Let's Talk About The Myth of Multitasking
By Yanna Solace Adofina
Not gonna lie, I’m currently multitasking as I’m typing this out on a Monday afternoon. It wasn’t intentional on my end, but somehow I ended up writing this article, editing an old one, and answering my son’s questions about his assigned reading about Marco Polo. It might paint a picture of a successful work-at-home parent, but in reality my nerves are on the edge and I might just lose it any minute now.
Multitasking has been a part of our everyday lives. It is seen as an asset, a must-have in every employee’s arsenal. It is a go-to answer for every prospective job candidate when an interviewer asks what they can contribute to the company. Who can blame us, when society has taught us that the ability to do several things at once saves us time? That it allows us to tick more boxes during the day, making us seem productive and overall better than everyone else? Heck, even during our entertainment time we multitask : every night the smart TV plays old reruns of a popular sitcom while we sit lazily on the couch, doom scrolling on social media, absentmindedly chewing food without actually tasting it. Weirdly specific, yes --- but true nevertheless.
Whether we feel guilty of multitasking or not, we all chalk it up to a universal reason: we can’t help it. We can’t help but multitask because we have no choice: our work requires us to do so; or that we do not have enough hours in the day to do everything we have signed up for. We worry that we would be seen as weak and incompetent, unable to keep up with the demands of the modern world.
But in recent times, many studies have shown that multitasking is a myth. Edward Hallowell, MD, psychiatrist and author of Crazy Busy: Overstretched, Overbooked, and About to Snap! Strategies for Handling Your Fast-Paced Life explains it with this example : "...consider how you behave in your car when you get lost. As you focus and try to get your bearings, one of the first things you do is turn down the radio. Why? Because you want to pay single-minded attention to the task of finding your way. The second "task" of listening to the radio detracts from the attention you can pay to the task of finding your way".
It might seem that we are accomplishing a lot of things in a short amount of time, but the intended output of our actions suffer. We suffer from lesser focus while handling several tasks at once, leaving our output weak and wanting. In avenues of communication, we are less engaged with the receiver of the message, and possibly lose the connection made prior hand. As we transition from one task to another and back, interruptions and rooms for error increase.
So how do we stop the deeply ingrained habit of multitasking? Let’s the count the ways by creating new habits :
Prioritize tasks - choose to do tasks that are time sensitive. If you leave them off at a later time, you will end up rushing and multitasking again with tasks that are left for a later time. You can do this by making a to-do list that is achievable by the end of the day.
Do one activity at a time with full attention - when your focus is set on a singular task, you end up yielding better results and finishing the task on time --- maybe even earlier than expected.
Set a time for breaks - just like our physical bodies, our mind needs a break every now and then. Taking some time off to recharge does wonders, leaving us refreshed and ready to take on the remaining tasks for the day.
Writer Michael Harris says, “When we think we’re multitasking we’re actually multi-switching. That is what the brain is very good at doing – quickly diverting its attention from one place to the next. We think we’re being productive. We are, indeed, being busy. But in reality, we’re simply giving ourselves extra work”. With today’s grab-and-go lifestyle, we ultimately forget that we are not machines; we are not meant to do everything all at once at the same capacity and quality. Let’s commit to one task at a time because let’s face it, no one wants to be left at the office on a Friday night, right?