Why Multitasking Hacks Your Productivity to Death
Monday, Aug 25, 2014
At some point in your life a Type A boss has told you to multitask to get more done. But instead of turning you into a productivity ninja, studies show that multitasking is giant waste of time.
“For tasks that are at all complicated, no matter how good you have become at multitasking, you’re still going to suffer hits against your performance. You will be worse compared to if you were actually concentrating from start to finish on the task,” said David Meyer, scientist at the University of Michigan.
Concentrating on a single task at one time isn’t the only way to boost productivity, either. Because our brains can only focus for a limited amount of time, experts recommend working in chunks.
Here’s what else you might try to be more productive:
- Reward yourself! Check your fantasy football scores AFTER you’ve wrapped up that PowerPoint presentation.
- Get away. Too many distractions at the office? Take a walk outside, or find a nice cubby to call your own while you bang out a few sales calls.
- Music to “zone out” to. This might come down to personal preference, but loud music with heavy lyrics can become a distraction. Instead, try to find tunes that relax and fade into the background.
Read more over on Hongkiat.com.