Recently, I took a course to become a certified transformation specialist, I discovered so many wonderful tips on how to support clients to achieve their health goals. The subject of multi tasking was part of one of my units. I was surprised by all that I learned in the course and came to the conclusion that being a “great multi tasker” is not ideal. I had always prided myself on being able to multi task throughout my life, and now I am discovering that being a multi tasker does NOT mean that you are more efficient nor effective with your tasks.
Multi tasking is when you are working on multiple tasks and your brain must jump from one subject to another. The issue with this is that the human brain can only focus on two subjects at a time before losing cognitive abilities. Multi tasking has been proven to lead to lower levels of creativity and higher levels of stress. Your brain becomes taxed and you no longer have your full ability to be creative or solve problems. Multi tasking may help us to be more productive in the short term, but this is not the case in the long run.
Research on multi tasking has shown that people experience a 40% decrease in productivity when multi tasking. They also tend to have a higher heart rate and increased levels of stress. Higher levels of anxiety are associated with people who consistently multi task. Excessive multi tasking eventually leads to “burnout”, which can take months to recover from, setting you back from where you initially started. Technology multi tasking has become quite apparent in modern times. Think about how often you will be on a phone call or texting, then an email comes in, another person is phoning you, you have alerts coming through from social media or other apps all the while working on your computer simultaneously.
One solution to multi tasking is to focus on one task at a time and minimize interruptions. Having good organization systems in place supports your brain to manage one task at time versus going back and forth between multiple tasks. Prioritize your goals and tasks, avoid distractions, and make good use of calendars and lists are great ways to strengthen your skills. There are times when multi tasking is unavoidable, and then your skills that you use will have been sharpened and strengthened if you are not consistently multi tasking. Multi tasking may be utilized when dealing with low level tasks. Listening to a podcast or an audio book while you are cleaning your house or taking a work phone call on a walk are great examples of multi tasking with low level tasks.
What I concluded from my course is that multi tasking is not the preferred way to manage and complete tasks if you are looking for high productivity. Most times multi tasking wastes more time switching from one task to the next rather than staying focused on the initial task at hand. It is best to be organized and create plans and lists for the tasks you would like to accomplish, and focus on one task at a time. If it is a broader task, break it down in to smaller tasks and tackle each one of those one at a time to then complete the larger task at hand. Over time if you practice these habits, your stress and anxiety levels will decrease, and your production output will increase.