Actually, this article says: drop everything you're doing and focus on one thing, and that is--stop multi-tasking now! Here's why:
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We all do it: Texting while walking, sending emails during meetings,
chatting on the phone while cooking dinner. In today’s society, doing
just one thing at a time seems downright luxurious, even wasteful.
But
chances are, you’re not doing yourself (or your boss, or your friends
and family) any favors by multitasking your way through the day.
Research shows that it’s not nearly as efficient as we like to believe,
and can even be harmful to our health. Here are 12 reasons why you
should stop everything you’re doing—well, all but one thing—and rethink
the way you work, socialize, and live your life.
1] What you call multitasking is really task-switching, says Guy Winch, PhD, author of Emotional First Aid: Practical Strategies for Treating Failure, Rejection, Guilt and Other Everyday Psychological Injuries. “When it comes to attention and productivity, our brains have a finite amount,” he says.
“It’s
like a pie chart, and whatever we’re working on is going to take up the
majority of that pie. There’s not a lot left over for other things,
with the exception of automatic behaviors like walking or chewing gum.”
Moving back and forth between several tasks actually wastes
productivity, he says, because your attention is expended on the act of
switching gears—plus, you never get fully “in the zone” for either
activity.
2] Contrary to popular belief, multitasking doesn’t save time. In fact, it
will probably take you longer to finish two projects when you’re jumping
back and forth than it would to finish each one separately. The same is
true even for behaviors as seemingly automatic as driving: In a 2008 University of Utah study, drivers took longer to reach their destinations when they chatted on cell phones.
“What
tends to save the most time is to do things in batches,” says Winch.
“Pay your bills all at once, then send your emails all at once. Each
task requires a specific mindset, and once you get in a groove you
should stay there and finish.”
3] Experts estimate that switching between tasks can cause a 40% loss in productivity.
It can also cause you to introduce errors into whatever you’re working
on, especially if one or more of your activities involves a lot of
critical thinking.
A 2010 French study
found that the human brain can handle two complicated tasks without too
much trouble, because it has two lobes that can divide responsibility
equally between the two. Add a third task, however, and it can overwhelm
the frontal cortex and increase the number of mistakes you make.
4] When University of California Irvine researchers
measured the heart rates of employees with and without constant access
to office email, they found that those who received a steady stream of
messages stayed in a perpetual “high alert” mode with higher heart
rates. Those without constant email access did less multitasking and
were less stressed because of it.
And it’s not only the physical
act of multitasking that causes stress; it’s the consequences, as well,
says Winch. “If you do poorly on an exam because you studied while
watching a baseball game on TV, that can certainly trigger a lot of
stress—even self-esteem issues and depression.”
5] Forget seeing the forest for the trees or the glass half full—people who
are busy doing two things at once don’t even see obvious things right
in front of them, according to a 2009 study from Western Washington University.
Specifically,
75% of college students who walked across a campus square while talking
on their cell phones did not notice a clown riding a unicycle nearby.
The researchers call this “inattentional blindness,” saying that even
though the cell-phone talkers were technically looking at their
surroundings, none of it was actually registering in their brains.
6] It makes sense that if you try to do two things at once—read a book and
watch television, for example—that you’re going to miss important
details of one or both. But even interrupting one task to suddenly focus
on another can be enough to disrupt short term memory, according to a 2011 study.
When
University of California San Francisco researchers asked participants
to study one scene, but then abruptly switched to a different image,
people ages 60 to 80 had a harder time than those in their 20s and 30s
disengaging from the second picture and remembering details about the
first. As the brain ages, researchers say, it has a harder time getting
back on track after even a brief detour.
7] “This is an area where I think multitasking has a much bigger effect
than most people realize,” says Winch. “A couple is having a serious
talk and the wife says ‘Oh, let me just check this message.’ Then the
husband gets mad, and then he decides to check his messages, and
communication just shuts down.”
One recent study
from the University of Essex even shows that just having a cell phone
nearby during personal conversations—even if neither of you are using
it—can cause friction and trust issues. “Do your relationship a favor
and pay your partner some exclusive attention for 10 minutes,” says
Winch. “It can make a big difference.”
8] Being distracted during mealtime can prevent your brain from fully processing what you’ve eaten, according to a 2013 review
of 24 previous studies. Because of that, you won’t feel as full, and
may be tempted to keep eating—and to eat again a short time later.
Experts
recommend that even people who eat alone should refrain from turning on
the television while eating, and to truly pay attention to their food.
Eating lunch at your computer? Slow down and take a break from the
screen to focus on each bite.
9] Yes, you. You may think you’re a master multitasker, but, according to a 2013 University of Utah study, that probably means you’re actually among the worst.
The
research focused specifically on cell phone use behind the wheel, and
it found that people who scored highest on multitasking tests do not
frequently engage in simultaneous driving and cell-phone use—probably
because they can better focus on one thing at a time. Those who do talk
and drive regularly, however, scored worse on the tests, even though
most described themselves as having above average multitasking skills.
10] Multitasking requires a lot of what’s known as "working memory," or
temporary brain storage, in layman’s terms. And when working memory’s
all used up, it can take away from our ability to think creatively,
according to research from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
“Too much focus can actually harm performance on creative problem-solving tasks,” the authors wrote in their 2010 study.
With so much already going on in their heads, they suggest,
multitaskers often find it harder to daydream and generate spontaneous
“a ha moments.”
11] No, not the state! Psychiatrists and productivity experts often recommend OHIO: Only Handle It Once.
“This is a rule of thumb for many people with ADHD, but it can also be
practiced by anyone who wants to be more organized,” says Winch. “It
basically means if you take something on, don’t stop until you’ve
finished it.”
The problem with multitasking, though, is that it
makes Only Handling It Once a near impossibility—instead, you’re
handling it five or six times, says Winch. “If you’re going to stick to
this principle, you need to be disciplined and plan out your day so that
when a distraction arises or a brilliant idea occurs to you, you know
that there will be time for it later.”
12] Texting or talking on a cell phone, even with a hands-free device, is as dangerous as driving drunk—yet that doesn’t stop many adults from doing it, even while they have their own children in the car.
It’s not just driving that puts you at risk for the consequences of multitasking, either. Research
also shows that people who use mobile devices while walking are less
likely to look before stepping into a crosswalk. And in one study, one in five teenagers who went to the emergency room after being hit by a car admitted they were using a smartphone at the time of the accident.
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