Commercial Integrator April 2023 - 3

EDITOR'S NOTE
Emerald X, LLC.
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commercialintegrator.com | @commintegrator
EDITORIAL
Editor-in-Chief Dan Ferrisi,
914-383-9030, dan.ferrisi@emeraldx.com
Reclaiming Your Time
NSCA'S BUSINESS & Leadership Conference
(BLC) richly deserves its reputation as the
premier thought-leadership conference for
integration business owners. Aſt er having
attended BLC 2023, I fi nd my mind aswirl with
the revelatory wisdom, economic analysis,
leadership best practices and culturetransformation
insights that I gleaned. But I
want to focus on keynote speaker Dave
Crenshaw, whose eye-opening presentation,
" Find Focus in a World Full of
Chaos, " will likely change many
attendees' daily workfl ow -
including my own. The author
of The Myth of Multitasking,
Crenshaw debunked the idea
that humans are built to do
everything simultaneously.
The word " multitasking " is
ubiquitous in our society. However,
Crenshaw reminded BLC
attendees that rapidly switching
between tasks is the leasteffi
cient way to approach work.
Indeed, he illustrated this with
an exercise. First, he asked everyone to write
a sentence, and then to write the numbers " 1 "
through " 27, " on a sheet of paper. Next, he
asked us to alternate between tasks, writing
one letter, then one number, then another
letter, etc. In my own case, 31 seconds ballooned
to 62 seconds - literally double the
time! - when I had to switch between letters
and numbers. This, Crenshaw said, illustrates
the time we waste when we " switch-task "
between work duties.
In fact, Crenshaw said, " switch-tasking "
refers to the interruptions that plague us and
our inability to recover from them instantly.
Crenshaw off ered BLC attendees some
'Switchtasking'
doesn't
merely
add time but
also decreases
work quality
and induces
stress.
" switch-busters " to reclaim our time and focus.
First, he suggested that we identify our top
two Most Valuable Activities (MVAs) - our
tasks that deliver the most value. Then, we
should build dedicated blocks of time into our
calendar when we focus only on those MVAs.
Second, he urged us to abandon " the culture
of now " in favor of " the culture
of when. " The most important
question in our arsenal, he
averred, is " Can this wait? " That
means communicating to your
team when you will be available
to answer " quick questions. " It
means committing to answering
every email when you've set
aside the time to do so. Without
those boundaries, " the culture of
now " becomes the default.
Third, Crenshaw reminded us
that humans perform best when
we take a break every 90 to 120
doesn't merely add time but also decreases
work quality and induces stress. You probably
see this in your everyday life: You're working
on a report; then, an email pops up, which you
feel you must respond to immediately; next,
your direct report Teams messages you with
a " quick question " ; then, you get an Outlook
reminder about a Zoom call. All this, Crenshaw
said, results in the average person losing 28%
of their day to " switching costs " - a term that
commercialintegrator.com
minutes. He referred to this as an " Oasis, "
describing it as a resetting of our biological
clock. Even viewing a YouTube video for fi ve
minutes can pull us from the chest-tightening
frenzy of switch-tasking. Finally, Crenshaw
urged BLC attendees to focus on the people in
our lives. When we switch-task on people - for
example, looking at our phone while someone
is speaking to us - it conveys a clear message:
You are unimportant. We must make it normal
to give people our full attention, he concluded.
My conversations at BLC indicate that these
insights were revelatory for many leaders in
attendance. I know they were for me. I hope
this visionary message - the kind of thought
leadership that integrators can only get at BLC
- empowers you to run your business better by
organizing your workfl ow more coherently.
Dan Ferrisi, Editor-in-Chief
dan.ferrisi@emeraldx.com
@danferrisiedit
Chief Content Offi cer Jason Knott,
774-505-8042, jason.knott@emeraldx.com
Associate Editor Amala Reddie,
774-505-8039, amala.reddie@emeraldx.com
Associate Editor Zachary Comeau,
774-505-8006, zachary.comeau@emeraldx.com
Technology Editor Robert Archer,
774-505-8049, robert.archer@emeraldx.com
Web Editor Alyssa Borelli,
774-505-8057, alyssa.borelli@emeraldx.com
Design Lead Katie Stockham,
774-505-8051, katie.stockham@emeraldx.com
ADVERTISING SALES
Group Publisher, Connected Brands
Ray Lyons, 774-505-8017, ray.lyons@emeraldx.com
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774-505-8014, shawn.tobin@emeraldx.com
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Marketing Manager Megan Campbell,
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EMERALD CORPORATE
President and CEO Hervé Sedky
Chief Operating Offi cer Brian Field
Chief Financial Offi cer David Doſt
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General Counsel and Corporate Secretary
Stacey Sayetta
Executive Vice President, People and Culture
Ren Akinci
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Danielle Puceta
Senior Vice President, Communications
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Kate Elder
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Development Les Weir
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Operations Joanne Wheatley
PRODUCTION
Creative Services Director
Manuela Rosengard, 774-505-8052,
manuela.rosengard@emeraldx.com
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Commercial Integrator April 2023

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