Multitasking is what it is, taking on a large number of tasks in turn.

Examples. People have breakfast and read a newspaper, drive a car and talk on the phone.

Multitasking is the ability of a person to quickly switch from the first task to the second.

Switch less often and be less distracted by several things at the same time, then your well-being has nothing to be afraid of.

But you need to know that with each switch, vital resources are expended, stress increases, and feelings of anxiety involuntarily increase.

Scientists have proven that you can multitask if you have:

analytical thinking;

highly organized;

systematic approach;

ability to analyze results.

Let's say you don't have the qualities listed above. Don't worry, they'll show up.

Listen to advice for every day:

1 advice. Make a business plan for the day, week, month.

He will help:

motivate to achieve specific goals;

reduce stress to zero;

free the brain from unnecessary information.

Take 10 minutes to make a plan. Write in a notebook, diary, calendar, Todoist app, Trello board. Store valuable and large information on a flash card.

The leaders of large companies plan working hours by the hour, for each case a certain period of time.

Let's say you have an unpleasant job that needs to be done. Talk about it with your inner voice. Convince yourself, and you will feel that you are at work, and it has begun, it remains to finish.

2 advice. Sort things by priority.

Well-known experts suggest using their developments for working in the mode:

Brian Tracy's ABCHD method;
Bluma Zeigarnik effect;
Dwight Eisenhower Matrix.

Think strategically. Start doing the most important and voluminous things in the morning.
When the life resource is not depleted, and you will be able to make the right decision.

3 advice. Cyclic work.

By focusing on a difficult task, the subject will be able to achieve more than being scattered over several tasks at once.

To avoid stress and a decrease in performance, work and keep a cyclical work while multitasking.

The "Pomodoro Method" offers Francesco Cirillo how to focus on a task and take breaks.

Each person has his own biological rhythm of life. Observe yourself and you will determine the time period of maximum efficiency if you want to multitask.

Perhaps you work productively for 1 hour, and 10 minutes is enough for you to rest. But by the end of working hours, the period of fruitful work must be reduced so as not to look like a squeezed lemon.

Sometimes you can hear the expression - “full concentration mode”, this is when a person is completely immersed in work. Or another word "small wandering mode", which means - it's time to rest.

Changing the modes of concentration and wandering will allow you to reboot the brain in order to increase the efficiency of creative work for the next period of time.

Multitasking mode at work what is it: pros and cons

Multitasking provides the subject with the following benefits:

helps to significantly increase the number of tasks to be solved;

concentrate on the most important, develops the mental apparatus;

instant decision making, reduces the time of reflection;

search for new discoveries, sensations;

work efficiently and have a decent rest, life will seem happy to you.

But multitasking also has negative consequences:

the subject does the work superficially, fighting for the quantity of work performed, and forgets about the quality ve;

sometimes tragic mistakes are made if a person is not able to quickly concentrate and switch from the first to the second a business;

with improper planning of tasks, fatigue increases;

multitasking reduces the ability to concentrate your attention on a specific task, and impairs memory;

a busy work schedule for a long period provokes the production of systemic stress hormones in the human body. Therefore, your body is tired and exhausted to the limit;

a negative negative is formed about an employee when he is distracted by phone calls, works on a computer or chews candy during a conversation.

Multitasking has its own rules:

take a 60 second break before switching to the second task;

don't be scattered in the business environment, bring the first task to the finish line, then do the second one;

combine similar tasks into blocks, and solve gradually: one after another;

do fewer tasks, but do better;

if one thing needs a break, stop it. Make a note and come back to it when the time is right.;

rest during breaks, on weekends and be sure to set aside 8 hours for sleep.

Scientists experiments, modern polytaskrs

Example. “Nina Petrovna is a super employee. She simultaneously performs many tasks,” says the boss.

So multitasking today equates to increased productivity.

Scientists claim that when performing three or four tasks at the same time, the human brain loses time to switch and dive into a new task. As a result, each task is performed superficially, but not completely, and a lot of effort is expended, and IQ drops..

There are individuals who are able to do a lot of things at one time. Julius Caesar was one of them. He could: listen, write, talk, read.

Currently, such people are called multi-tasking - these are Andrey Parabellum, an information businessman from Russia, and Elon Musk, an entrepreneur from America.

“Intrinsic predisposition develops a person’s ability to perform work in multitasking mode,” the scientist Alain Bludorn defined it.

