Multitasking is considered a special gift and seems to be the norm of everyday life now, but is it actually possible to multitask and still get things right? Leave anything else and keep reading!
There has never been a busier time in human history than today’s fast-paced digital world. Every day, we are constantly inundated with a never-ending stream of information, e-mails, and social media notifications as we try to keep up with the demands of work, family, and friends.
Even if it seems like we get a lot done, multitasking could be costing us valuable time and energy and, as a result, our productivity will be less than someone who focuses on one task at a time.
But keep calm and read these 10 scientific reasons why you should stop multitasking today.
1. It could decrease intelligence
A study conducted by the University of London found that adult participants who engaged in multitasking, experienced a drop in IQ scores in the average range of an 8-year-old child. Make sure you avoid distractions and multitasking. This will help increase the quality of your work.
2. It causes chronic stress and anxiety
There are many causes of stress and anxiety, but one of the main culprits is multitasking. When we constantly switch between tasks, cortisol, a stress hormone, is released in our body. Then fear builds up and we act impulsively, leading to more stress and anxiety.
3. It degrades decision-making skills
Multitasking also affects your ability to make good decisions. Switching tasks requires you to expend valuable energy deciding what to do and what not to do. In fact, multitasking creates a downward spiral of bad decisions that waste time, energy, and money.
4. Your ability to react decreases
Cortisol puts our body on alert. But if cortisol is constantly in the blood, this effect wears off, which reduces the ability to react in an emergency.
5. It kills the focus
According to neuroscientist Daniel Levitin, when you multitask, parts of your brain reward you for losing focus and switching tasks with a rush of dopamine. In other words, the same parts of the brain that help you focus on a task are trained to look for distractions. Therefore, when you’re working, you’ll be anxious to check your e-mail and social media to look for a dopamine surge.
6. It kills creativity
Imagine this: you are writing an important paper and an incoming e-mail from a co-worker appears on your phone. You stop writing and reply to the e-mail but when you return to writing, your brain has just not only wasted energy, but also creative juice for your work.
7. It can reduce emotional intelligence
According to emotional intelligence expert Travis Bradberry, multitasking can damage a part of the brain: the anterior cingulate cortex, which is responsible for emotional intelligence.
8. It causes overwhelm and burnout
Have you ever wondered why you keep feeling tired even after a good night’s sleep or a long vacation? The constant switching between tasks requires a lot of attention and energy. When your brain shifts attention from one task to another, the brain’s prefrontal cortex loses oxygenated glucose needed to focus on tasks.
9. Multitasking increases errors
Quickly reply to a text message while driving? This is not only annoying, but also dangerous and above all forbidden. In the office, the consequences of a mistake are not quite as serious as in traffic. But we still don’t want to accidentally send an e-mail to our boss when we’re stressed, which would have been intended for the colleague, right?
10. You become unhappy
Anything you do when multitasking, you tend to do casually and unconsciously. This makes you unhappier than tackling things individually and consciously. Anyone running through the streets, talking on the phone and reading something on their cell phone at the same time will hardly notice that the sun is shining outside.
So is it possible to multitask and still be productive? The simple answer is no. Multitasking is a bad habit. However, there is hope if you take charge of your life today and choose to pay attention to a single task each time it presents itself.