Multitasking to manage ?
We live in a VUCA world which brings with it considerable complexity and uncertainty. To manage the ever-increasing responsibilities, we perform Multi-tasking. However, many do not know that it is not as useful as it seems to be. Apart from findings from leading psychology researches, I have several experiences that testify. It can be quite detrimental to our overall productivity and performance. Multi-tasking can take a toll on our nerves and processing. Yet why is this ability so prized? Read further to find out.
Multi-Tasking gives us a feeling that we can do many different things at one time thinking doing them things brings greater productivity. It also makes us take additional responsibility which anyways lined up to accomplish more. However, this is a big myth. You see, by evolutionary design, our brains have not the exceptional ability to do so. We are far more efficient and productive at doing one thing at a time and get better at it with practice.
What happens when we multitask is that we switch focus very quickly from one task to another. We become habituated to being distracted to such an extent that it can develop low attention spans and cause difficulty in managing our mind. If you can perform multi-tasking with ease that's well and good, but do consider before continuing this practice for long.
It does not save time by completing the tasks sooner or reduce stress as popularly thought. On the contrary, the same activity will now take a long time without due justice given because there is only a limited capacity of our attention that we can spare at any given moment. Neglecting this creates stress, confusion and increases the chance of committing a mistake. It also leads over time to decrease in the short term memory. Just imagine needing to go through different things at a high rate for extended periods.
Social media distractions have given the world today a phenomenal amount of difficulty. The push-button notifications on smartphones can trigger the same stress response as our ancestors would undergo on seeing a tiger. Our thoughts become racy and remain in continual anticipation.
We may not be able to avoid performing multiple activities simultaneously altogether, yet we can start to remove the unnecessary habits we have picked along. A dreaded example to be certainly avoided is texting or calling while driving from the traffic laws and safety standpoint. We can very well change the habits by practicing mindfulness, focus on single tasks at hand, giving them due time and attention, and taking repeated breaks in between them to sustain our mental efficacy. This practice will eventually lead us to complete our tasks much more efficiently and accomplish more.
Some useful hacks I am learning to use are as follows:
- Segregate tasks using the Urgency - Importance Matrix in color code (This requires some thought and is tedious for daily use. Else you can sort them in the order of importance)
- Make a list of all the essential or significant work activities for the day, a comprehensive but limited list (if the list is too long it again can create undesirable ways to manage them
- Schedule the same in advance in priority order with some room for urgent calls/ actions
- And as each activity gets completed, physically record it. If any new things pop-up, record them, either using pen and paper or on any other convenient place. (Don't trust your memory for the same no matter how good it may be)
- Keep things needed well organized and well within your reach. (Doing so avoids any unnecessary wastage of time and energy in searching for what you would need)
- Keep things as simple as possible at the same time leave some time for rest, recreation and relaxation during the day
- Do not undertake many different responsibilities ( Don't get me wrong, although taking responsibilities is generally thought to be an appreciable quality, what I am suggesting here is the tendency to take in more responsibilities which do not go well together)
I think that the above things would help you manage your work more effectively which was hitherto unknown to me like many and caused quite trouble. Over time our concentration, productivity, creativity, ability to handle emotions intelligently and performance see a downfall when we do many different things simultaneously. Time management skill is a crucial skill. It is overlooked and often absent from any academic or technical program. Following the above simple practices, you can effectively manage your various responsibilities through the day in an effective manner.
Feel free to share your thoughts about the above topic in the comments below. Also if you found this article useful, do like it and share it.
References:
Minds and Brains of media multitaskers