A story about multitasking, how the brain works

The word multitasking or multitasking was used in the 60s of the 20th century to process computer data. The word Multitasking is translated from English as multitasking. Then these words began to be used in psychology, and now you can often hear them in everyday life.

The computer can multitask for a long time. For example, the Windows system runs a lot of processes and does not lose performance and quality of work.

And Microsoft Excel functions well when the browser opens, then youtube.

But the human brain works differently than a computer.

With multitasking, the density of gray matter, located in the front hemispheres of the brain, and responsible for the processes of cognition, decreases.

Scientists have proven that a person can only handle two things at the same time.

When performing one task, both frontal parts of our brain work together. When there are two problems, then each hemisphere works only on its own task.

But it is enough for a third problem to appear, then the brain displaces the first and places a third in its place.

Working in multitasking mode creates the illusion of carrying out several plans at the same time, there is a switch from one task to another with the help of the executive functions of the brain.

Rejection of bad habits

Multitasking is harmful during work.

Therefore, you should resist:

turn off your smartphone and set up your email storage system;

install a social media blocker networks.

Multitasking - this is a person's labor activity, in which there is a measured planning of tasks for a day, ... a year. Consistent execution with great efficiency and excellent quality.

Society makes more and more new demands. No one is interested in a diligent worker who does one thing at a time. No, he must be able to do both, and at once.

And more and more often we are faced with the concept of multitasking. What is multitasking? Multitasking is the ability to run multiple processes at the same time. This concept applies to programming, production, and human activity. In order not to be scattered, let's leave the technical issues to the relevant specialists and talk about what multitasking is for a person.

Multitasking is increasingly penetrating our lives and becoming an integral part of our activities, recreation, life, and entertainment. Perhaps this happens because we are spinning in a turbulent flow of information and opportunities, and we want to try everything, and we want to be in time for everything. We have become big kids, and kids, as you know, like to start things and quit halfway through.

Therefore, we can simultaneously answer letters in the mail, chat on social networks, listen to music, paint our nails (cut our beard) and argue with our mother (wife, husband) through the wall. Now Julius Caesar has nothing to be proud of, even modern children outdid him - we do everything at once. We are constantly busy with something, but we can’t reach the finish line in any way, we have dozens of started and unfinished business. Doing three projects at once, reading five books at the same time, cooking soup, washing dishes and vacuuming - that's our multitasking.

It is not something to strive for as a useful system of work. On the contrary, it is now a property inherent in almost every person. And we must learn to curb it.

I’ll tell you a secret: researchers argue that multitasking for a person does not mean the simultaneous execution of several tasks, but rather a quick switch from one to another and back. There are very few truly multitasking people.

Why do we love multitasking so much? Yes, we really love it, because the brain likes the feeling of being constantly busy, so we feel more fulfilled and happy. The fact that half of the energy is spent switching from one task to another is not taken into account.

Moreover, when switching between tasks, a large dose of the hormone of happiness is released into our body. That is why we are so attracted by a flashing SMS alert or the desire to nostalgic over the old trash found during cleaning.

But the problem is that at the same time, the brain “injects” cortisol, the stress hormone. And it turns out that when we multitask, we are both happy and stressed.

But does this mean that multitasking has a negative impact on our lives and work? To find out, let's look at all aspects of this phenomenon.

Pros and cons of multitasking

• When multitasking, a person is prone to superficial processing of information, therefore, he does not have a sufficient knowledge base and is poorly aware of the issues being studied.
• The “multi-stationer” subconsciously transfers data from one task to another, therefore making mistakes. With insufficient concentration, attention is scattered.
• Incorrectly built multitasking is tiring - and a tired person works worse.
• As already mentioned, multitasking is fraught with a bunch of started and unfinished business.

• With the right work planning, multitasking really helps to solve several problems at the same time.
• It trains the brain and develops concentration.
• People who are able to work effectively in multitasking conditions are able to quickly respond in force majeure circumstances and delve into the key concepts of the problem with lightning speed. In some situations, this property is much more important than the ability to meticulously study the issue, disassemble it "by the bones" and only then make a decision. Sometimes it may be too late.

Multitasking at work: execution cannot be pardoned?

What do we do with the notorious multitasking - try to get rid of it and learn to do everything in order or somehow systematize so that it does more good than harm? Of course, the second.

