You do it. I do it. Most of us (if not all of us) multitask during the day. Even at home, I am constantly doing a combination of things all at once from my “to do” list, only to find myself overwhelmed and exhausted. In this day and age, there’s been an emphasis with companies wanting exceptional employees that possess the ability to manage multiple projects all at once. Responding to emails, text messages, answering your office phone and typing up an email to a client all in a matter of minutes is a perfect example of this. Many of us grew up in the era of multitasking where you couldn’t call yourself productive if you weren’t good at juggling multiple tasks. But is multitasking bad for your brain?
According to MIT Neuroscientist Earl Miller, our brains are “not wired to multitask well…when people think they’re multitasking, they’re actually just switching from one task to another very rapidly. And every time they do, there’s a cognitive cost.” Our brains can really only handle one thing at a time. We get so used to switching between one task to another with our brains that we program it to have a short attention span. This is why it’s so hard to regain the skill of focusing on one task at a time. But can we actually be more effective by doing a single task at one given time?
Multitasking is no longer about being efficient. It has become a way of living, a bad habit if you will. Come to find out, it is not necessarily the most effective way of working. The average person has several tabs open in their browser while having open emails requiring responses.
According to an article in Fast Company.com, “The more tabs you have open, the more multitasking you’re doing, and the less likely you are to be as productive as possible. The same goes for anything else that might distract you from your main objective.”
Switching gears from each new task and switching back again is not the best use of time. You’re concentrating on all of the information for one task and then quickly putting that information to the side in order to shift to another. This method to attain a desired end is prone to stress and errors. In this already chaotic world, we need to rein in the information overload and find a little oasis of sanity and calm.
Imagine a single tasking life. When going for a walk, nothing else is on your mind but the walk. You do it to the very best of your ability. When you eat, you enjoy every flavorful bite of your meal. When fully engaged with a book or music, nothing else in the world exists. Doing your work one task at a time with full focus and dedication will reflect competency in your performance.
Charles Dickens once wrote, “He did each single thing as if he did nothing else.” This is a life lived fully in the moment with dedication to doing the best you can in anything you do, whether it be a work project or simply making green tea.
If you live your life this way, by this single principle, it will have tremendous effects:
- Your work will become more focused
- You will become more effective at anything you put your mind to
- Your time will be of better quality
- Your time with your family will be much more meaningful
- Your reading will have fewer distractions
- You’re able to lose yourself in anything you feel worthy enough of your time and attention
It may seem easier said than done. So what is really the answer? Multitask or single task?
According to an article in Pickthebrain.com, “Some of us just feel that it’s more convenient to do a single task until it’s done. In addition, not everyone is comfortable with single tasking. Some people just have to do something else in order to periodically take their mind off of the task at hand; they can’t sit still and focus on one thing at time. The important point is to honestly evaluate your strengths, weaknesses and work habits, and approach each task conscious of these traits. Then experiment with different combinations to suit your needs.”
The choice is yours…