Why multitasking is the enemy of productivity

I’m willing to bet you’ve done a variation of the following at least a few times a week. You sat down at your desk to write an email then switched on some music. You decided to check out Instagram or respond to an incoming text a few sentences into your email. Then you opened a new tab on your browser to check the news right before going back to your email. Most of us multitask, and it’s hurting us more than it’s helping.

Unfortunately, the story we tell ourselves, that multitasking allows us to be more productive, is nothing more than a myth. This concept has serious adverse effects on our productivity, effectiveness, and critical thinking. Not to mention, multitasking has a tremendous impact on our cognition and emotional wellbeing. 

You’re probably thinking, “How’s that possible? I thought I was getting more done.” Sorry to break it to you, but you’re not. In this blog post we’ll examine why and how multitasking is harming your productivity and what you can do about it.

Multitasking slows you down

How often have you attached the wrong file to an email, or emailed the wrong person because you weren’t focused?

When you don’t focus on the task at hand, you open yourself up to mistakes. The quality of your work suffers, and you waste more time having to correct your work than if you had focused on the one task in the first place.

Each time you switch between a task—like going from writing an email to checking your texts, and back again—you lose 1/10th of a second. You then pay a more significant tax on your time because your mind is now distracted. Perhaps you’re thinking about the text you read while trying to write an email, but you can’t seem to do so because your attention is on the text message, what it said, or how you want to reply. The time it takes to refocus your attention on the original task can cost you an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds. That’s a lot of time to lose if you’re constantly distracted and interrupted throughout the day.

Multitasking prevents critical thinking and innovation

Cal Newport, associate professor of computer science at Georgetown University, coined a concept—and wrote a book by the same name—called deep work. According to Cal, “deep work is focusing without distraction on a cognitively demanding task. It describes, in other words, when you’re really locked into doing something hard with your mind.”

To achieve deep work, one must intentionally dedicate uninterrupted time to completing a task. It is only by focusing intensely that a person can think critically and innovate. 

Focusing on a task deeply and intensely helps you produce more meaningful, thoughtful, and polished work. It also eliminates the stress and its effects on your mental and physical well being.

Multitasking is harmful to your health

It may come as a shocking realization, but multitasking can have serious adverse effects on your health. Each time you engage in multitasking, you put your body through mental and physical stress. The prolonged impact is astounding. 

Cognitive impairment caused by multitasking

I knew someone who kept an almost innumerable number of tabs open on his browser. He did this as a way of bookmarking articles or research he needed to go back to and read when he had time. Unfortunately for his computer, running several tabs in the background while using Powerpoint and Excel, and switching between different tabs caused his computer to slow down, and eventually freeze. Our brains go through something similar when we multitask or task-switch.

Our brains use a little bit of energy every time it makes a decision—like deciding to switch between tasks. The more decisions we make throughout the day, the more we deplete our resources. With less energy and resources available, the more likely you are to experience cognitive impairment. Cognitive impairment is when a person has trouble remembering, learning new things, concentrating, or making decisions that affect their everyday life. This side-effect has a tremendous impact on your wellbeing and leads to burnout.

Health Risks due to prolonged stress

In a previous blog post, we discussed the fight-or-flight response, its physiological effects, and its impact on productivity. Let’s recap:

When you feel threatened or stressed by a stimulus—in this context, a specific task—your brain will produce adrenaline and cortisol, triggering your flight-or-fight response. Your body may experience elevated heart rate, rapid breathing, and a sudden release of glucose and fat into the bloodstream to supply energy to all parts of the body.

How does this impact productivity? In the case of procrastination, you avoid the perceived threat or obligation—in other words, you take flight. However, when it comes to multitasking, you take action against the threat or obligation—you choose to fight. The usual physiological response then kicks in, elevating stress levels spurred on by adrenaline and cortisol production. As you continue to task-switch, you expend additional energy, eventually depleting your physiological resources resulting in a crash.

This physiological response to multitasking has tremendous implications for your health, especially over prolonged periods. Health risks include:

• Anxiety
• Depression
• Digestive problems
• Headaches
• Heart disease
• Sleep problems
• Weight gain
• Memory and concentration impairment

How to break up with multitasking

Now that you’ve learned why multitasking is hurting your productivity, let’s look at how you can lead a more productive life with less stress, and improved work quality. Below are some helpful tips.

One thing at a time

The first step to becoming more productive is to stop multitasking. Instead of doing multiple things at once, dedicate blocks of time to tasks throughout the day. During that block of time, give your undivided attention to the task at hand. This method can help you:

• Avoid feeling overwhelmed
• Protect your cognition
• Produce quality work
• Mitigate exhaustion
• Prevent burnout

Once you finish the task or the block of time dedicated to it, you can move on to your next item. 

Be intentional with your time

Dedicate time to making progress on tasks or projects. You don’t always need to accomplish something all in one shot; allow yourself to make small steps toward achieving something. The key lies in making the most of the most of your time through focused work.

With an application like Yomez, you can divide your day into segments representing your roles or responsibilities in life. This strategy allows you to address projects, tasks, or needs at the appropriate time in your day or week. Yomez also enables you to assign priorities to your to-do list to organize your time according to task importance and urgency.  

Remember, when you dedicate time to specific aspects of your life, you are more likely to accomplish your goals.

Avoid Distractions

When I contemplate productivity, I tend to think about Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel. The 6118 sq foot ceiling, painted with incredible detail and anatomical precision, was completed in only four years. Such feats were possible then, in my opinion, because there were limited distractions. No TV, no radio, and no social media.

If you’d like to turn your life into a masterpiece, then eliminate distractions. Some helpful tips include:

• Keep your phone in a drawer or away from your workspace
• Ignore social media while you’re working and instead dedicate time to checking it
• Designate times to review and respond to email, and stick to them
• Turn off notifications for email, messaging platforms, text messages, and social media
• Set times to take breaks and reset your mind and body

Create a zen workspace

A workspace that nurtures focus is paramount to driving productivity. With many of us working from home these days, it’s more important than ever to establish a dedicated workspace. Doing so can help you develop and keep boundaries between work and personal life—a necessary component to avoiding burnout. Here’s how you can create that space for yourself:

• Secure a comfortable area that allows you to accommodate your essential productivity tools such as a second monitor and a comfy chair
• Considering purchasing noise-canceling headphones especially if you’re sharing a space with someone else
• Make sure your work area is well-lit—avoid glare and shadows
• Keep your space organized and free of clutter to focus on precisely what you’ve set out to accomplish

Track your time

Make the most of each moment by tracking the amount of time you spend on a task. You’ll be more intentional about focusing on something once you realize how long it takes to complete it. Something you thought would only take an hour might take four when you’re busy tweeting in between thoughts.

Apps like Yomez enable you to track your time right from your laptop, so you can start and stop it as you make progress on your projects. You can also visualize your progress to understand if you’re making strides on your goals or plateauing.

The next time you think about juggling more than one task or checking your phone while you do something, stop! Try to resist the urge and instead refocus your attention on one task. Assigning priority to your to-do list is a helpful strategy that can keep you focused. 

I hope you came away with insights that will help you drive productivity. If you like what you read, check out more content below.