The Dangers of Multitasking And How To Stop
It seems that we are all becoming terribly distracted. This partial attention is taking our time, productivity, balance, and I would argue, sanity.
We can't really multitask. We only ever have 100% attention to give at any time. If we are actively doing two things at once, we are either giving partial attention to each task or we are switching back and forth between giving 100% to each task, (and generating significant brain lag as our minds try to keep up). If we are switching back and forth, the University of Michigan found that overall it will reduce our productivity by 20 to 40%. Ouch! (See The Secret to Increased Productivity – Single Tasking over at my blog)
So now that you know the dangers of multitasking, how do you stop? Here are five techniques I employ:
- Turn off electronic distractions. Internet, IM, Facebook, chat, phone, television, radio are all off. Each one of these represents a claim on my attention and affects my ability to concentrate on the task at hand.
- Do a mind dump. If I find my thoughts wandering, I will write notes to myself. The thing is to make a note and go back to what I was doing. This works because I know I will take care of the notes later on and nothing will get lost.
- Wear good earphones and invest in ambient sounds. I have a great pair of earphones, and I use various MP3 strategies to help me block out distractions (see How I Use My MP3 To Concentrate).
- Slow Down. If I am multi-tasking at home, I make a conscious effort to do one thing at a time. I force myself to slow down. If I am cooking dinner, trying to finish laundry and checking homework, I purposefully approach each individually, starting with a deep breath.
- Set expectations. In my home (and I suspect most others), there is a pull for Mom's attention. I simply tell people I can only listen to one thing at a time, and do one thing at a time. This reminds me to stay focused, as well as sets the expectations of what I am willing to do.
Multitasking is just a bad habit, and habits can be broken with some diligent effort. Get rid of this productivity sapper by learning how to unitask!
Comments (11)
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Yes good article. One should remain flexible and avoid rigid rules. Yes, as a rule one should be singled focused and concentrated, though sometimes multi-tasking is good, though if one is not aware it could become a form of being scatter-brained. Peter S. L
Great Article! If someone had told me 2 years ago that i get less done and feel worse by multi tasking i would have thought you must be joking... :) but now im the first one to agree!! Trying to slow down and focus on the task at hand its so important - not only for your mental and spiritual being but also for you business. I believe in making this your mantra, create a sign on your wall or computer monitor if need be, but practice it effectively. Don't create such a high expectation for yourself that you set yourself up to fail at most of what you set out to do. Do the should do items first, toss in one or two things that you could do today, and then if (and only if) there is time left over, tackle one of your wanna do items. In the long run you will feel so much better dealing with your daily tasks this way. Best,
Yes good article. One should remain flexible and avoid rigid rules. Yes, as a rule one should be singled focused and concentrated, though sometimes multi-tasking is good, though if one is not aware it could become a form of being scatter-brained. Peter S. L aids symptoms
You are so right. As a dad of five, I learned that when I multi-task, nothing gets done very well. However, headphones don't work for me. I feel too disconnected with what is going on in the house. When working, I use an air purifier, not so much for clean air as for the white noise. I'll check out your article about using the MP3 player next. Thanks for sharing, Laura!
Absolutely. Don't create a high expectation for yourself that you set yourself up to fail at most of what you set out to do. Do the should do items first, toss in one or two things that you could do today, and then if there is time left over, tackle one of your wanna do items.
Steven
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Yeah, I do agree with you. I myself can't really do multitasking. However, women tend to be more able to do the multitasking than men. reverse mortgage
One thing that has helped me become more productive is to turn off twitter and facebook and to only log into my email about 2 times per day. I can get easily distracted and before I know it, I am trying to watch a youtube video while working at the same time. It made me so unproductive! But now, I usually jot down what I am going to do and avoid spending lots of time socializing on facebook and twitter. list building| how to get your ex back
personally I try and keep ficos on one project at a time, though its difficult to ignore all the distractions that keep coming your way through out a day.
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One man perform one work at time. We should stay focus what we are doing. If we involve in multitask we can't stay focus and the output of the work might be worse. I really appreciated your blog , which clearly defines the drawbacks of multitask at a time. To become a successful man we should focus on our task. When we are at work we should keep away ourselves from those factor which distract our mind. If we concentrate and focus in our task , then we can even solve hardest math problem in the world . Stay focus what you are doing.