4 Myths about Multitasking Busted: Not so long ago multitasking was one of the skills job candidates loved to put on their CVs thinking that it makes them efficient and highly productive in the eyes of potential employers. But this perspective has changed with advances in technology and the rise of remote and hybrid work.
Now, when most workplaces are digitized to streamline business processes and alleviate communication between dispersed teams, multitasking is seen more as a distraction than a skill that helps you be more productive.
You may not realize it, but trying to do more than one thing at once slows you down and affect your performance. You may think that using time spent on meetings to answer emails or Slack messages makes you more efficient and saves your time, but, in fact, it’s the other way round.
This is just one of the myths this article is going to shatter. It will also help you if your employees are among the 72% of those who feel pressured to Multitasking Busted every day to reach set goals.
1. People Are Capable of Multitasking
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Even though it’s nice to think that you are good at doing multiple things at once, the proven fact is that the human brain is capable of processing only one activity at a time.
We aren’t wired to multitask, and our attempts to succeed at it come at a “switch price”. Simply put when employees switch from one activity to another frequently they tend to make more mistakes, taking more time to finish both tasks.
2. There’s No Harm in Multitasking
Employees who are used to multitasking may not realize how tiresome and challenging this task switching is. Contrary, they may believe that they gained a valuable skill that can make them more time-efficient at work.
It’s your job to show them the negative effects of multitasking by using digital tools like employee monitoring software. Use monitoring data to show them how frequently task switching consumes their time at work, reducing their productivity rates.
Once they see these data-based performance reports, your employees may realize that frequent Multitasking Busted isn’t always effective, trying to find other ways to complete set goals within deadlines.
3. Multitasking Boosts Productivity
Employees under pressure to get more work done, reach for multitasking, believing that it will make them more productive. However, research by doctor David Meyer shows that switching tasks causes mental blocks that can take up to 40% of employees’ productivity.
Overcoming these mental blocks is challenging because It takes a considerable mental effort to regain focus once it’s shattered by switching tasks abruptly. This is why multitasking can make employees less effective, affecting the quality of work delivered.
4. There Are Different Kinds of Multitasking
Many believe that there are various types of multitasking. But this is another myth. Because there is only a set of cause and effect correlated actions set off by multitasking. Here are three different stages of the same process:
When you want to do two things at the same you start multitasking
This means you start task switching or context switching by hopping from one app or project to another, trying to finish both.
These actions will result in attention residue, a state where you still think about the previous task even if you’ve already started working on something else.
It’s clear now that Multitasking Busted is a serious distraction that splits your focus, driving you to make unforced mistakes and spend more time on fixing them.
Wrap Up
No wonder many employees are prone to multitasking when Asana research shows that they need to tackle up to 10 different apps daily. This means that employees are often overwhelmed with various notifications seeking their attention. This is why they switch from one task to another, trying to tackle various tasks simultaneously and be time-efficient.
The results of their attempts are, however, often counterproductive. This is why your employees can often feel stressed by their workload and frustrated by the urge to respond immediately to every message or demand.
If you want to avoid your employees slipping into burnout caused by multitasking, try to take some of their workloads off by re-delegating tasks.
Also, embrace asynchronous communication which will eliminate the need for Multitasking Busted. By taking these steps you can minimize the negative effects of multitasking on employees’ efficiency and well-being.
