At some point, we’ve all told ourselves that we’re capable of multi-tasking: of course I can write my essay and watch The Mindy Project at the same time! However, dividing your attention between multiple things means that each task receives less of your brainpower, often takes longer to complete, and is of lower quality than if you were to focus fully on one thing at a time. These factors ultimately make work done by multitasking less productive, and we often have to come back and revise or redo the work we’ve already done. As students, adding these extra steps takes away valuable time, and we could all benefit from a little more focus.
A 2012 research study found that multitasking significantly lowered performance as compared to sequential execution, or finishing one task before switching to the next. The report outlined some of the “costs of switching,” which included recalling the rules, details, and steps executed so far, and stated that these costs outweighed any potential benefit of coming at a task with a fresh eye.
A common justification for multitasking is that it prevents us from exhausting ourselves on one task and enables us to switch our focus. This study actually found that planning when to switch tasks took attention away from the task at hand, and had a negative impact on the subject’s productivity.
However, the researchers did acknowledge that multitasking may make work more stimulating, which could have positive effects for productivity.
It is often difficult to build productive momentum when we are interrupted; this is why it is often more difficult to work in a variable, distracting environment. Each time our attention is diverted from the task at hand by an external distraction, coming back to the task involves the same costs of switching that were found in the research study. You have to refocus on what you were doing, what point you were at, and try to pick up your train of thought where it left off before the distraction. A cell phone is a prime example of this interruption; each time your screen lights up, whether you answer it or not, your attention has been drawn away from what you were doing. It can be helpful to turn off any sound or vibrate alerts, and even to turn your phone over so that you’re not distracted by the screen lighting up.
It can also be helpful to make a to-do list and prioritize tasks. This may seem obvious, but it helps to reduce the mental task list running in your head while you’re trying to focus. Prioritizing the items on your list also helps to ensure that the most important things get done first, and are not forgotten about. It is also more difficult to get distracted when you know that your current task is the most important thing you could be doing at that moment.
As always, these strategies work in tandem with other contributing factors such as sleep, blood sugar levels, and overall well-being to set the stage for productivity.