The Toxicity of Multitasking

Your brain is at risk,?and so is everything else.

In a world where we are constantly being challenged to do more and be better, doing less, but doing it?well?is the surprising recipe for real success.??Multitasking is hurting you, and those around you in myriad ways, not helping.

As you read this article, it’s likely that your brain is attempting to perform a multitude of tasks, without you even realizing it.??In fact, we have become so addicted to multitasking, and are even being convinced to do it by the technology we use, that many of us actually believe we’re pretty good at doing more than one thing simultaneously.

Unfortunately, it’s axiomatic science that the human brain is not designed to operate well in multitask mode.??It literally does not have the physiological architecture to do it well.??That’s not an evolutionary limitation.??Our brains are high-performance “machines,” capable of doing things that put the most advanced technologies to shame.??They’re just being used differently than designed when we allow our attention to be split.

In fact, the 501c3 nonprofit,?Center for Humane Technology, is on a mission to expose and realign how tech companies employ a host of methods to capture and possess our attention.??Tech providers don’t want you to multitask; they want your devotion.??The problem is, technology surrounds us, and brings with it an ever-increasing multi-layered approach to refocus our attention on something else.

Multitasking Effects

1. Multitasking causes?physiological harm to our brains, and a recent?study ?identified that media multi-taskers had a measurable reduction in brain material (grey matter).??Contrary to the brain’s bias for novelty and learning, and the capacity to grow and learn until the day we die, the concurrent consumption of multiple forms of media actually results in a reduction of brain tissue, and?specifically, in areas of the brain related to cognitive control, and the regulation of?motivation and emotion.
2. Chronic multitasking can lead to?memory problems if unchecked.??Another study ?identified that?such behavior is associated with difficulty filtering distracting information and indicated?weakness in?working memory?(storing relevant information for a task, similar to a computer’s RAM chip) and?long-term memory (storing and accessing previous memories, similar to a computer hard drive).
3. Multitasking can lead to decreased discernment and increased distractibility.??Researchers studied people’s multitasking at home and found that the more people multitasked, the more likely they were to exhibit the ability to be distracted.??The common thesis is that constant distraction leads to an inability to distinguish between what is important and what is just more.??One research study done in NYC identified a 20% increase in pedestrians who reported using their mobile device when they were struck by a vehicle.
4. Multitasking hurts your ability to learn and the subsequent performance outcomes.??Worse, it has the same effect on those around you within visual range of your multitasking efforts.??Studies have shown that?students who multitasked during a lecture scored lower on their exams - as did their classmates who could see what they were doing.
5. Similarly, technoference, a term coined by researchers to mean distraction by technological devices, has been correlated to a?decrease in relationship satisfaction?in their partners.
6. Chronic Stress,?Depression & Anxiety:??The constant bombardment of information we attempt to respond to elevates the brain’s stress response.??Do this frequently for a long enough period of time and your brain will start believing “overload” is normal and chronic stress begins to take hold.??Research ?has identified that switching between media causes individuals to demonstrate higher levels of depression?and?social anxiety.
7. Reduced Efficiency and Less Productivity:??While striving to get more done, we’re actually performing less efficiently, effectively, and productively.??Ironically, the technology we surround ourselves with to make life easier and better can actually disable our ability to do more and damage our ability to live better.

The Cost of Multitasking

The term switch cost has been coined to define the degradation in performance accuracy or speed that results from shifting between multiple tasks.

Give the act of switching between tasks a time-value from when your attention wanders away from its current task and inclusive of the time spent acknowledging or responding to the new stimuli, even if only in your thoughts, and it begins to add up quickly.

Most of us sit in our workspace with our phones and computers nearby, blinking, buzzing, ringing, chiming, and calling to us all day.??Software applications, websites, newsletters, et cetera, incorporate psychological and physical techniques to get our attention and cause us to do something.??These intentional interruptions are so ubiquitous in our lives now that the term attention economy has been established to refer to the practices and techniques used to capture and keep our focus.??Of course, if every tech company and application is attempting to do this, and we allow it to happen, our brains quickly become toxified by the effort to operate under those conditions.??At a minimum, we allow ourselves to be pulled from one distraction to another and the switch cost grows.??Yet, the ineffective use of your valuable time is one of the least harmful impacts of multitasking.??According to the University of Texas-Dallas Center for Brain Health, a few of the?long-term effects of multitasking include: a decline in frontal network functioning and fluidity, increased brain atrophy and chronic stress.

Doing Things vs Getting Things Done

Despite our belief to the contrary, one?study ?identified that we inflate our perceived ability to multitask, but that there is little correlation with our actual ability.??In fact, our brains lack the architecture to multi-task well, so operating in that mode is sort of like running your vehicle in first gear while driving the highway.??It works, but not well, and the long-range outcome is damage and degraded mental capacity.

One doesn’t need to study neuropsychology to understand the effects of multitasking on the brain, our relationships, our mental and emotional wellness, and our ability to perform work?well.??You may be getting things done, but you’re doing it poorly, and the long-range manifestations will have an adverse impact on your performance, profitability, and personality.

The Bottom Line

Don’t multitask; it’s not actually helping you, despite what you think.??Instead, try these things:

• Turn technology distractions to silence or off, and make sure you can’t see if your screen lights up or sense any vibration notices.
• Establish a place or habit of working in a focused mode, because those around you may be equally inclined to allow distractions and interrupt you.
• Get organized.??An organized work space where you arrive on time and have what you need to accomplish your goals will help tremendously.
• Start a routine of goal-reward feedback to train your brain to operate in the way it was designed.??If you have an important task that will take a while, break it into amounts of time you commit to not being distracted, and then reward yourself for having accomplished that goal.

Here’s the hardest part:??You actually have to do these things and keep doing them.??Think of it not as doing less, but re-training your brain to do things better.??The Super Bowl star running for the end zone would never stop to talk to a fan or check his phone.??That’s not how effective outcomes and quality performance happen for successful people.

You have to change your mindset, which will literally rewire the circuitry in your brain for optimal performance.??So, put away the distractions and get serious about what you’re doing.??Good luck!