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Multitasking Is A Lie
In today's fast-paced world, the pressure to do more in less time has led to the widespread belief that multitasking is the key to achieving success. However, research has shown that multitasking is nothing more than a myth. Today, we will explore why multitasking is ineffective and discuss the switching cost and its demands on cognition.
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Multitasking has become mainstream
Because time feels so limited, multitasking has become mainstream as a way to get a lot done at the same time. However, research has shown that while multitaskers think they're succeeding, they're actually performing poorly. Multitasking doesn't work; it is merely a way to do multiple things badly at the same time.
While we can do some things at the same time, such as walking and talking, we aren't actually multitasking but rather alternating our focus. We process different types of information in different parts of the brain. When we're engaged in multiple activities, the brain has one in the foreground and the other in the background.
Things start getting off track when an activity requires a part of the brain that's already in use, such as trying to use your phone while driving. Alternating between tasks can add anywhere from 25% to 100% more time to completing it. Therefore, dividing your brain capacity reduces your effectiveness, and you end up wasting time on creating subpar results.
The switch cost
Psychologists studying what happens with cognition (our mental processes) when subjects try to perform more than one task at any given time have concluded that we didn't evolve for true multitasking. They found it takes more time to get tasks completed when they were done simultaneously rather than individually, as well as more error-prone.
The term multitasking is a misnomer since it's not possible to perform multiple tasks simultaneously. Instead, we switch our focus and attention between tasks. This process is referred to as "task-switching," an expensive process that incurs a cost in terms of time, effort, and cognitive resources, leading to decreased productivity and increased errors.
Task-switching not only incurs a cost in terms of the time and effort required to transition between tasks but also in the cognitive demands of having to remember where you left off and what you were thinking about before switching. This can be especially challenging when tasks are complex and require deep focus.
Not everything is equally important
We're constantly overwhelmed with information and input from family, social media, email, work, and interactions with others. This makes it seem like everything is important, so we try to do everything. Despite being busy, we don't actually accomplish much. Keeping busy is different from being productive or successful.
Even though to-do lists can be helpful, they usually only distract us with things we feel we must do because they're on the list. In reality, the minority of effort produces the majority of the results. Therefore, you should focus on the few high-impact things you can do to create a meaningful impact.
Conclusion
In conclusion, multitasking is not an effective way to get things done. It is not true that it can help us achieve success. Instead, it only leads to poor performance and wasted time. Instead of multitasking, we should focus on just one important task at a time and then switch our attention to the next task once it's fully completed. By prioritizing our tasks, we can work smarter, not harder. Remember, multitasking is not the key to success, but focusing on a single task is.