4 Reasons Why Multitasking is Bad for Your Business

We’ve all done it, I used to claim I was great at it and looked to it as a point of pride, but multitasking is nothing to be proud of. Multitasking is the process of performing (or trying to perform) more than one task at once, quickly switching between them, or performing them in rapid succession. There has been loads of research on the subject that you’ve probably heard about, but for some reason (habit maybe) it’s tough to really make a change to how you work. Here are some ideas on why change is good, and multitasking is bad.

1.    It’s not as easy as you think.

It might come as no surprise, but multitasking is hard to do. Just think about that old idea of rubbing your belly while patting your head – not so easy, right? It serves as a comical example to show that the human brain is not meant to perform voluntary tasks simultaneously. Our brain has to “get ready” for each task and that takes time and effort. It’s not something involuntary like breathing where we can just let our brain do its thing. “Humans, they say, don't do lots of things simultaneously. Instead, we switch our attention from task to task extremely quickly.” But, it seems, not extremely well.

2.    It reduces productivity and efficiency.

This American Psychological Association article shows that there is a time cost and an accuracy cost, “…multitasking may seem efficient on the surface but may actually take more time in the end and involve more error. Meyer has said that even brief mental blocks created by shifting between tasks can cost as much as 40 percent of someone's productive time.” Wow, up to 40% of time wasted! I could definitely use that time finishing tasks. The article goes on to distinguish between complex and simple tasks, the more complex tasks are the worse it gets.

3.    It implies you don’t care about your work.

We’ve all been in meetings where your phone buzzes and you just feel that innate need to check it. Or someone has his or her laptop open when you are showing a presentation (yeah I’ve done that too). Sure it shows that you are very busy and business is good, but it also shows that your colleagues or clients rank lower on your priority list. To be honest, it can be downright insulting to pull out your phone and start texting. Even if you’re just taking notes on your computer you could be working on another project, so take written notes instead. Eye contact and no distractions show other people that they are important to you.

4.    It may cause brain damage.

Okay, if this doesn’t convince you nothing will. Research shows that multitasking may actually cause brain damage, yikes! “They found that high multitaskers had less brain density in the anterior cingulate cortex, a region responsible for empathy as well as cognitive and emotional control.” This is bad news all around, no wonder it’s easy to get your nerves rattled when you are trying to do too many things at once.

So what’s the alternative? We all have to juggle projects, phone calls, home life, etc. and there just aren’t enough hours in the day to get it all done. But focusing on one task at a time is way more efficient than trying to switch. Block off time on your calendar, close your office door, and don’t answer the phone. The caveat to this is to take short breaks every 20 to 30 minutes to give your mind and your eyes a rest. You will find you get more work done, and as a bonus it’s actually better work.

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