Today's world is becoming increasingly busy. Our to-do list grows every second.
There are three ways to deal with this never-ending growth.
- We can reduce the number of things to do.
- Increase the number of people working on the same list.
- Become faster at what we do.
Usually, we choose the last option, and we achieve it by doing more than one thing at a time. This is the definition of multitasking.
But did you know multitasking isn’t real? What we’re actually talking about is divided attention.
Multitasking Is a Lie
Most of us should know by now that multitasking isn’t real. Studies show that when “multitasking,” we are not actually processing multiple tasks simultaneously — we’re switching from one task or object to another very, very fast.
Imagine looking for a parking spot on a one-way street with parking on both sides. You have the illusion of seeing both left and right at the same time, but what you’re actually doing is turning your head to alternating sides.
The same happens with our attention. Professor Sophie Leroy defined the mental phenomenon of moving from one task to another as "attention residue." When you switch tasks, you’re bringing with you the last part, the residue, of what you were just doing — and vice versa.
Most of us should know by now that multitasking isn’t real. Studies show that when “multitasking,” we are not actually processing multiple tasks simultaneously — we’re switching from one task or object to another very, very fast.
It's like when you see a bright flash, and you can then only see black spots for a few moments. Your task switching is creating black spots that impair your “vision” when you move on to another task.
Of course, this is a very simplified version of the concept. Still, it's helpful to explain why switching our attention like this, or having divided attention, actually takes more time and energy, and results in more mistakes. This is known as “switching costs.”
In addition, we retain less information when multitasking. In fact, when we do two things at a time, we rely less on the part of the brain that lets us store and retrieve information, so we actually accumulate less knowledge.
That's why it's just an illusion that you can learn something by listening to a podcast while working. It's like watching just the highlights instead of the whole football match. And the number of details we collect determines how much we remember.
Switching our attention like this, or having divided attention, actually takes more time and energy, and results in more mistakes.
It Gets Worse
Recent studies, focused in particular on a specific type of multitasking called multimedia tasking (multitasking on more than one device), showed that continually dividing our attention physically changes the structure of our brain, affecting intelligence, emotion control, anxiety, and overall social-emotional well-being.
Multimedia tasking ... physically changes the structure of our brain, affecting intelligence, emotion control, anxiety, and overall social-emotional well-being.
So, not only do we not save time and not retain information while multitasking, we are also damaging our brains.
Yet we keep doing it. Why?
So, not only do we not save time and not retain information while multitasking, we are also damaging our brains.
There are definitely some cognitive biases at work here. For example, we tend to consider ourselves better and more able than others, so we may think, "This may be true for ordinary people, but not me." We also often underestimate the time and effort actually required to do something.
In my experience as a strategist, I've seen many people multitask just to create a perceived sense of busyness, even if they know that it is just an illusion. Other people may want to avoid their thoughts — after all, thinking is the hardest task of all — so the busier, the better.
Knowing why you multitask can help you stop and choose one of the other options: work with more people and learn to delegate, or be more conscious about what to put on you to-do list.
