to choose. (See also: Frugal Advice for the Gadget Addicted)

Griffin TechSafe Locking Case + Cable Lock

I fell in love with this case as soon as I saw it — especially since I like to travel with my iPad 2 (to the library, Starbucks, etc.) and I encounter a dilemma when I have to use the bathroom. Do I leave my device on the table and hope I’m surrounded by honest people, or do I pack up all my belongings and drag them to the john? With the Griffin TechSafe Locking Case + Cable Lock, which also includes a stand, that choice is easier. Like locking a bike to a rack, the combo lock component clamps the case shut on one end while the hardened-steel cable wraps around a secure table leg. Now I can relieve myself with the security of knowing that my iPad2 isn’t going anywhere.

booq pad Agenda

Similar to a portfolio, the Agenda iPad 2 case from booq pad features a fabric-covered exterior (made with more than 90% recycled PET fabrics and post-consumer materials) and an inside that safely stores the iPad and includes other compartments for a pen and doc storage. Also included is a 50-sheet notepad made from unbleached, acid-free, 30% minimum recycled post-consumer content. It goes without saying that this case is one of the greenest and most useful on the market.

Vogel’s RingO Universal Mounting System

Talk about getting what you paid for! This all-in-one pack for iPad 2 includes a holder, wall mount, car mount, and table stand for interchangeable versatility wherever you need it. Going on a road trip? Pop the case into the car mount to keep the kids occupied. Want to show off photos from the family reunion at holiday time? Use the stand to display the slideshow. And if you want to use your iPad 2 in the kitchen — for following a recipe, for instance — the wall mount is the perfect solution to keep the device visible but clean. The RingO UMS also comes with a free iPad app download for “WallTimes” just in case you want to turn your device into a large digital clock.

Hatch & Co’s Skinny

Anybody with an iPad 2 knows that it’s great for games and surfing the Internet, but it can be cumbersome to take notes or write anything of length on it; all the finger action can start to hurt. Hatch & Co. has solved the problem with its Skinny keyboard case, which touts itself as the world’s slimmest iPad 2 case with a built-in keyboard. Available in black and white, Skinny features a special surface with textured keys to enhance the typing experience and a battery that lasts up to two weeks (six weeks on standby). As if that’s not enough, your iPad 2 will automatically wake up when you open the case and sleep when you close it, further preserving its power supply.

Disclosure: I received free iPad cases for review.

This article is from Mikey Rox of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

10 Productivity Hacks From a Work-at-Home Mom

Annie Mueller — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 10:24:09 +0000

I work at home, part-time, as a (you guessed it!) freelance writer. So, I'm a writer. I'm also a mom. Of four kids. Under five years old. My youngest, in fact, is only a month old. While I can't share anything much about the experience of high fashion, expensive restaurants, or periods of silence lasting more than five minutes, I can share about getting maximum work done in minimal time slots. (See also: 10 Ways to Save Time by Spending Time)

1. Plan for transitions.

Transitions will kill you — those moments when you're ending X activity and beginning Y event. I don't like them personally, but with four kids transitions are the moments of weakness. Everybody is in limbo a little bit, and it's when things get lost and shoes get thrown and there's great potential for us all to end up in a weeping pile of humanity by the back door. Not pretty.

Plan for transitions by setting aside enough time for them, making them as systematic and routine as possible, and then getting through them (and, hence, on to the next thing) as quickly as possible. No, don't rush. Just keep things moving.

2. Resist the urge to control-freak on details.

You have to control-freak on some things, or nothing would ever get done. But details are a waste of your energy. Make sure, for example, the bed gets made, but don't waste time making sure the sheets are wrinkle-free and the throw pillows are stacked in an alternating color arrangement. You get me? This applies to everybody; make sure the article gets written, the project gets done, the budget gets made, the garage gets cleaned, whatever. But don't flip out about how those things get done.

3. Quit cleaning after every mess.

I'm all for cleanliness, but I'm also for accomplishment. Sometimes the two are enemies, because if you're taking time to clean after every single mess, big or small, you're creating a hundred transitions between work and clean-up when you could just focus on the work and then have one clean-up time at the end. Cleaning does need to happen, but it doesn't need to happen constantly.

4. Have a set time for cleaning and other routine physical chores.

If you have a designated time for the cleaning and other chores, you can relax and know that you'll be able to get to it at that time. This is true not just for work-from-home folks who get the privilege of doing laundry in between calling clients; this is also true for folks who work in offices or factories or shops. Do your important work and hold to a set time for filing papers, clearing your desk, straightening the shelves, wiping the display counters, putting away tools, etc.