By the way, multitasking brings good results in business, management, pedagogy, tourism and other niches where you need to solve a bunch of issues as soon as they come up. The main thing here is to learn how to use it correctly so that it does not work out like in that joke about the Chukchi who harnessed deer to the Lada. In order for multitasking to be a tool and not a ballast, you need to set a few important rules for yourself.

How to effectively multitask?

Multitasking is a complex and capricious feature of our psyche. It is like an unbroken horse. If we do not know how to manage it, it saddles us and exhausts us, squeezes out all the juices.

Do not confuse multitasking with disorganization. Many who consider themselves cool "multitaskers" simply do not know how to organize their own time.

True multitasking is the ability to concentrate on only one thing for a certain time, switching to another at a strictly set moment and completely immersing yourself in a new job.

Develop discipline and concentration - and then multitasking will not turn into a quagmire, irrevocably sucking all the time and strength of its owner.

If you find an error, please highlight a piece of text and click Ctrl+Enter.

Even in childhood, we are told that in order to be in time for everything, we must start tasks on time. But the problem is that we simply forget about them or push them aside due to more important things in our opinion.

The working day of a responsible employee most often consists of:

• Events hard-coded in the calendar

Such events have exact start and end times, such as meetings, negotiations, presentations, training, interviews, etc.

• Routines

These are daily tasks that can run simultaneously and in parallel with each other. Their number is not constant, and the exact start and end time of work on them is unknown. This can be: making decisions on daily tasks, advising subordinates on urgent issues, preparing daily reports, parsing mail, etc.

In the process of work, a responsible employee, faced with the need to organize his working time and the time of his subordinates, most often resorts to the help of calendars and systems related to setting tasks. But in practice, these tools are not always able to give the desired result.

So, calendars help to take into account the time of only those events in which the employee's employment is 100%. However, such a tool does not work when performing daily routine tasks, when the work does not require the full employment of the employee, or when time is allocated in small parts to perform several tasks at once.

Classical automation systems, called "task trackers", allow you to track the target completion dates for tasks. But the employee still needs to keep in mind when he should start performing a particular task. If an employee works in a hard multitasking mode, then the task may not be started, even if the expected start date has passed. There is a so-called student syndrome and the risk of failure to complete tasks on time increases.

Usually, with this mode of operation, there are two main problems in which the above tools cannot help:

• the difficulty of determining the importance of the task at the time of its arrival, and its priority in relation to other tasks;
• an error in determining the percentage of the actual workload of an employee at the time of making a decision to take the task to work.

In search of the optimal solution, the company "First Form" developed a new mechanism for its automated system, which allows avoiding the student syndrome, circumventing the impossibility of working with unstructured time, and objectively assessing the real employment of employees.

His work is based on a combination of two methods: volume-calendar and daily planning.

1. Volumetric-calendar method

In this method, one value indicates the number of working hours (days, minutes) that must be spent on the performance of work in the interval of its duration, i.e. the specified labor hours can be spent at any time, from the beginning of the work to its completion .

2. Daily plan

The method allows you to specify a specific day (date) during which labor hours will be spent. At the same time, several values ​​for different dates can be assigned to one task. The method allows you to enter both planned and actual labor costs.

Both methods can be used at the same time.

Evaluation of labor costs by the volume-calendar method can be performed in two ways:

• the user can get an estimate from the outside; for example, the manager allocates the total number of hours to complete the task;
• the user himself contributes his planned labor costs in any time units; at the same time, it is possible to accept the entered time from your manager or a specialized specialist.

After that, the "First Form" automatically distributes the value of the volume-calendar plan for individual days in the time interval between the start date and the date of the planned completion of the task. Thus, the values ​​of the daily plan are obtained: the number of planned working hours for each day.

The built-in algorithm distributes hours according to the "early-start" rule, when the maximum working hours are at the beginning of the working period. This allows you to immediately get rid of the student syndrome and reduce the risk of delaying the task.

Of course, automation may not know some details and features of the work performed. Therefore, developers, instead of improving and complicating the system, provide the user with the opportunity to correct the plan proposed by the system and manually enter the distribution of hours by day:

Thus, there is a transition from entering the total number of hours for the task to the daily distribution.

Based on the received data, the system builds time sheet employee. In this view, you can see what tasks and in what quantity the performer should be engaged during each of the days so that the entire amount of necessary work is completed on time for each of the tasks.

In this interface, the user can reschedule his own work, ie. transfer planned work hours from one date to another. This allows the employee to provide himself with the most comfortable, even workload, without any damage to the deadlines for completing tasks.

If the daily distribution was performed by any method (automatically or manually, from the form of a separate task or through the time sheet), then in the "First Form" is formed agenda- Agenda.

The agenda tells the employee on what tasks and in what quantity he should allocate his working time. It includes both static tasks from the work calendar and tasks for which time was allocated using the daily scheduling method.

And Agenda and Time sheet do not give a clear distribution of the start and end times of tasks during the working day. But on the other hand, they allow the employee to see the work plan for the day for each of the tasks, and effectively plan their day and week. An employee who uses Agenda every day is spared the risk of not completing the task on time - he just needs to spend his time on the work recommended by the system.

Another important feature of the "First Form" is the use of daily labor costs in preparing reports on the planned workload of performers. The fundamental difference is that these reports take into account the individual characteristics of the implementation of each of the tasks, and how exactly the employee distributed his working time throughout it.

The manager analyzing the work plan of the department can be sure that if there are free hours in the employee's time sheet, then they can be used to complete the newly received task, while all other work will not be affected and will be completed on time.

Additional information on the site of the company "First Form"

affiliate material

“I can’t tear myself apart,” we periodically shout, but in our hearts we are proud that we skillfully handle several things at the same time, like Julius Caesar. However, for the first time the word “multitasking”, or “multitasking”, began to be used in the sixties of the XX century. in the field of data processing. Translation task ("task") speaks for itself. The concept described the ability of a computer to perform several tasks at the same time, but then this term began to be used in psychology. Multitasking translated from English - "multitasking".

Multitasking and computer technology

However, in the field of data processing and in the field of human ability to work, this concept is different. The first implies that multitasking is a mode in which more than one task is being processed, but they are not executed simultaneously, but in turn. The illusion of parallel execution of tasks is created by frequently switching the CPU from one task to another. Task in translation from English, as we have already found out, is "task" or "task".

Multitasking mode

Psychologist Reginald Tapas stated with confidence that multitasking is a feeling of omnipotence. Psychologists compare a person working in multitasking mode with the image of a human-computer who is not afraid of any life obstacles. In today's world, people are already used to reading on the go, texting while driving, playing games, and talking on the phone at the same time, performing many tasks at once. All this, it would seem, is simple and easy, but only because of such “multi-tasking” serious errors in the documentation are made or car accidents occur.

In fact, a person, like a computer, multitasks, switching from one task to another again and again, and does not perform several tasks at the same time.

What does science say?

In truth, the human brain is simply unable to process more than two complex tasks at the same time. This conclusion was made by scientists from the National Institute of Health and Medical Research in Paris. The scientists' experiment was simple enough: the participants performed two tasks at the same time, and the professors observed their brain activity. A functional magnetic resonance tomograph was used for the study. During the experiment, it was found that when performing two tasks at once, the brain activates two frontal lobes for work. Since the minimum program was completed, the next goal was for the participants in the experiment in multitasking - this is the execution of three tasks at the same time. However, the experiment was not successful, the subjects constantly forgot about one of the three tasks and made serious mistakes. As a result, scientists came to the conclusion that a person can switch between two things quickly and clearly, but the brain is no longer able to pull more. This fact is explained quite simply: all because we have only two frontal lobes that can be used in the process of brain activity. But still, who did several things at the same time? The first one that comes to everyone's mind is Julius Caesar.

What can be crowned with constant switching?

The executive functions of the brain are responsible for switching from one task to another. The essence of these functions is to control mental activity. Thanks to this, people determine when, how and in what sequence to carry out the tasks.

Thought control

Multitasking is an executive control function that occurs in two stages:

• Initially, a decision comes to do a specific thing, then the goal changes to another task.
• Next, a new multitasking role is activated - this is the transition from the rules of the previous task to the rules of the new one.

It usually takes a few tenths of a second to switch between targets, but if a person switches often enough, then the brain starts to work more slowly. The switching time is gradually increased.

Naturally, a person may not pay attention to this slow work if, for example, he washes the dishes and watches a movie at the same time. However, things take a very different turn when safety plays an important role. Who does several things at the same time? For example, a driver who is driving and talking on the phone: in critical situations, even a fraction of a second can become decisive and lead to irreparable events.

The Disadvantages of Multitasking

Despite the fact that many businessmen, employers, professors praise the so-called multitasking, this "superpower" has its drawbacks. Due to the fact that in the multitasking mode we simply quickly switch from one task to another, the brain works slower, productivity decreases. This is because we have to re-remember information that relates to the task to which we switch. That is why the brain gets tired much faster than with concentrated and concentrated work on one thing.

Lack of concentration and focus

For those people who get used to working in multitasking mode, focusing on one task becomes a problem. In an ordinary average person, the brain is able to ignore signals that are unnecessary for solving the task at hand and can concentrate purely on one goal. But when the habit of working in multitasking mode is developed and many tasks are performed at once, the brain begins to get confused and does not always understand which information is important for solving the task and which should be ignored.

Multitasking = lack of willpower

When the brain gets used to multitasking, a person's attention is scattered, and decision-making processes, critical and rational thinking slow down. The brain gets tired quickly, and willpower rolls to zero. In this case, due to a decrease in willpower, a person is in decline, in a bad mood. These negative emotions demotivate, as a result, everything grows like a snowball, superimposed on each other, which leads to a decrease in willpower.

How to learn focus and concentration

Such a bad habit as spraying attention can be corrected, you just need to follow the following rules:

• The most important tasks are in the morning. Make it a habit to make a to-do list for the day, for the week in the evening. The most difficult and important tasks should be completed in the morning, during the first hours of the working day. In this case, you don’t have to worry that you won’t be able to do something or let someone down, everything will be under control.
• Get rid of everything that distracts. For example, if you are a big fan of scrolling through the news feed on Facebook or Instagram, then it is better to turn them off while you work. Social networks and funny videos only hinder, but do not help.
• Learn to think strategically so as not to confuse important things with urgent ones. Only with strategic thinking can a person plan for what will allow him to clearly understand which tasks need to be completed immediately and which ones should be left for later. Only by focusing, a person can do much more than if he sprays his attention on several things at the same time.
• Don't forget about rest! Of course, hard work has never harmed anyone, but rest has not been canceled either. Take short breaks and take one day off a week to recharge and work even harder. And of course, the best way to relax is a full eight-hour sleep.

To work more productively, you should minimize the need for multitasking.

How to be productive

To reduce the need to work in multitasking mode and increase your productivity, you should pay attention to the following tips:

• The best way to get started is preparation. Even worse, if we do not finish one thing and immediately start another. If you start a project without the right information and strategy, you may not finish what you started. Therefore, before embarking on a new, previously unexplored task, carefully study what you have to work with and draw up an action plan.
• Do not seek to start new business until the previous ones are closed. This will lead to a lot of confusion and minimal results.
• Without a system of priorities - nowhere. Each employee has a significant role in the overall work and must clearly understand what is required of him. Correctly and daily or weekly highlight the primary task.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with working in multitask mode at some points if necessary. However, it is not worth allowing human multitasking to absorb every area of ​​life. Especially when working on big projects. The trap of multitasking is not yet fully understood.

False multitasking

American psychologists Sanbonmatsu and Strayer came to the conclusion that there is a type of people who are prone to "false multitasking." They are characterized by specific features:

• Such people cannot keep their attention on one thing for a long time.
• They do not tolerate routine, monotonous work.
• They are constantly looking for new sensations and do not stand still.
• Often they act impulsively without thinking, it is also difficult for them to control themselves.

People who are prone to false multitasking are focused on getting rewards or approval quickly. They do not take into account the risks that the job may carry. If in the morning you try to do everything possible and impossible, and by the evening you find that half of the tasks need to be transferred to tomorrow, multitasking is not for you. On the one hand, such work in multitasking mode is tempting, but on the other hand, it brings chaos.

Multitasking is considered an indicator of an employee's productivity, competence, and flexibility. Those who are able to quickly switch from one thing to another, from a report to a meeting and back, are considered the property of the company.

Ability to work in a multitasking environment - one of the requirements for a candidate for many, many employers, which is easily confirmed by job descriptions on headhunter. Unfortunately, the reality of multitasking - not so useful skill.

Every day we find ourselves trying to do several things at the same time. At the same time, multitasking works in a completely different way: we become less productive, but experience more stress.

How multitasking interferes with productivity

Suppose you have three simple tasks to complete: draw 20 circles on paper, chain 20 paper clips, and stack 20 coins.

Arrange a competition with your colleague or friend. One of you will deal with each puzzle in sequence: first circles, then paper clips, and finally coins. The second one should switch between these puzzles: draw 3-4 circles, connect 3-4 paper clips, add 3-4 coins - and back to circles.

The result can be predicted in advance. A person who does not switch between tasks, but completes each before moving on to the next, will cope with the work faster.

Connect paperclips and draw circles - not the most frequent workload (unless you are a kindergarten teacher). Let's consider a situation that we might encounter in everyday life.

Suppose we are making a presentation while simultaneously looking at our VKontakte account or talking on the phone. Most likely, in half an hour we will notice that time has flown somewhere, and only a couple of slides are ready from the entire presentation.

The more devices and social media accounts we have, including professional ones, the more difficult it is for us to focus on working with one of them. All gadgets and applications are designed to require your attention and actions by default. « Answer the call » , « click on the link » , « open the app » , « turn me on » . And do it all at the same time.

If you listen to music while you work, your attention is scattered.

And what will happen over time if we do not become distracted by instant messengers and social networks, but silently make a presentation while listening to music? Scientists have bad news for us again.

If we are exposed to several independent stimuli of different modalities (for example, a presentation that assumes our actions and occupies the visual channel, and music that occupies the auditory channel), our performance drops.

Trying to make a presentation to the music, we are slower to perceive the information that should be displayed on the slide, we make mistakes with the design and more often confuse the numbers. Moreover, the older a person becomes, the worse he copes with two things at the same time. With age, the speed of reaction decreases, and the probability of error increases.

Why is that? Our brain doesn't care if it does multiple things or takes in information from multiple sources. In both cases, the brain needs time to process the signal.

Ophir, Nass, and Wagner have shown that multitasking people who regularly work with multiple media sources and people who do not multitask a lot process information differently.

The first is more difficult to cut off insignificant stimuli and not respond to them. They are less likely to ignore irrelevant information. "Multi-tasking" people are easier to get into side tasks that are not important for achieving the main goal than "single-tasking" people.

How the brain works when multitasking

The mechanisms of short-term memory are simple and not « sharpened » under multitasking. Trying to arrange the tasks in a certain order (I call while I call, finish the letter, after which I talk), we disconnect from the environment. We have to split the focus of attention into several parts. But that's the problem, that the focus of attention is not split.

It doesn't matter what metaphors the proponents of multitasking use. The human brain does not work like a computer.

The computer is specifically designed for multitasking. For example, the Windows operating system can run multiple processes and programs at the same time without losing any quality or performance.

Microsoft Excel will not start making errors because the browser is open, and in it - clip from youtube. But the human brain begins to switch between these two tasks, wasting time both switching and diving into a new question.

Our brains can only focus on one thing at a time. When it comes to short tasks, routine, well-known actions - multitasking works because we don't have to split our attention.

If you have enough experience, you can peel potatoes while watching a well-known series. Problems begin when at least one of the tasks is important. For example, if you communicate with a client or analyze data while simultaneously communicating with colleagues in a corporate messenger.

Multitasking scatters attention and interferes with concentration.

Pros and cons of multitasking

multitasking - a very stressful way to live your life and build a career. People who practice multitasking actually switch from one thing to another faster, but they do less.

This claim has evidence. Article in « Journal of Experimental Psychology » reports that students solved a math problem 40% slower if they were asked to switch to other problems in the process.

American researchers found that people who constantly switched from one task to another made 1.5 times more mistakes than participants in experiments who were able to focus on one task for a long time.

Consequences of multitasking

cognitive overload

When we multitask, we have to put in more mental effort to process all the incoming information. When there is a lot of incoming information, it takes more time to process.

Misjudgment of performance

People who consider themselves multitasking often consciously create such conditions for themselves to work. But they cannot objectively assess their effectiveness.

Teenagers and children are less likely to cope with cognitive overload, so they should avoid multitasking. Even if we believe that by nature they are better suited for this.

Decrease in work efficiency

Most of the tasks that come to us in a short period of time - distraction factor. Essentially, multitasking is a trained distraction, not a help.

As psychologists Finley, Benjamin, and McCarley have shown in their study, people are not able to adequately assess how much productivity will drop when multitasking.

Problems with concentration and attention

In an effort to meet the requirements of vacancies, people try to develop multitasking in themselves, even if they were not naturally inclined to it. Unfortunately, multitasking develops at the expense of other working qualities.

Kol Newport, author of a book on how to focus on working in a distracting environment, says that multitasking reduces our ability to concentrate. At the same time, the ability to concentrate is one of the most important skills for performing complex work.

Loss of joy at work

Neuroscientists Loh and Kanai found that people who practice media multitasking have lower gray matter density in the anterior cingulate cortex.

The anterior cingulate cortex is involved in the mechanisms of motivation and reward, and is active when we need to make mental effort or focus. The lower the density of gray matter in the anterior cingulate cortex - the less joy from work that requires concentration and mental effort.

Life risk

If you're in a meeting remotely and driving, you won't be able to focus on the road. This increases the likelihood of an accident.
Several studies have shown that if a driver uses a phone on the road, the risk of car accidents increases several times.

Why do we keep doing several things at the same time

People who practice multitasking take almost one and a half times longer to complete a task. Why, then « multitaskers » continue to practice it?

Multitasking looks great

If you watch a person practicing multitasking, it will seem that he has everything under control at the same time. In addition, multitasking helps to create the image of a busy and sought-after person.

Society is convinced that multitasking - norm

Messages from television, radio, magazines, friends, books, articles sound like this: « You can handle it » . In fact, more than 90% of people are not physiologically adapted to concentrate on more than one task for a long time.

Doing one thing for several hours is boring

Multitasking mode - a way to give yourself a shake-up, in which it is certainly not boring.

The irrational belief that multitasking helps you get more done

When a person grabs several things at once, it seems that he has more time. It's easy to fall into the mental trap: « I have to do a lot. I should double or triple my efforts » . But this conviction does not help, but exhausts.

How to stop multitasking

If you recognize the problem and want to solve it, here are five steps you can take to get rid of multitasking without sacrificing efficiency.
Realize that multitasking - it's a choice we can change.

Prioritize

In multitasking mode, primary issues can fade into the background, as employees are constantly busy - they react to any incoming signal, constantly being distracted from a more important and valuable business.

Determine which tasks can't be postponed or delegated, and don't waste time and energy multitasking. Put a notification « do not disturb » to your messengers and get down to business without being distracted by notifications and questions.

Plan your day and week

Planning helps:

• Motivate yourself to achieve goals;
• Reduce stress levels (due to predictability);
• Get rid of the need to store all tasks in short-term memory.

Set aside 5-10 minutes at the beginning and end of the day to make a plan for the next day and determine what you need to do.

Use planning assistants. Trello boards or the Todoist app help you schedule tasks for the day or week.

Analyze your actions

Ask yourself questions regularly:

• Is what I'm doing good for my career and the company?
• Am I distributing the load correctly throughout the day?
• What changes or tools will help me become more productive, while also offloading me?

Learn to focus

Practice meditation and work with applications. The ability to focus is a skill that keeps us from multitasking and stress.

What if I can't stop multitasking

How do you handle a lot of tasks without feeling the stress of not being able to complete any of them? Correct answer - the fewer tasks you do at the same time, the better.

But what if we are constantly distracted? You are trying to write a letter to a client, but you get a call. And you can no longer fully concentrate, because the phone rings very annoyingly, and you have to answer. To cope with such a situation, a method called « mental completion » .

How the technique works « mental completion »

You are working - writing an article or a work letter. The phone rings and you need to answer. Mentally say to yourself: « I understand that my work is now at such and such a stage and completed by so much » . Save the file or letter and pick up the phone.

While you are talking with the interlocutor, do not return to the previous work. Concentrate fully on the conversation. Try to successfully conduct this conversation: take notes, ask the interlocutor clarifying questions.

As soon as you end the conversation, hang up and realize that the call is over. You have completed this task. Return to the previous task as soon as possible without switching to something completely different.

It is important to give yourself time to mentally complete all tasks and even thoughts. This will increase your energy, concentration level and orderliness.

And yet, real professionals learn not to take on several tasks at the same time. Follow their advice: slow down, immerse yourself in the work, start and finish it. In the long run, you will appreciate how useful this skill is. You will be able to complete your tasks faster and better.

Be healthy and efficient!