Fagetabout Multitasking – and Get More Done

26 Mar Fagetabout Multitasking – and Get More Done

As you read this post, are you also listening to the news? Texting a friend? Giving yourself a pedicure? This HuffPost Healthy Living blog by Katie Gold suggests that might not be a good idea. Might in fact be counter-productive.

Quick reality check: We live in a busy world where a million things are happening at once. For many of us, multitasking is a way to keep up with the flow and feel like we’re not getting left behind. From checking email at brunch with friends to finishing a status report during a staff meeting, a lot of us are trying to accomplish a whole lot, all at the same time.

Here’s the problem: Only 2 percent of us multitask effectively. That means the remaining 98 percent of us are running around like headless chickens in the name of “productivity.”

Increased productivity is available to us all — and surprisingly, it may come in the form of doing only one thing at a time.

What to do? It’s time to put down the smartphone, lift up your head and actually listen to that funny joke your friend is telling or that question your boss is about to throw your way at the meeting. Increased productivity is available to us all — and surprisingly, it may come in the form of doing only one thing at a time.

What’s The Deal?
Just so we’re all on the same page, multitasking means trying to do more than one thing a time. In the era of smartphones, tablets and portable laptops, it’s easy to multitask without even realizing it. After all, most of us have checked Facebook in chemistry class or during that long conference call (at least once).

Multitasking with a phone (or iPad, tablet, etc.) is so prevalent (among those with access to these technologies) that one study even called it the “epidemic of distraction.” Contrary to popular thought, addiction to mobile electronic devices may actually impair multitasking, lower performance and result in cognitive overload. Guess we aren’t as productive with that iPhone as we thought, huh?

As it turns out, our brains aren’t very good at doing more than one thing at a time. One study found that the brain may get overwhelmed when faced with multiple tasks…

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