Some people swear that by multitasking they are being more efficient. Perhaps sometimes. Others strongly suggest that it is inefficient and counterproductive. Regardless, it seems that humans seemed “wired” to try to accomplish multiple tasks. Some would say that it is a Type “A” personality that is seemingly wired to multitask.
Based on my experience, I think much of multitasking is based on needing to do many things simultaneously because of lack of time and STRESS. Just look at the drivers next to you… trying to negotiate traffic, consume coffee, and work on their handhelds at the same time. Scary actually!
There are certain types of tasks that humans are good at doing simultaneously, however not many. Cooking and talking on the phone go together fine, as does walking and chewing gum (for most people). But try and do three math problems at once, and you are sure to have a problem.
You’re asking your brain to split its attention and it can’t do that. Our brain is bouncing back and forth between the tasks, back tracking and having to remember where we were in the equation solving process to pick up where we left off before we jumped to one of the other problems. The brain exhaustion and mental stress is huge and saps our mental capacity. Imagine this multitasking challenge — trying to send an e-mail, talk to a co-worker and send instant messages to our boss at the same time. We can’t do it and do a good job at any of the three tasks.
We aren’t even multitasking, we are actually task-switching. We merely jump from one to the other and lose time and concentration. Studies show that we are losing our short term memory because of this behavior. Our attention span is growing even shorter.
We think we are accomplishing tasks by tackling two or three high concentration tasks at the same time, but the reality is we are merely being busy, but not accomplishing anything well.
Enter in the term – solotasking – doing one thing at a time until you reach a complete stopping point then go to the next task. Achieve real productivity by
Slowing down,
Turning off all distractions (that’s tough to do) and
Focusing on one thing at a time.
I’ve found that classical music turns off all the distractions. The stress is relieved, my brain is clearer, I can make decisions, have attention on the task, less inner chatter and anxiety, and I’m a happier individual because I accomplished something completely. Try it! I won’t kid you, it is hard to change to the solotasking habit, however, it is worth the feeling of achievement!