We often think that combining tasks will save us time, but scientific evidence shows that it has the opposite effect. Our brains can take in millions of bits of information but can only actually process a few dozen per second.

 

When we are multitasking, we switch back and forth between tasks very quickly. We end up spending all our energy attending between tasks, instead of focusing on doing one of them well.

 Eventually, we lose concentration on a single task. This is perhaps one of the greatest obstacles we face today, with so much technology and distractions. 

We are listening to the audio on Spotify while writing an e-mail when suddenly a chat prompt pops up on WhatsApp & we answer it. Then another notification pops up on Instagram just as soon as we respond to our chat, and we are back at our laptops logging on to Facebook. 

Pretty soon 30 minutes passed & we forgot what the e-mail we were writing was supposed to be about. 

Here are some actual practical reasons why you should stop multitasking;

1.   LESS PRODUCTIVE

 Research conducted at Stanford University found that multitasking is less productive than doing a single thing at a time. 

2.   MORE MISTAKES

Research also shows that in addition to slowing you down, multitasking lowers your IQ. Multitasking may lead you to make more mistakes also. When doing several things at once, your mind is divided between them so it’s only natural that your mistakes will multiply. And according to Stanford research, multitaskers are terrible at filtering out irrelevant information.

3.   LOSING MEMORy

It affects your memory also. In 2011, the University of California, San Francisco published a research study showing how quickly shifting from one task to another impacts short-term memory.  

4.   ANXIETY

A major downside of multitasking is the feeling of anxiety which troubles people who consistently divide their attention.

5.   CREATIVITY IS INHIBITED

Devoting your attention to too many tasks at once you will never have working memory left to come up with ideas & concepts that are truly creative.

According to research, to focus on a task, we need:

·      To be in a distraction-free environment.

·      To have control over what we are doing at every moment.

It has been scientifically shown that if we continually ask our brains to switch back & forth between tasks, we waste time, make more mistakes & couldn’t remember what we have done. 

To increase productivity & decrease stress, here are some ideas to deal with it:

i)  Don’t look at any kind of screen for the first hour you are awake & the last hour before you go to sleep.

ii)   Enable the “Do not disturb” function on your mobile phone before you start doing any important work. 

iii) Designate one day of a week, a day of “technology-fasting.”

iv) Go to a café which does not have Wi-Fi and plan to go with your friends.

v)   Most importantly chose to do work which makes you happy and in which you can achieve your flow without getting distracted.

vi) Find a workspace in which you don’t get distracted. If you can’t do this at home, go to the library or a café. Keep looking until you find the right place.

“Do what you love, Love what you do.”

 The main idea is to concentrate on one thing which you feel happy doing it. So that you can give it your best. 

So, Be free, be happy, and be independent in your thoughts. Take the gear of your life into your own hands. Feel good. Do give your feedback. What do you think? Share your views in the comments.