Multitasking is a LIE

Do you wear the term ‘multitasking’ like a badge of honor? Do you, with great pride, brag to your friends and coworkers that you can manage more tasks at once than an octopus? Are you convinced that you are much more efficient doing 2 or more things at once? I’m here to tell you that multitasking is a big fat LIE! Multitasking does not help us get more things done; in fact it reduces our productivity and efficiency and increases stress.

Corporate and social culture has created multitasking as a norm. With many companies doing more with less, and business owners having to straddle multiple personal and professional roles, there is a certain expectation to get it all done and be responsive to every beep and ring tone that demands your attention. As wonderful as communications technology has become, it has created the side effect of tremendous distraction.

Recent research has shown that when we switch from one task to another there is a lag in our brain’s ability to catch up to what we are doing next. Our brain requires time and energy to move from one task to another. So, when you are working on a project and are interrupted by a ringing phone or beeping email, your brain needs a bit of time to reorient to focus on the project. You actually take longer to complete your project because the time it takes to refocus your brain adds to the completion time.

Additionally, research indicates that habitual multitasking can actually increase stress. This happens because your perceived control, or the feeling of how much control you have in your world, diminishes. The other way that stress increases is that continued multitasking trains your brain to pay attention to distractions both inside and outside yourself, so it becomes naturally harder for you to focus. Less feeling of control and difficulty focusing on tasks = more stress. And who wants more stress?

The simple answer to the multitasking lie is to simply do one thing at a time. But how possibly can you do that when you’re juggling a big job, kids, and an attempt at a personal life? It’s all about shifting yourself away from the ‘shiny object syndrome’ of following that which captures your attention in the moment, towards a bit more structure. Read the rest of the article to find out how you do that.

You can listen to me talk about the lie of multitasking at my podcast, Coaching A Go Go.