Unravelling The Myths of Multitasking and Time Management – Part 1
There has been a fair amount of discussion – if not debate – over a recent study by Stanford University researchers examining the effectiveness of multitasking. Essentially, the study found that the more people tried to perform multiple tasks simultaneously, the worse they did performing any of those tasks. While some dyed-in-the-wool multitaskers have understandably wanted to challenge these findings, it’s hard to ignore the scientific evidence, if not our own real-world experiences.
As the lead researcher of the Stanford study points out, psychologists have already demonstrated that it’s physically impossible for humans to multitask. On the surface, this makes sense since, unlike computers, we have only one processor – our brain. Of course, there’s something more tangible that we can all relate to that further establishes this fact.
As children, we are taught a diverse range of subjects and methodologies as we go through the education system. On any given day, we’d learn about science, history, mathematics, how to play a particular sport, and improve our linguistic skills. Of course, we were never expected to absorb all this information simultaneously. Instead, we were taught to focus on one subject and complete the required task before tackling another one. In other words, at a point in our lives when our brains are most capable of absorbing information from multiple and diverse streams, we completed tasks most effectively when we focused on performing them one at a time.
So why do we feel this need to multitask if our own experiences have taught us to do otherwise? One reason has to do with the exponential growth in information technology. Thanks to the almost ubiquitous access to emails and texting messages, as well as the real-time updates provided on social networking sites, we’re now juggling massive streams of information and content in order to keep up to date with what’s going on in our fields of interest. Obviously, this challenges not only our abilities to navigate these streams, but also our capacity to properly filter and process this information, something the Stanford study demonstrated in its findings.
The second reason for this drive to multitask is the misguided notion that it is an effective means for time management. This idea is based on the notion that the more tasks we attempt to perform in a given time period, the more efficient we are in how we use our time. As I’ll discuss in the second part of this piece, time management is another concept we promote and try to employ which, like multitasking, is not as beneficial or realistic as we may think.
Some other posts you may enjoy:
- Unravelling The Myths of Multitasking and Time Management – Part 2
- Unravelling The Myths of Multitasking and Time Management – Part 3
- BSG “No Exit” – Time To Accept What We Are
- BSG “Daybreak, Part 2” – My Final BSG Review, Part 2
- 4 Questions To Help Your Team Keep Their Focus
- BSG “Daybreak, Part 2” – My Final BSG Review, Part 1
Love this post Tanveer. Not that we have the corner on the market or anything, but often women – especially wives and mothers who are running a business – are expected to multitask. In fact, at times, we wear our ability to excel at it like a badge of honor. Sad really because then everything and everyONE we love only gets a sliver of our focus and attention.
Can't wait to read Part II!
[...]Twitter Trackbacks on Topsy.com – Unravelling The Myths of Multitasking and Time Management – Part 1 | TanveerNaseer.com http://www.tanveernaseer.com/unravelling-myths-multitasking-time-management-part-1 – There has been a fair amount of discussion – if not debate – over a recent study by Stanford University researchers examining the effectiveness of — From the page [...]
Hi Sarah,
I agree with you that women probably do make up a slightly larger portion of the population who feel compelled to multitask as they try to juggle the responsibilities of both work and family obligations. Wearing this approach like a badge of honour is something I think many of us have done at one point or another. Hopefully as more people start shining a light on this, we’ll start to realize that we’re really only cheating ourselves from reaching our goals and really accomplishing something.
Thanks again for sharing your thoughts, Sarah. I look forward to hearing what you think of the next part.
RT <a rel="nofollow" href="http://twitter.com/TanveerNaseer">@TanveerNaseer Unravelling The Myths of Multitasking and Time Management – Part 1 http://tinyurl.com/ll6v39
Unravelling The Myths of Multitasking and Time Management – Part 1 … http://bit.ly/nNPIK
Thank you, Jackie, for the kind compliment.
You're right that even companies risk their efficiencies by encouraging multitasking as part of their corporate culture. It's a sad irony that 30-odd years ago, computer technology was heralded as being a means to liberate people's time, that thanks to computers, we would have more free time as computers take some of the workload off our shoulders.
I bet if someone were to research some of the comments made when computers were being brought into the work environment, someone might have claimed that this would bring about the 4 day week. Of course, it's still doable now. Perhaps this "Four-Day Week Challenge" is a good place to seek inspiration on how to start.
Thanks again, Jackie, for the kind words and your thoughts on this discussion.
Awesome post as usual Tanveer. Not only is multi-tasking not efficient for individuals but it is also not productive for companies to build this into their culture. From my years of working in the Web industry, one major problem I experienced was that the development team members had to multitask and juggle several projects at the same time: increasing the risks of technical mistakes and causing artificial anxiety and stress.
At the end of the day, multi-tasking does not save time because in many cases you have do redo what you did. Unless you are okay with mediocrity or simply careless. And even if you did save some hours, is it worth the mental stress?
As a recovering multi-tasker, I have started a simple challenge which I hope will become a habit soon: work only 4-hours a day [give and take]
)
The Four-Day Week Challenge
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/fourdayweek
Try it and tell me how it goes.
Hi, thanks for this post. I agree about the feeling of being obligated to multitask and the problems this can pose, but have my own take on this; it's ok to multitask if you choose the right tasks.
I made some comments about this here if you're interested; http://timetosavetime.com/2011/06/the-myth-of-mul…
Hi Chris,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this piece. The truth at the end of the day is that there have been innumerable studies that have proven that multi-tasking is far from being effective or efficient. Sure, for certain menial tasks, it’s perhaps easy to do a few at the same time. But most people tend to attempt to multi-task while doing more complex tasks. Based on current research, a more productive approach is to simply work on a given task in short bursts of high focus, followed by a break to go off and do something else. That would be a more effective way to get things done.