Multitasking..Yes or No?

Multitasking is not "doing more than one thing at a time; it is actually switching back and forth between tasks. When you do this, you are not really concentrating fully on the task at hand./ The completion of your task will be compromised because you can easily miss something in the crossover from one task to another. You have to stop and start so you are wasting time in the process.

• Research has proven that multitasking reduces productivity. In an issue of Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, published by the American Psychological Association, the authors determined that for all types of tasks, subjects lost time when they had to switch from one task to another. The time loss was even greater when the complexity and unfamiliarity of the task increased. The best idea is to stop multitasking and start focusing. How do you do that?
• Organize your workspace so everything is close at hand but not right in front of you. Create zones for your work.
• Have a to-do list that is prioritized and a NOT to-do list for today. Plan everything out in time frames and your calendar and keep track with a timer. This will allow you to focus on what is important.
• Chunk your email and social media times into batches of 3 or 4 times a day and turn off your reminders and inbox. This will prevent you from being distracted.
• Depend on regular routines and search for old tasks as a comparison. Familiar activities become automatic, leaving space for new ideas.
• Learn how to concentrate. Breathe and take regular breaks.
• Have paper and pencil or your set up a computer document on your desktop to capture ideas as they occur. You can plan time to act on them later. Get those recurring thoughts out of your brain immediately so you can concentrate on what you are doing at the present time.

Multitasking is not a valid way to increase productivity. Learn to concentrate and act on one thing at a time.