They Told You Not To "Multi-Task". They're Wrong.
Many people will tell you to pick 1 thing and do it really well. Doing more than 1 thing is often referred to as "Mutli-Tasking", with all the negative connotations that go with it. Instead, they tell you to "Pick Your Niche'" or "Find the One Thing You Do Best" and "Focus on That".
This advice is wrong. In fact, I believe it's some of the worst advice that is taken for granted as "common sense". In reality, it's critical to do more than 1 thing.
Diversification is important in our work lives for the same reason it's important in investing. Life presents a myriad of unforeseen variables that can (and often do) delay or derail whatever it is we're working on.
And so, it is far more intelligent to do more than 1 thing. The key is to figure out what your threshold is. Every person is different. I always do 3 things at a time - never more and never less.
If you want to maximize your output, make sure that each thing you're working on supports the other things you're working on. In other words, if 1 thing becomes successful, it helps the other things become successful.
If you're reading this and feeling skeptical, I suggest you try this framework for 90 days. You might be surprised by what you're able to accomplish.
Specialist in Emotional Intelligence, Artificial Emotional Intelligence, and the Algorithms of Human Emotion.
6 年Actually, “they” weren’t wrong. If you’d like to know the science, the Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC) can only truly “focus” (or more accurately- route traffic of your waking awareness) for one task at a time. Switching quickly between tasks back and forth while trying to do more than one thing at a time (multitasking) requires what is in neuroscience called a “mode shift”. Now, while mode shifts CAN be done quickly and sequentially (it’s not IMPOSSIBLE to multitask), mode shifts do require a lot of overhead and they waste neural cycles, making you about 30% less effective in whatever multiple things you are trying to do (give or take, depending on the individual). In addition, continued mode shifts also increase cortisol and norepinephrine production, which decreases both working memory retention and recall, making work tougher to accomplish because your memory also must switch back and forth, and it makes learning while you work rather tough to do, which decreases work efficiency in the future. There are multiple double blind studies that make this accepted science at this point. You’re allowed to believe whatever you want to believe, but the results will bear out the true results of the neuroscience.