Or does it cause mayhem in your life?

I’ve been thinking a lot about productivity this month. Multi-tasking has been on my mind; I am not a fan.

Multi-tasking, to me, means doing two activities at the same time, or alternating between them in short succession, back and forth, back and forth.

In fact, the other day I took a phone call while cooking dinner and talking to my 14-year-old son. Sound familiar? I bet it does. No one got my full attention, and dinner took longer. I’m sure my son didn’t feel heard, either.

I tend to multi-task in the office too. Sometimes it works; most of the time it doesn’t.

When multi-tasking doesn’t work

1. If both activities require your attention
2. If one of the activities is dangerous (i.e. chopping vegetables or running a chainsaw)
3. During problem-solving or brainstorming activities
4. If you have ADD
5. When you are doing focus work: writing, pitching an idea, working on an important project, composing, or other creative pursuits like painting
6. When a family member is confiding in you
7. When a friend at work has a problem and needs your advice

Two pertinent questions to ask before you multi-task: Will multi-tasking actually save me time here? Or will it divide my focus and cause my work to suffer?

When multi-tasking can work

1. When one of the activities is mindless (like dishes) and the other activity requires some focus (like talking on the phone).
2. Repetitive tasks: Something that you repeat over and over again like answering commonly asked question on a phone call and sorting your mail, for example.
3. Yep, I believe that’s it.

Do you see why I am not a fan? Like you, I’ve gotten myself stressed out by multi-tasking when I shouldn’t have.

There may be other options that work for multi-tasking, but to me it is not worth it.

Why multi-tasking is not worth it

“Stop multi-tasking. No, seriously—stop. Switching from task to task quickly does not work. In fact, changing tasks more than 10 times in a day makes you dumber than being stoned. When you’re stoned, your IQ drops by five points. When you multitask, it drops by an average of 10 points, 15 for men, five for women (yes, men are three times as bad at multitasking than women).”

This is from an interview with Tony Wong, a project management black belt whose client list includes Toyota, Honda, and Disney, to name a few. He’s an expert in keeping people on task.  (From blogger Ilya Pozin.)

I’ve encouraged my time coaching clients not to multi-task, because it makes everything take longer and it divides your focus, meaning you do crappy work on three jobs at a time instead of great work on one job.

Stories . . .

Here’s an example of an author multi-tasking and actually WASTING time instead of saving it.

“Yesterday, I tried to edit some chapters, submit a Bookbub ad, and update my profile in Draft2digital. I jumped around for an extra hour, and my Bookbub ad ended up timing out, so I had to do it over again today. That was a good hour wasted.” ~ Frank Morin

Yes, that’s my husband, who is a writer, and a programmer. He’s an Indie author, so he not only writes the books, he markets them as well.

Another example from a Mom, we’ll call her Tammy: On a weekday, 2 of her sisters had come over with their children, so they had 10 kids at her house. Tammy was multi-tasking by making muffins and feeding the kids lunch when her son reminded her he needed a ride to orchestra. After preparing lunch for the adults, she resumed muffin making and chatted with her sisters. As she was mixing more batter, she got a phone call from her son. He had been waiting for 30 minutes to be picked up! She said, “I felt so bad for forgetting him!”

There’s the crux–multi-tasking distracts us, which leads to forgetting some of the most important people in our lives. That in turn leads to guilt, especially for parents. Remember, next time you’re tempted to multi-task while with your family, see how relationships deepen when you give them your full focus.

Next time you are inclined to multi-task, ask yourself a few questions: Will it actually save me time? Is one of these tasks mindless or repetitive? And if the answer to one of those questions is no, resist the urge to multi-task!

Resources:

@Ilyaneversleeps