Multitasking appears frequently in conversations regarding time management and productivity, frequently being called out as a productivity killer. Personally, I believe that there are two types of multi-tasking and they are unfairly lumped together, as one of them is positive and the other is negative. Let’s dissect them separately though.
Negative multi-tasking
I am sure you have heard this lecture: multi-tasking makes you less effective! Just focus on one thing and do it! According to a study performed by Jason Watson and David Strayer, only 2.5% of people can actually multi-task effectively. I think it’s pretty safe to assume we aren’t in that group.
Since our brains can truly focus on only one thing at a time, you are just switching between tasks, even if it’s in really small, fast bursts. You can probably tell from experience that whenever you start a task, it takes a bit to get fully immersed in it, which, by extension, means that if you are constantly switching, you are never giving full focus to your task.
Here are main issues with multi-tasking:
More mistakes
When you are not fully focused on task on hand, you will make more mistakes. Your attention is divided between different activities and some part of the brain is attending to something else.
I once had an experience that I believe illustrates this well. I am multi-lingual: I am a native Polish speaker, but have lived for a very long time in an English-speaking country and I don’t have a preference as to which of the two languages I use. At the time, I was also fluent in French and German. I was doing a study abroad program in France with my then-boyfriend and we had two sets of visitors: my grandparents (grandpa was multi-lingual, grandma spoke only Polish) and my boyfriend’s parents (English-only). When we went out to dinner, I had to moderate conversations constantly plus translate with the waiters. It was exhausting and at some point, I just started to speak German. Kudos to my grandpa for just carrying on a conversation with me in German… But that shows you that your brain can’t just switch between tasks forever without penalty.
Memory loss
This issue has two facets. First, you retain less information when you are multi-tasking. Just think of the last time you tried watching Netflix and scroll through social media. Did you have a moment of ‘and who is that and what are they doing?’. Yes, it’s like that with everything else. You need to focus fully in order to actually retain information you are consuming.
Over time, your task-switching will take a toll on your brain and will increase frequency of having ‘senior moments’ according to a UC San Francisco study. Do you really want to age yourself faster?
Anxiety
Have you ever felt stressed and overwhelmed while switching between multiple tasks in short period of time? I always discounted it as: clearly, I have a lot on my plate and that’s what’s stressing me. Of course, it is true, at least to some point. However, a study from UC Irvine showed that multi-tasking itself increases stress and anxiety. You are adding extra pressure on yourself when you are already overwhelmed. Are you sure you want to be doing this to yourself?
Lower EQ and IQ
Did you know multi-tasking lowers your IQ by as much as 15 points? This study from the University of London proved it. Are you sure you have this much intelligence to spare?
According to TalentSmart, multi-tasking lowers your self-awareness and social awareness. Those are components of your emotional intelligence, or EQ. Since there is a high correlation between EQ and professional success, multitasking is inhibiting your advancement at work. And weren’t you doing it to get ahead in the first place?
Lower creativity
For a person to be creative, their brain has to be safe, relaxed and allowed to process the surrounding world. Having an anxiety-ridden mind juggling multiple thoughts is blocking you from accessing those functions. Have you noticed that you get your best ideas in the shower or on a walk? That’s because you are relaxed (at least your brain is). If you want to be more creative, relax and allow your brain some freedom.
Wasting time
Plain and simple: you are wasting your time. Every time you switch tasks, your brain needs to regroup and start the new activity. Think of it like opening files on your computer. It always takes a second for it to load and the bigger, more complex the file is, the longer it takes. Like your computer, your brain needs time to load different files and switch gears.
Every time you switch between tasks while multi-tasking, you are basically interrupting yourself. Think of the last time your phone rang while you were in the middle of something. Did you have to look for where you stopped? Re-read your paragraph to figure out what the next sentence should be? It’s the same issue when you multi-task, except you are doing it to yourself.
Declining ability to focus
Over time, your ability to deeply focus will be eroded if you multi-task regularly. If you accustom your brain to having multiple ‘files’ open and browsing through them constantly, you condition your brain to always doing it and in the long run, your brain won’t know how to shut it all down and keep only one ‘file’ open. I think that even the greatest proponents of multi-tasking will admit that there are occasions when they need to give their full, undivided attention to only one task. What if you brain no longer remembers how?
Positive multi-tasking
I think that you can guess where this is going from the image. Not all multi-tasking is about switching between different tasks. There are some activities that you can perform simultaneously without harm to your ability to perform any one of them well. Walking your dog already takes care of two items from your to-do list: caring for your pet and you are working out. But while you are doing it, you can listen to a podcast or an audio book, which helps you learn. I have spent many webinars on an indoor bike trainer. You can probably successfully listen while you are cooking, cleaning or driving. Who said you can’t build your workout into your daily commute?
All of these add up to one concept: you can choose activities that support each other (biking to work is a form of multi-tasking: you are commuting and you are exercising) or involve different parts of you (listening while moving). If you can match tasks wisely, you can ‘create’ some extra time in your day, so there is a good chance you are not one of them.
Conclusion: is multi-tasking all bad?
As with many other things: it depends. If you want to ‘create’ extra time in your day by doubling up your activities, choose them wisely and make sure that they can truly be done simultaneously. I am sure you can listen to an audio book while on a treadmill! In the meantime, practice some mindfulness, live in a moment and focus on your task at hand.