It’s Time for a Multitask Force Intervention

I read recently that multitasking is not good for our brains. This is no surprise to me because on those few occasions when I tried to be smart and multitask to save time and/or energy, I lived to rue the day.

A prime example is the time I thought it would be a great idea to give myself a manicure while I was using the commode. It seemed plausible until that fateful moment when I realized there was simply no way for me to tear off the required Charmin without obliterating my expertly painted digits. Not only didn’t it save me time, my legs went to sleep while I was waiting for my nails to dry. Oh the shame!

Trying to do several different things at once actually makes us less efficient. Unfortunately, for most of us, our day-to-day lives are filled with the need for speed. Although it was once thought that the computer age was going to free us, what it has actually done is make us slaves to trying to accomplish more and more in less and less time. Multitasking has actually become such a part of our so-called DNA that it is extremely difficult to concentrate on just one thing at a time.

So, if we know we shouldn’t be multitasking, and studies have proven it really doesn’t work, why do we do it? Because it feels good emotionally. While we are actually just digging ourselves deeper into disarray, confusion and stressful overload – to the outside world we look like we are getting a lot done. The outside world, you see, doesn’t realize we accidentally put the cat in the dryer, sent flowers to the wrong address or ordered an outfit online that wouldn’t even have fit us when we were 12. All they see is someone they perceive to be incredibly efficient. (The cat might have a much different opinion!)

Additionally, when we observe someone who appears to be multitasking, because they seem able to juggle so much at once, we want to be like them. We perceive that they are creating emails, answering phone calls and writing a blog post, but it’s likely all their “hard work” shouldn’t be sent, answered or written. Remember, a juggler is only touching one ball at a time.

Multitasking actually splits the brain, creating something researchers call “spotlights.” Since our brains can’t multitask at all, when we attempt to eat, write and chat we are causing our poor befuddled minds to wildly switch from one activity to another.

Researchers at Stanford theorized that those of us who multitask heavily would develop some other outstanding skills -- like being amazing at filtering information, or being fast when switching from one task to another, or even having a better memory. What they discovered is that people who multitask are terrible at every aspect of multitasking.

In fact, people who multitask are worse at filtering irrelevant information (this explains the popularity of reality television, most news programs, and pretty much any conversation I’ve had since 1986).

While I was reading about this, watching TV and searching for the cat, it occurred to me that multitasking is such a part of my routine I don’t even realize I’m doing it (excuse me for a moment while I finish this soufflé (am I cooking it or eating it? I can’t remember), fold the laundry, and apologize to a telemarketer for trying to sell him something.

Okay, okay, I promise I’ll be better tomorrow. I’ll create a to-do list and then I will tackle just one item at a time and I won’t move on to another until I’ve completed, until I’ve completed – wait – where was I...? Hey, does anyone else hear a cat yowling?

June, 2013