Breaking the Multitasking Myth
Raise your hand if you think you’re an above-average multitasker.
Okay, so obviously I can’t see you through the computer, so I have no idea how many of you actually raised your hands (hopefully it was more of a mental hand raise than a physical thing anyhow).
Lucky for us, I’m not the first person to ask this question.
Also lucky for us, the other people to ask this question could actually see the respondents to collect their answers.
The scientific process is a beautiful thing.
Here’s the results of that study:
Of 310 undergraduates from the University of Utah, over 70% thought they were an above-average multitasker.
Chew on that for a second. Tastes a little funky, huh?
Yeah, it doesn’t take a math wiz to see the problem with a number like that, but just in case it’s super early in the morning and you haven’t had your coffee yet, I’ll break it down.
It’s statistically impossible for 70% of people to be above-average at a thing.
You’re a smart cookie and most definitely already knew that, but here’s the two truly important nuggets unearthed in that study.
- The people who multiask the most are typically the ones least capable of doing so.
- The people most capable of multitasking, are the least likley to actually engage in multiple tasks simultaneously.
To break that down: If you think you’re good at multitasking, you’re probably not. Also, the people most capable of multitasking, don’t. They focus on one task at a time.
Additionally, other studies have shown that people who are interrupted during the execution of a task require 50% more time to accomplish said task AND they make up to 50% more errors.
No matter how you slice it, if you want to be more than just busy, if you want to be actually effective, then multitasking is not the way to go.
The Multitasking Myth
“To do two things at once is to do neither.”
Truth be told, none of us are particularly good at multitasking. It’s an illusion.
Compared to the results we can achieve when we apply focused attention to a singular task until it has reached completion, there is simply no competition.
Studies again and again show that you can get more done, better, by maintaining bouts of unbroken focus to complete a task.
That’s the foundation of one of my favorite books on the topic of productivity by Cal Newport called Deep Work.
Newport’s premise is that we are fundamentally incapable of doing our best work when we constantly switch tasks, moving our attention, and diverting focus between tasks of high and low importance.
To understand why this is so, we must first wrap our heads around the concept of Attentional Residue. That is, whenever you switch between tasks, there exists a period of lag during which your brain is still somewhat fixated on the previous task.
Your brain can’t just switch tasks at the drop of a hat. Part of its bandwidth remains consumed by the previous task for a period of time.
So, (to throw completely made up numbers at this analogy) if you were applying 100% focus to writing your novel, and then rapidly switched to check and respond to a text, then switched back to writing your novel, you’d only have, let’s say, 80% focus to apply.
It takes longer than you think to get into a state of flow and clear your mind’s cache of all irrelevant competing stimuli.
A Rose By Any Other Name Is… Not A Rose
“You’d think people would realize they’re bad at multitasking and would quit. But a cognitive illusion sets in, fueled in part by a dopamine-adrenaline feedback loop, in which multitaskers think they are doing great.”
Daniel Levitin
Multitasking is an unfortunate name, because it carries this idea that we are doing multiple tasks simultaneously.
This simply isn’t true. Human’s are incapable of simultaneously processing bits of information.
What we can do is rapidly switch between tasks, giving the illusion of simultaneous processing.
More accurate would be to call what we do “multiswitching”. And while the brain is pretty good at this rapid diverting of attention, we fool ourselves into thinking we’re being productive when, in actuality, we’re just being busy.
Think of juggling 3 chainsaws…at any given moment you are not processing all three chainsaws. You are catching and throwing one chainsaw and then very, very quickly switching focus to catch and throw the next chainsaw.
Or you’re very, very quickly switching to focus on the fact that you just lost an arm.
Whatever the result, the process is the same.
So, consider this: You don’t text and drive. You text and stop driving. Then you drive and stop texting.
There is no in-between.
Terrifying stuff.
Stop Starting and Stopping
“I do think to some extent multitasking is a way of fooling ourselves into thinking we’re being exceptionally efficient.”
James Surowiecki
The herky-jerky nature of our start/stop processing can cost us valuable cognitive bandwidth. Especially so when the task before you is at the limit of your ability and requires the full breadth of your focus and skill.
But let’s assume a simpler scenario to prove the concept.
Imagine taking a road-trip across country. Which do you suppose is faster?
Driving the entire way without stopping for bathroom breaks and chimichangas?
Or stopping every 50 miles for, you know…chimichangas?
There’s an obvious answer here and when coached in these terms it seems painfully obvious just how detrimental and wasteful the start/stop method of processing is.
Though this is an extreme example, it’s the same for your brain trying to cycle between multiple tasks.
You handicap your cognitive capacity when you multitask, so at minimum, do yourself a favor and stop fooling yourself into thinking it’s necessary or that you’re being more productive.
Your Most Valuable Asset
Quick, what’s your most valuable asset?
If you’re like most people, you’ll probably answer with something along these lines:
“As entrepreneurs, we already know our most valuable asset is time, but not every entrepreneur knows how to properly use that time.”
Lewis Howes
It’s understandable why people would think this, but it’s fundamentally wrong.
Sure, time is fleeting and you only get one shot at this thing called life, but as I define as such:
Asset: a valuable resource, either tangible or intangible, that can be owned.
The problem with thinking about time as an asset is that you can’t own time. It’s completely outside of your control.
It’s vital you wrap your head around this, otherwise you fall into this trap:
“Time is the most valuable asset you don’t own. You may or may not realize it, but how you use or don’t use your time is going to be the best indication of where your future is going to take you.”
Mark Cuban
Even a brilliant investor like Mark Cuban struggles to stay consistent and accurately point to the real factor at play. He initially acknowledges that time is an asset you don’t own, but then in the very next sentence says:
“How you use or don’t use your time…”
So which is it? It’s either yours or it isn’t.
What then, given the above definition of an asset, is the most accurate answer to the question:
What is your most valuable asset?
Well, let’s work it backwards and see what we discover.
Time, as a concept, is infinite. Your ability to draw on it, however, is not.
Therefore you have a limited amount of time at your disposal. Also, worth noting is that time is very much like money in that it holds no intrinsic value.
Money and time represent value in so far as what they allow you to do.
Think hard on that… how you use your time or money is what dictates value.
When viewed through that lens we now have our answer to the earlier question:
Attention is your most valuable asset.
Unlike time, you are 100% in control of your attention. Where, and to what degree, you concentrate your focus will inevitably dictate the quality of outcome you achieve.
“Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus.”
Alexander Graham Bell
Simultaneously spread your Attention across a variety of tasks, like a thin layer of butter on a piece of too big toast, and you’ll only achieve a fraction of the potential satisfaction, productivity, and results.
Fight the urge to multitask.
Remind yourself frequently throughout the day that your Attention is your most valuable resource.
Question yourself often, ask: Am I squandering my Attention right now? How could I be using it better?
If you want to get more done and achieve better results (whether at work or home), stop squandering your Attention.
Stop falling for the Multitasking Myth.
