How Not to be a Tiger's Lunch

I see it every day.  And I've fallen prey to it myself. 

DIN syndrome.  Do It Now syndrome.  And it creates quite a din in the human brain.  Go ahead, tell me your brain is different.  You can multitask effectively because that's who you are.  I call BS.  You are deluding yourself. 

As technology allows us to do more things at once than we ever could, the myth of multitasking grows too.  And there's neuroscientific research to prove multitasking is as much of a myth as the tooth fairy. 

Repeat after me:

I don't multitask.  I switch my focus on many tasks frequently. 

When you think you are multitasking, you are not.  You are actually switching among tasks at warp speed.  It's something we humans do well.  Our brains are good at executive functioning - that is the ability to make plans and decisions to get stuff done.  

However, too much simultaneous getting stuff done (multitasking) increases cortisol production.  Cortisol is  known as the stress hormone.  Cortisol is not bad.  It helps us get our butts out of bed in the morning.  Back in caveman days, it helped us escape being hunted.  But too much -  the way you're producing cortisol when you're deluding yourself that you can multitask all day - results in fatigue and messes with your immune system and blood sugar.  And that's just for starters.  It does a bunch of other funky things to your body, but you probably don't have time to read a science lesson, so take my word for it.   

Do you want to be a tiger's lunch? 

All that multitasking day in and day out greatly increases your chances of making errors.  Your brain just isn't hardwired to do make fast switches ALL the time.  Increased cortisol, increased miscalculation - is that what you want? 

Our ancestors didn't want to be a tiger's lunch.  They needed to be able to switch tasks and run.  But if they had been obsessively checking their iPhones, driving their fancy cars, and slugging down their gluten-free, organic smoothies they might have missed the signal that a tiger was stalking them and they may have made the deadly error of not running away in time.  Whether you're an entrepreneur or a caveman, that would be bad.   As entrepreneurs, aren't we are always dodging "tigers"?  I know I am.  

You can cure DIN syndrome.  Learn to balance your attempts at multitasking with mindful, purposeful single-tasking. 

Slow down. Don't let the tigers find you with your brain not working its best. 

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Ann Zuccardy is a two-time TEDx presenter and keynote speaker who challenges conventional ideas about what makes us smart.  A brain injury survivor, she uses her TBI story and neurological research she discovered during her recovery as a platform to train others to think about how they think - resulting in improved innovation, creativity, and productivity. 

Watch Ann's first TEDx talk - How a Brain Injury Made Me Smarter.

Book Ann to speak at your next event:  [email protected]

Follow Ann on Twitter:  @annzuccardy