I have some news you’re not going to like, but don’t dismiss it just because you’d prefer not to believe it. It’s true.-- Do you talk on the phone while typing or reading emails?
-- Do you talk on the phone while driving?
-- Do you have numerous windows open on your computer at once, switching rapidly from one task to the next?
-- Do you stop what you are doing to jump on emails as they arrive in your inbasket?
These habits are reducing your productivity by up to 40 percent. But here is the good news; that means that if you are a heavy multitasker, you can increase your productivity up to 40 percent if you can wean yourself from some counterproductive multitasking behaviors.
Most of us engage in some of these forms of multitasking. It seems more stimulating to juggle several topics than to focus on one thing at a time. But guess what; it’s dragging our productivity down – way down – according to a growing body of scientific research.
While it is tantalizing to think we can do more than one thing at a time in order to get more done, more quickly, the fact is that such multitasking or task-switching can rob your work of its quality, reduce your overall output, increase stress, and inhibit your relationships with others. In fact, researchers say, the results can be catastrophic.
Technically, multitasking refers to performing two tasks simultaneously, but trouble can also arise when you rapidly switch from performing one task to performing another.
Please, don’t take my word for it. Researchers have shown that people lose time when they switch from one task to another. (One such study is "Executive Control of Cognitive Processes in Task Switching" published in the American Psychological Association's Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance.)
"People in a work setting," says one of the study’s authors, "who are banging away on word processors at the same time they have to answer phones and talk to their co-workers or bosses -- they're doing switches all the time. Not being able to concentrate for, say, tens of minutes at a time, may mean it's costing a company as much as 20 to 40 percent" in terms of potential efficiency lost.
The more productive approach, researchers say, is to focus on one thing at a time. For example, experts suggest that we set aside specific blocks of time to deal with emails rather than responding to them throughout the day. Do what you can to reduce interruptions in your office. Let co-workers know when you need uninterrupted time. Don’t badger each other with questions all day; take notes and follow-up with co-workers on several items at once rather than impulsively interrupting each other as every question arises. Stay off your cell phone while driving. Studies show that this is as risky as drunk driving and makes you four times as likely to cause an accident. Work your most important tasks in priority order one at a time rather than hopping from task to task. Productivity researchers also suggest that we shouldn't read or type emails while talking on the phone; the emails will show your lack of concentration, reflecting poorly on you, and the person you are talking with may resent your background typing and sense your inattention to them.
Multitasking is fool’s gold – it seems like a good way to keep abreast and get more done, while in fact the opposite is true. Would you trust a heart surgeon who checks his Blackberry during your operation, or who wears a telephone headset so he can talk with his stock broker while you’re under the knife? Can you imagine Beethoven, in the middle of composing a masterpiece, stopping to respond to the “ding” of an incoming instant message? Great work requires great focus. Maximum productivity requires maximum concentration.
I think the reason most of us multitask is because it is more stimulating. It seems more interesting to toggle between three or four tasks than to focus on one thing. But evidently it's a very counterproductive indulgence.
If you don’t believe me about the multitasking data, hop on your favorite search engine and key in “multitasking and productivity.”
Or click here for links to 20 articles on the topic.