5. Declutter everything.

Clutter — both physical and mental — is an enemy of productivity. Clutter will make your space seem dirty even when it isn't, which will make you want to clean instead of work, which will keep you distracted and give you lots of great reasons to procrastinate. Cut the clutter. Set up systems. Get storage containers. Get rid of stuff you don't need anymore. Label everything, and put things away where they belong.

6. Work in terms of daily goals.

It's good to have a schedule and a daily plan, but when you work from a schedule divided into 15-minute increments, you can get thrown off by one long-winded caller. Set a schedule if it makes you happy, but try to think and work in terms of your goals for the day. Figure out what they are first thing in the morning (or, better yet, last thing at night the day before). Get started on that most important goal and keep at it, coming back to it after every interruption, until you've accomplished it. Then move on.

Interruptions will happen. Schedules will get completely ruined. But daily goals? You can remember them (without a planner), and you can keep coming back and plugging away no matter what happens in the meantime.

7. Do a weekly plan-and-divide.

Pick a time for a weekly planning session. I like Sunday night, for the obvious reason that it comes right before the beginning of a new week. Preferably do this when you're feeling motivated and fairly energetic. (An espresso does the trick for me...) Write down all the things you want to accomplish on Monday. Go ahead, be ambitious! Then stop. Don't make any more lists for Tuesday, Wednesday, and so on. Instead, divide Monday's list out into the whole week. You'll be looking, most likely, at a reasonable amount of stuff to do within a week, given all your other obligations, events, activities, and the invariable interruptions.

8. Start out with a vengeance.

Conquer the morning, and you have conquered the day. This doesn't mean you have to get up at 4 a.m., though I personally find I'm much more productive when I do get up early. But get up, get through your morning routine, and get started as soon as possible on the most important task for the day. You'll set the tone — energy begets energy, and progress begets progress. And you'll also get to your most-important-thing first, so if the rest of the day does fall apart, you've still reached that goal.

9. Time yourself.

The little things kill you in two ways — you either overestimate or underestimate how much time they will take. If you overestimate, then you keep putting that task off because you think you don't have time for it. Meanwhile, it's a mental distraction, hanging over you and keeping you from being as productive as you could be. If you underestimate, then you get caught up in that little task and spend far more time on it that it deserves. Facebook, anyone?

Use a timer to find out how little time some tasks take, so you know you can get them done in between phone calls. And use a timer to stop yourself on those other tasks that tend to eat up more time than they should.

10. Expect an ebb and flow of productivity.

No matter what the productivity gurus might say, nobody can be at 100% maximum output all of the time. We all have different work rhythms to consider, as well as normal living and working patterns that affect what we can accomplish. Figure out what your best work hours are and try to get a solid block of time then to do your most important work. Then expect that you'll tone down in productivity, get some smaller tasks done, or take a break. The same goes for the days of the week; I find that I usually have a very productive, energetic day followed by a more mellow day. If you pay attention and see your own patterns, you'll be able to schedule unavoidable but less-important stuff (meetings, reports, things like that) for your less-productive times and mellow days. Then you can focus your best hours and most energetic days on the most important work.

Do you have any real-life productivity hacks from your own experience? Share them in the comments so we can all benefit! I'm always looking for ways to get more done in a day and have a good time while I'm at it.

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This article is from Annie Mueller of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

The Fallacy of Multitasking

David Ning — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 13:00:16 +0000

Let's imagine that you finally decide to ignore the latte factor and buy a cup of $5 iced coffee at the nearby coffee shop. It smells good, but you want to drive home before you drink it because your baby just started crying, and you know she wants to be home as soon as possible. (See also: 3 Reasons Why Keeping Your "Latte Factor" Will Help You Save Money)

You get out of your car, holding the cup of coffee in one hand and while carrying your baby home, and she decides that the coffee is better on the ground than in your hand. Slap! With baby arms swinging, all you can manage is the look of disbelief as you see your coffee splattered all over your front lawn.

You ask yourself why you didn't just carry the baby into the living room before going back out to get the coffee, but what's done is done. You make sure your child is safe, and then you quickly try to undo the new "brown grass" that you just created. In an effort to save about 35 seconds of your life, you wasted that cup of coffee, managed to wipe that smile off your face, and spent another 10 minutes trying to turn brown back to green.

