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Do you believe that multitasking increases your productivity? Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but science disagrees.
While multitasking may seem like a helpful way to get things done, the reality is very different. It actually reduces your effectiveness and efficiency.
We slow down when we force our brains to transition between things since they are made to focus on one thing at a time and the English language cannot get clearer than this.
SmartKeys states that multitasking is a tremendous difficulty for the human brain. Working on several activities at once frequently leads to poorer performance and more mistakes and according to research by neuroscientists, moving between tasks causes cognitive fatigue and delays in starting a task. Because our brains mostly rely on executive processes for prioritisation, they have difficulty handling a variety of tasks.
So, trying to handle several tasks at once might leave you feeling stressed and overburdened as it creates this sense of urgency, overload, and quite frankly a lot of pressure, and who wants that for themselves? Furthermore, your creativity and ability to make decisions suffer when you’re under stress.
I have done plenty of administration work, so I can tell you with confidence that multitasking is not giving “I am on top of things.” It prevents you from entering a “flow state,”- which is my favourite place to be in, where you’re fully focused and at your peak performance. When you’re constantly interrupted by switching tasks, you miss out on that deep, productive work.
I’d just recommend keeping a diary and thank me later!
However, Verywell Health has more suggestions for you, such as using the “20-minute rule,” group tasks for a set amount of time, combining automatic and focus-demanding tasks, and restricting juggling tasks to one to successfully manage your time. To free up your thoughts for other duties, avoid bouncing between them all the time and assign each work a particular time.
Also see: Is checking the menu before dining a genius move or overthinking?