Hello and welcome to this week’s debullshifying session!
Have you ever felt ridiculously overwhelmed by the idea that you have to hop from task to task and that it’s OK for others to just interrupt you randomly?
I have…
And I can’t help but notice that the more obvious the evidence against this practice, the more people do it…
We’ll always advocate against it, so if there are people in your life (or work) who can benefit from being told off, send them our way. It’s one of the subjects we’ll never get tired of talking about.
MEME of the week
Author’s Note: I’m your best friend. here to remind you that it’s FriYAY!
Since we realised that we can communicate with our audiences via email, it has become a huge part of marketing, and rightfully so.
Email is unintrusive, you can read it or ignore it, unsubscribe, or even block. For once, you’re actually in control of whether or not you pay attention.
In comparison with article ads, billboards, TV ads, and other type of promotional comms, email is a genuinely fantastic way to communicate with people.
But, us marketers, need to know if we are hitting the mark. How do we track this? By tracking Open Rate and Click-Through rate. We’ll deal with click-through in the next edition of Debullshified. For now, let’s focus on Open Rate.
Open Rate is the percentage of people who open the emails you send. It’s a great way to know if your subject line resonates with your audience.
Buuuuuuut…
For the past 3 years, this metric has been unreliable, and it’s shocking that we’re still taking it at face value.
On the 20th of September, 2021 Apple announced Mail Privacy Protection. An absolutely marvellous move in the era of cyber crime.
But it messed up with open rates… If you want the full details, these guys have a great article on it.
In summary, however, the privacy protection falsely increases the open rate metric that your mail system is going to report. Some reports have suggested that the increase is as large as 20%.
So, if your open rate shows as 50%, in reality, it could be as low as 30%. The thing is – you can’t know…
Why does it matter?
Because Apple mail has a huge market share…
So, if you’ll measure your email’s success, find another way. Perhaps a regular survey, a great value offer, or a video link?
FOCUS!
Multitasking is for amateurs.
Do you know how multitasking became a thing? It was when every Tom, Dick, and Harry started opening businesses.
Don’t get me wrong – entrepreneurship IS for everyone. Being an employer, however, is most certainly NOT.
I won’t be tracing back how so many remarkably unfit people were able to make profitable ventures, even though it’s an interesting topic. What concerns me is the aftermath.
“Ability to multitask” started popping up in job ads some 20 years ago and slowly took over the world. Why?
Because the world of business was flooded with people who are unable to focus if it was to save their lives. People who’s frantic chase of financial gains made them constantly buzzing as if plugged into a high-voltage socket.
Question: Do these people achieve more than those who focus?
Answer: Overwhelming and assertive NO.
Nevertheless, since they can’t focus, they started looking to surround themselves with other similar people (like attracts like), ultimately creating an avalanche of mediocrity.
If you, too, are being asked to multitask,
but deep inside, you know it’s wrong,
YOU ARE RIGHT.
Please don’t question yourself.
Hundreds of studies have proven (not merely supported a theory) that this behaviour leads to worse, not better, results. Here are a few in case you need proof:
- Executive control of cognitive processes in task switching
- Multitasking During Simulated Car Driving
- Multicosts of Multitasking
- In class multitaskers have lower academic performance
But why don’t frantic entrepreneurs change if their approach is so obviously wrong?
Probably because on some deeper level where ethics are not completely dead, there’s a very reasonable and well-deserved imposter syndrome.
See, we often say that imposter syndrome is bad, but is it bad in every case?
The opposite of imposter syndrome gave us Trump, the Kardashians, and too many other examples that I cannot possibly list. So perhaps there’s something to be said about balance?
The truth we all secretly agree to but don’t dare say out loud is that not everyone should be able to achieve everything.
And I bet that if you look around, particularly in the workplace, you’ll find at least 20% of the people shouldn’t be at the positions they’re holding.
Which leads me to my main point.
Multitasking is not a flex. It’s an unfortunate requirement by people who shouldn’t be in a position to require anything.
Please, don’t be one of them.
If you’re going to grow, grow as a person of sound mind, able to focus, view a situation from all its angles, and chase riches in all aspects, NOT just financials.
As you may know last week was England’s general election which landed us here in the UK with a Labour party.
We’re not political, so don’t expect a comment on that.
That being said, however, this section can easily be all about politics and the jokes will be endless. The only reason we won’t just make it about political jokes is because this is by far the most expensive reality show we, regular people, are paying for and the jokes are just too expensive.
Nevertheless, I can’t bypass this without sharing. Firstly:
But wait! This article is just the gift that keeps on giving!
Listen, whoever you are, have you considered a career in politics? At this point I’m fairly certain that anyone who’s subscribed to this newsletter will be far better suited for office than the existing alternatives…
