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About this Article
Multi-tasking, it's myths and how mental fitness training can help.
Boom…Gotcha! It’s a bogus question because science shows, time and time again, that multitasking - or trying to do more than one task at a time - is not possible.
“Multitasking is a myth. In reality, it’s rapidly switching from one task to another, and then back again. And every time you make that switch, you pay a ‘tax’ on both your time and your energy. For that reason, it’s almost always more efficient to monotask: Focus on one thing and move on when you’re done, so you don’t pay unnecessary switching taxes.”
— Dr. Sahar Yousef, Cognitive Neuroscientist, UC Berkeley.
For those who are thinking, 'multitasking may be rough for most... but I’m awesome at it'. Well - according to science, which Naval Ravikant says is “the study of truth” (podcast plug below) - they find that those who multitask, can’t stop. In a way, you’re addicted to the behavior.
So what is actually happening when you think you’re doing two things at once? You’re very rapidly “task switching” or moving between tasks, which is not only cognitively expensive, but research consistently shows has a host of negative side effects including:
What’s worse? Research at Asana demonstrated that “nearly three in four employees (72%) feel pressure to multitask during the day. With the rise of remote work, it’s gotten to be even more common—roughly half of employees multitask during virtual meetings now, an increase from just a year ago.”
How about our free time? Even our leisure time has been taken over by multitasking - Hello Netflix, scrolling Instagram, catching up on the day.
We want you to notice when you’re “multitasking” and instead:
Hammerness and Moore want you to shift your mind and focus from one thing to another, consciously. We find taking a breath each time you’re going to switch from emails to writing a newsletter :) … helps create a conscious choice to move from one thing to another.
Close those Tabs, clean your desk from distractions, and don’t put more than 1-3 things on your main to-do list (hint: use a Post-it for your most recent to-dos; your brain gets distracted with more than that)
"The shorter way to do many things is to only do one thing at a time.” - Mozart
So put down your laptop, get outside and enjoy the day - how? By simply doing one thing at a time.
With Heart,
The MYNDY Team
Resources and Further Learning:
