fresh ideas

The Multitasking Mirage

More Is Not Always Better
By Scott Blades

Are you doing more than one thing right now — maybe while attempting to pay attention during a meeting — your
performance on both tasks will suffer.
reading this article while also checking your email, texting
a colleague, surfing the web on your phone, working on a In a 2001 issue of Journal of Experimental Psychology,
report or playing a computer game? Do you feel like you’re researchers David E. Meyer, Jeffrey E. Evans and Joshua
more productive when you’re working on two or more Rubinstein published an account of what happens in
assignments at the same time? Is simultaneously juggling your brain when you try to engage in two cognitive tasks
multiple tasks a necessary evil in our fast-paced, modern at once. Your cerebral cortex manages what are called
workplaces where our responsibilities are numerous and our “executive controls.” These controls organize the way your
connection to technology is constant? brain processes tasks. There are two stages. Stage one is
called goal shifting. This is what happens when you shift
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you’re
your focus from one activity to another. The second stage is
probably a multitasker. You may even think of your ability
rule activation. When your brain shifts to the new activity,
to multitask as a key strength or a special talent. But
it has to deactivate the rules of the previous activity and
before you congratulate yourself for your amazing ability
then turn on the rules for the new task.
to multitask and get things done, be warned. There is a
growing body of research that shows that multitasking Therefore, the researchers found, when you engage in
actually decreases productivity, impairs your cognitive multitasking, you’re not actually thinking about both tasks
ability, increases your stress and diminishes your creativity. at the same time. Instead, you’re engaging in “switch-
tasking.” You’re switching back and forth between two
Multitasking Defined
activities and forcing your brain to shift focus repeatedly
Focusing on more than one assignment at a time,
and turn rules on and off in a rapid-fire fashion. Constantly
repeatedly switching back and forth between two or more
having to focus and re-focus ultimately drains your time
activities, or performing a number of unrelated tasks in
and energy, which impacts your overall performance.
rapid succession can all be considered multitasking. The
problem is that our minds are not wired for this type of Put Your Brain to the Test
overload. Here’s an interesting experiment to try. Grab a stopwatch
and open Microsoft Word. Start the timer and then
The performance of the human brain breaks down when
type your first and last name. Beneath your name, type a
it attempts to engage in two tasks that require conscious
number for each letter in your name (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.) Stop
thought at the same time. Granted, there are some
the timer and record your time. In my case, this means I
things you can do simultaneously without a difference in
would type “Scott Blades” on the first line, and then type
performance. You can walk and chew gum at the same
“1234567891011” beneath it. My time for this activity?
time. You can fold laundry and sing along to your favorite
Nine seconds.
songs on the radio. You can do chores around the house
while carrying on a conversation. Now, rather than type your name first and the numbers
second, try to do both at the same time. On the first line,
The reason we can pair these types of activities is because
type the first letter of your name. Then type 1 on the
one or both don’t require much thinking. Walking, eating
second line. Next, type the second letter of your name on
and cleaning are examples of motor skills you have learned
the first line and 2 beneath it, and so forth. When I tried
to put on autopilot. However, if you pair two activities that
doing both of these simple cognitive tasks simultaneously,
require conscious thought — like responding to emails

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it took me 51 seconds! That’s more than five times longer In other words, the cell phone talkers were technically
than when I did the tasks separately and back to back. looking at their surroundings, but their brains weren’t
processing the information around them.
What the Research Tells Us
The literature on multitasking is loaded with case studies And a study from the University of London suggests
and startling statistics demonstrating how this type of that multitasking affects your brain much like smoking
workstyle makes you less effective. According to the marijuana or going without sleep for a night. Participants
research, decreased productivity, impaired cognitive ability, who multitasked during cognitive tasks dropped as many as
increased stress and diminished creativity are all side 15 IQ points and fell to the average range of an 8-year-old
effects of multitasking. child.

Decreased Productivity Increased Stress

The 2001 study mentioned above found that productivity Multitasking has also been tied to higher stress levels.
can decrease by as much as 40 percent when individuals Gloria Mark and Stephen Voida of the University of
repeatedly switch tasks. The study subjects lost significant California measured the heart rates of employees with
amounts of time as they switched between multiple and without continuous access to work-related email. They
activities, and lost even more time as the tasks became found that employees who were constantly connected
increasingly complex. to email stayed in a perpetual “high alert” mode and
experienced higher heart rates. Those without the constant
Impaired Cognitive Ability
stream of emails did less multitasking and were less
In his 2008 book Brain Rules, John Medina reports that
stressed as a result.
multitaskers not only take 50 percent longer to accomplish
a single task, but they also make up to 50 percent more Diminished Creativity
errors. In a 2009 study, Stanford researcher Clifford Nass According to a 2010 study from the University of Chicago,
challenged 262 college students to complete experiments multitasking requires a lot of “working memory,” or
that involved switching among tasks, filtering irrelevant temporary brain storage. If our brains are on overload,
information and using working memory. Nass and his we diminish our capacity to daydream and generate
colleagues were convinced that the frequent multitaskers imaginative ideas. This in turn degrades our performance
would outperform their non-multitasking peers in at least as creative problem solvers.
some of the categories.
Five Ways to Avoid Multitasking
Much to their surprise, they found the opposite. Chronic As modern-day professionals, we can easily fall into the
multitaskers were dreadful at all three activities. Nass and trap of a multitasking work style. We have numerous
his team discovered that people who frequently multitask responsibilities. Our calendars are packed. The phone
— and perceive this as a strength — were actually worse calls keep coming and emails flow into our inboxes in a
at multitasking than those who like to do one thing at a steady stream. In this type of environment, where making
time. Their inferior performance was because they had progress on several fronts is a reality, steering clear of
more trouble organizing their thinking and filtering out multitasking requires us to implement deliberate systems
irrelevant information. They were also slower at switching and habits to increase our productivity and effectiveness.
from one task to another. Here are a few strategies for avoiding multitasking:

According to a 2009 study from Western Washington Set Clear Priorities

University, people who are busy doing two things at once A guaranteed way to become overwhelmed and ineffective
often don’t even see noticeable things right in front of is to take on too much work and view all of your tasks as
them. In this case, the researchers asked a clown to ride equal priorities. Work with your supervisor or a trusted
around on a unicycle in a campus square. Seventy-five colleague to help you determine what needs your focus
percent of college students who walked across this square now, what can wait and what you can release altogether.
while talking on their cell phones did not even notice the Do you have any activities that drain your time and energy
clown. The researchers call this “inattentional blindness.” and offer little return on your investment? What are some

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obligations that you could set free without any long- Entering this type of temporary lockdown state will allow
term, negative consequences? By responsibly reducing the you to get laser-beam focused on a single task and make
number of things you need to do in a day, you can decrease significant headway. If you can’t go the whole day without
your need to multitask and, as a result, accomplish more. checking your email and phone messages, consider doing
Stephen Covey refers to this type of prioritizing as learning these activities in two to four batches throughout the day.
to say “no” in order to protect the time you’ll need for your As discussed in the previous section, chunking these types
bigger burning “yes.” of tasks is a more effective way to work.

Chunk Your Time Minimize Distractions in Your Workspace

Rather than constantly switching back and forth between Does your email client issue sound alerts when you receive
multiple activities every few seconds or every other minute, messages? You might consider muting your computer to
set aside chunks of time to focus on a specific task or a avoid these distractions. Another strategy is to customize
your sound alerts for leadership
and key customers who might
According to the research, decreased demand a more immediate
productivity, impaired cognitive ability, response. Does your email client
tempt you to click on every
increased stress and diminished message by displaying a popup
window on your screen? This
creativity are all side effects of feature can be disabled so you’re
multitasking.. not distracted by a constant
stream of emails (many of which
you probably don’t need to read
right away anyway).
group of related tasks. Clifford Nass suggests following a
Does your smartphone have a bunch of chirps, chimes
20-minute rule at minimum. An example of this would be
and ringtones for every notification you receive from your
to set aside 20 minutes to pay all of your bills at once rather
apps? Research shows that the average person checks his
than pay each one separately as you receive it. Or maybe
or her phone 150 times a day. Unless you need to rely
you set aside an hour to work on that report you need to
on your smartphone to do your job, you should consider
present at next week’s meeting.
minimizing or disabling the distracting notifications you
Focusing on a task for 20 minutes at a time or longer will receive or keeping your phone on mute.
allow you to get into the zone of whatever you’re doing
Watch That Open-Door Policy
and make progress. Focused effort during chunks of
To maintain professional relationships, it’s important to be
time also eliminates the extra energy it takes to shuffle
available to others. Having an open-door policy is a great
back and forth between too many things. Consider your
way to establish that you’re approachable and collaborative.
responsibilities and identify the types of things you can
But be careful what that open door communicates. Are
“batch process.” Block off these chunks of time on your
you really 100 percent available to everyone all of the time?
calendar and hold yourself accountable for getting focused
A poorly managed open-door policy can lead to constant
and getting finished.
interruptions and pull you into a switch-tasking mode.
Enter a Lockdown State Business research suggests that the average interruption
When necessary, give yourself permission to focus on a takes anywhere from two to 15 minutes of recovery
single task for a more extended period of time, like a full time, meaning this is about how long it takes you to
morning, an afternoon or even most of a day. Be sure to reorient yourself to what you were working on before the
have your bases covered before doing this. For example, interruption.
you may need to discuss your strategy with your supervisor
If you need to avoid any interruptions for a stretch, shoot
and colleagues to work out phone and email coverage.
an email to your team or put up a friendly “do not disturb”

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sign on your office door or cubicle entryway. Scheduling Bradberry, T. (2014). “Multitasking Damages Your Brain And
regular check-ins with your supervisor, direct reports and Career, New Studies Suggest.” Forbes. Retrieved from http://
key customers is also a great way to prevent interruptions. www.forbes.com/sites/travisbradberry/2014/10/08/multitasking-
By having regular meetings on your calendar, your damages-your-brain-and-career-new-studies- suggest/
colleagues will be more likely to hold off on engaging you
Cherry, K. Multitasking: The Cognitive Costs of
until your scheduled time together. They’ll have less of a
Multitasking. Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/od/
need to interrupt you throughout the week and instead
cognitivepsychology/a/costs-of-multitasking.htm
bring a list of questions or agenda items to your meeting.
Covey, S. (1989). The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Free
Multitasking Is a Myth
Press.
The next time you find yourself multitasking, remember
what the research shows: Egan, T. & Lahl, S. (2014). “Distracted and Overwhelmed
Employees Are Costing You Big. Try These 3 Fixes.”
• You’re slowing yourself down.
Entreprenuer. Retrieved from http://www.entrepreneur.com/
• You’re hurting your brain in a way that is similar article/235968
to smoking marijuana or going without sleep for a
Gorlick, A. (August 24, 2009). Media Multitaskers Pay
night.
Mental Price, Stanford Study Shows. Retrieved from http://
• You’re more likely to make errors. news.stanford.edu/news/2009/august24/multitask-research-
study-082409.html
• You’re stressing yourself out.
Lapowsky, I. (April 17, 2013). “Don’t Multitask: Your Brain
• You’re diminishing your chances of coming up with
Will Thank You.” Time. Retrieved from http://business.time.
creative ideas.
com/2013/04/17/dont-multitask-your-brain-will-thank-you/
Multitasking is a myth — a mirage of productivity in the
Medina, J. (2008). Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and
modern-day workplace. There is a better way to work. By
Thriving at Work, Home and School. Pear Press.
setting priorities, chunking your time, engaging in focused
work sessions, avoiding distractions and minimizing MacMillan, A. (June 18, 2013). 12 Reasons to Stop
interruptions, you can elevate your performance and put Multitasking Now! Retrieved from http://www.foxnews.com/
yourself on the path to greater productivity. health/2013/06/18/12-reasons-to-stop-multitasking-now/
Scott Blades is assistant director of training and Scott, E. (September 26, 2016). Single-Tasking for Productivity
organizational development at University of Florida. He can be
reached at [email protected]. and Stress Management. Retrieved from http://stress.about.com/
od/managetimeorganize/fl/Single-Tasking-For-Productivity-
and-Stress-Management.htm
References: Tains, Laurence Roy. “Focus, Dammit!” Men’s Health. May 2003:
Adams, C. Can People Really Multitask? Retrieved from http:// 118.
ergonomics.about.com/od/ergonomicbasics/f/can_people_
multitask.htm

Read more about how multitasking and workplace distractions can negatively
impact your work, your focus and your productivity in the feature article
“Defending Your Galaxy Against the Supervillains of Distraction” on pp. 18-22

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