How often have you heard someone say they were good at “multitasking?” You may have even seen this listed as a desired skill in a job posting. Although multitasking may seem to allow for greater productivity and efficiency, the reality is that this approach to work doesn’t allow you to become fully engaged in any of the tasks you may be trying to do at once.

Multitasking can also be a euphemism for distracted working (for example, when you are finishing a report, texting the babysitter, and checking out recipes on Pinterest at the same time). The result, then, is slowed productivity and diminished quality of your work.

Though the path away from multitasking may seem difficult, there is a way out—with agile business process management. Agile practices are built around a technique for time and project management called “timeboxing” that is useful for project managers and all types of projects. Timeboxing is the practice of focusing on one project task—without distractions—for a short, predefined period of time.

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