- With Mayo Clinic oncologist
Edward T. Creagan, M.D.
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Edward T. Creagan, M.D.
Edward Creagan, M.D.
"The magic of the electronic village is transforming health information. The mouse and keyboard have extended the stethoscope to the 500 million people now online." — Dr. Edward Creagan
The power of the medium inspires Dr. Edward Creagan as he searches for ways to share Mayo Clinic's vast resources with the general public.
Dr. Creagan, a Newark, N.J., native, is board certified in internal medicine, medical oncology, and hospice medicine and palliative care. He has been with Mayo Clinic since 1973 and in 1999 was president of the staff of Mayo Clinic.
Dr. Creagan, a professor of medical oncology at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, was honored in 1995 with the John and Roma Rouse Professor of Humanism in Medicine Award and in 1992 with the Distinguished Mayo Clinician Award, Mayo's highest recognition. He has been recognized with the American Cancer Society Professorship of Clinical Oncology.
He describes his areas of special interest as "wellness as a bio-psycho-social-spiritual-financial model" and fitness, mind-body connection, aging and burnout.
Dr. Creagan has been an associate medical editor with Mayo Clinic's health information websites and has edited publications and CD-ROMs and reviewed articles.
"We the team of (the website) provide reliable, easy-to-understand health and wellness information so that each of us can have productive, meaningful lives," he says.
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Stress blog
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Aug. 31, 2011
Think multitasking saves you time? Think again
By Edward T. Creagan, M.D.
We're always reminded, especially in our younger years, of the importance of staying focused and not getting distracted. I write about this frequently in this blog, but sometimes I don't follow my own advice. Let me explain.
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A short while ago, I was invited to speak before a professional audience. As happens on occasion, one or two colleagues came up to the stage and asked if they could have my presentation on a USB flash drive. Of course I agreed. The procedure to do this is somewhat complicated and requires some focus on my part.
As I was trying to accommodate this request, another colleague came up to me and asked some very complicated questions. When my computer nearly melted down, I realized that I couldn't simultaneously complete the task and respond to questions. I then had to spend precious time dealing with the technical tsunami I'd created for myself.
Let me give you another example of why staying focused is so vital. A week or so ago, my wife and I had blocked out several hours on our calendars to pack and prepare for a trip. Despite that, we both accepted a number of other commitments for this time. We became distracted. We lost focus and energy and, as a result, we failed to follow some basic rules of travel, such as making sure we had our passports, confirming flight times, and so on. As you can imagine, our trip was punctuated by a number of misadventures.
These experiences served to remind me of the importance of protecting my time so that I can focus on the task at hand. Some lessons take repeating, I guess. Can anyone relate?
8 comments posted
September 18, 2011 9:08 p.m.
I have been multi-tasking for years BUT I am careful about what I do; 1 task requiring only physical response, 1 requiring full mental and 1 with occasional mental ie: walking on a treadmill while reading a book and half an "ear listening to the news (requires an occasional "look-up" to see if anything is interesting.
- Marlene
September 14, 2011 12:28 a.m.
Most people I know who believe they are such wonderful multitaskers are really do a bunch of things poorly instead of 1 or a couple of things well. Great point to made here.
- No name given
September 7, 2011 8:39 p.m.
Yes! I surely agree with Dr Creagan. It happened with me recently. I missed my flight by reading the date at 25th September rather than 24th September. I came to know at the airport that my flight had left yesterday. One week before my departure I was constantly stressed about swaping my duties with my colleagues, catching them and coaxing them to swap and perform on time. Interestingly, this was my first planned journal after getting my PhD in Social and Administrative Pharmacy. Yes, multitasking and being focused during multi-tasking are two poles apart. Happy reading!
- Dr. Shazia
September 7, 2011 5:28 p.m.
I ascribe my current mental blanks to the fact that I have been multitasking for a number of years. It has affected my concentration, as well. Bad for the brain, bad for my life.
- Mimo
September 2, 2011 2:09 p.m.
Great comments Dr. Creagan! I can relate to your experiences. Your friend in av...
- Karl
September 1, 2011 10:01 p.m.
We should all do one thing at a time, trying to do to many things results in doing 2+ mediocre versus doing 1 something with exceptional quality
- Bryan
September 1, 2011 8:56 a.m.
All these posts on multitasking make me think you should go on a well deserved retreat and leave the cell phone and computer at home. Be sure to do your blog posts ahead so we don't miss anything while your're gone. I don't think I have missed a single post for years. Thank you for your dedication.
- carol
August 31, 2011 4:34 a.m.
Thank you for sharing this post about multitasking. Please keep your posts coming! Will read them for sure! ;)
- AJ
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