Misconceptions of Multitasking

I hope this doesn't sound familiar, but how many times have you tried to do two things at once, only to end up taking more time than if you just focused on one task at a time?

Every time I hire someone, I make it a point to discuss multitasking if the word ever shows up on the resume. Many people think that multitasking simply means doing two things at once, but it's seldom possible. What ends up happening is that the quality of work on both tasks suffers, and sometimes, things even need to be redone. This is the opposite of efficiency.

There's No True Multitasking

In reality, we just aren't wired to perform two tasks at once. And this may come as a surprise to some, but neither are computers. What actually happens is that all the resources of the computer are shared by each task, with some resources used to handle the switching between the tasks. The illusion of true multitasking only happens because the computer can do this so efficiently and quickly that it seems to be doing everything at once. Have you ever tried to open many different programs, and they all take forever to load? This is multitasking at work.

How to Improve Your Efficiency

Instead of trying to do two things at the same time, you should actually be trying to focus on one task at a time. Get one thing done, then move onto the next. In real life, there will no doubt be times when you have to handle two projects concurrently. In these cases, you still have to focus on one project at a time. Work on one, then set it aside while you work on the other. Anytime you try to switch between the two means time lost, so do your best to keep "project hopping" to a minimum!

Additionally, here are some tips to help you focus on only one task:

Cut out distractions by learning to say no.
Write down everything about the project you aren't working on at the moment, so you don't have to think about it or worry that you will forget about little details.
Put a higher emphasis on having enough sleep. It's hard, I know, but when you aren't tired all the time, you will be able to concentrate better and you can get everything done more quickly, giving you a bit more time to have more sleep.
Check out these tips to help you get more done.

Next time you try to multitask, beware of the loss in efficiency, and think twice before you try to work on two tasks at once.

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This article is from David Ning of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

multitasking

Here's Why Multitasking and Money Don't Mix

It Doesn't Work

We Don't Get Anything Done

We Get Depressed

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Best Money Tips: The Right Way to Multitask

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7 Ways Your Smartphone Is Hurting Your Career

1. Multitasking During Meetings

2. Texting the Boss Something Inappropriate

3. Checking Your Device Too Frequently

4. Responding to Work Correspondences Too Quickly

5. Letting Your Productivity Lag

6. Disrupting Your Sleep Pattern

7. Seeming Disconnected Despite Being Constantly Connected

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5 Terrible Things Science Says You Do to Your Mind Everyday

1. Sleep Deprivation

2. Multitasking

3. Stress

4. Rumination

5. Constant Entertainment

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Multitasking Sucks Even More Than You Thought

Making and Executing an Action Plan

1. Make a List

2. Highlight Quick Tasks

3. Turn Off All Distractions

4. Set the Timer

5. Take Frequent Breaks

6. Assess Your Progress

Productivity Hints

1. Keep It Simple

2. Group Like Things Together

3. Set Yourself Up for Success

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The Simple Way to Make Multitasking Actually Work

When Multitasking Gets in the Way

Use Layers to Make Multitasking Work — Sometimes

Setting Up Your Layers

1. Make a List

2. Look for Layered Tasks to Pair

3. Turn Off Other Distractions

4. Set a Timer

But Is Layering Enough?

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When Multitasking Can Work

Filling Empty Task Downtime

Know Your Schedule

Don’t Take It Too Far

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8 "Life Hacks" You Shouldn't Bother With

1. Unlocking a Door Without a Key — in a Way That Requires the Door to Be Open Already

2. Extending a Deadline By Sending the Wrong File Type

3. Using Doritos as a Seasoning

4. Taking Prescription Drugs in a Non-Prescribed Manner

5. Multitasking

6. Changing Your Family Traditions

7. Anything That Requires Buying More Gear, Tools, or Apps

8. Continuously Tweaking Your Hacks

Double-Duty Protection: Multipurpose iPad 2 Cases

Griffin TechSafe Locking Case + Cable Lock

booq pad Agenda

Vogel’s RingO Universal Mounting System

Hatch & Co’s Skinny

10 Productivity Hacks From a Work-at-Home Mom

1. Plan for transitions.

2. Resist the urge to control-freak on details.

3. Quit cleaning after every mess.

4. Have a set time for cleaning and other routine physical chores.

5. Declutter everything.

6. Work in terms of daily goals.

7. Do a weekly plan-and-divide.

8. Start out with a vengeance.

9. Time yourself.

10. Expect an ebb and flow of productivity.

Like this article? Pin it!

The Fallacy of Multitasking