Less Is More

Why shaking the multitasking habit can leave you happier and more productive

By Andrea Hill

(Originally published October 2022)

I used to be the queen of multitasking. I thought I didn’t have a choice—raising children while running a business doesn’t lend itself to focusing on one thing at a time. Unfortunately, I became very good at multitasking and developed pride in that skill. And that, ultimately, became a problem.
Multitasking is an important skill, particularly useful when we’re trying to cook dinner while watching the news, safely drive a car while talking with passengers, or browse shop windows while mentally making a shopping list.

You might think that when you multitask your brain is processing two activities at once. In fact, it’s not. Rather, your brain is rapidly shifting between tasks, switching so fast that you don’t realize you are transitioning between two things repeatedly.

This area of brain research is of particular interest to the scientific community. Why? Because the introduction of smart mobile devices in 2007 has completely transformed the way people live their daily personal and work lives. Statistics on mobile device usage show that 22 percent of users report checking their devices every few minutes, 85 percent of people report using their mobile device for at least some e-mail, and 49 percent of all e-mail is opened on mobile devices.

Given the amount of multitasking those statistics suggest, it’s no surprise that both business and educational leaders are increasingly focused on understanding the mechanics of multitasking and the consequent benefits and costs.

The Risks of Multitasking

Long before smart mobile devices, business theorist Eliyahu Goldratt pointed out the risks of multitasking to manufacturing safety, quality, and project timelines. In his first book, The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement, Goldratt illustrated that any time a person or team’s attention is divided between two projects, the first point at which either project can produce results is when both projects are completed. He posed the question: Would you rather see a return on investment after the cumulative time for one project or wait until both projects are completed to see any results at all?

Recent studies support Goldratt’s assertions, showing that multitasking not only forces results to be delayed to the end of all elapsed time for all the tasks being focused on, but it also slows down the performance of each of the individual tasks. In other words, if your e-mail inbox would require 30 minutes of focused attention and developing your project plan for a new product launch would require 3 hours of focused attention, then doing both of them simultaneously will require not 3.5 hours of focus, but instead will require something longer.

If a bit of time loss were the only downside of multitasking, one might consider it worth it. But that’s not the only risk. Studies also show that multitasking impairs executive function. Executive functions in the brain are cognitive processes that help you decide how to do a task, the order in which to do task steps, and what the rules are for a given task. For example, when you process e-mail, it’s executive function that takes over deciding which folder to open; where to click your mouse, how to click “send” or “delete,” and quickly moves you from one e-mail to the next. Executive function makes your brain more efficient, freeing cognitive capacity to focus on the aspects of your e-mail that require thought and analysis.

The impairment of executive function not only slows you down, but it also causes you to make mistakes. If your attention is divided between e-mail and creating a revenue report for your loan officer, approving a print ad, checking a part, or evaluating a diamond, mistakes can be costly. Employees in production roles are more likely to make mistakes leading to quality problems and tragic accidents when focusing on more than one task at a time.

Finally, if you’re not convinced that shaking the multitasking habit is a good idea, then consider this: While more research is needed, scientists believe it’s possible that chronic multitasking actually changes the brain, causing impulsivity and reduced cognitive function.

I always assumed that more cognitive demand makes for a healthier brain, much like using one’s muscles for a healthier body. But instead, the stress caused by constantly switching between tasks is like overworking muscles, which reduces performance in the short term and can cause lasting damage.

The brain experiences chemical (oxidative) stress when forced to constantly switch attention, and there appears to be mental and emotional stress associated with task juggling as well. These stresses explain the impulsivity mentioned earlier. Impulsivity is the tendency to act without thinking, which can include any action that is poorly conceived or prematurely taken. Impulsive actions can be as innocuous as agreeing to do something you do not have time to do or as damaging as sending an e-mail with sensitive information to the wrong “David” in your contact list.

The poorly considered actions that happen as a result of multitasking can sometimes be resolved with a quick apology or edit, but real financial, legal, or physical harm are also possible. Not surprisingly, people who multitask frequently are more likely to be stressed and distracted.

Just because we’re really good at something, doesn’t mean that it’s good for us. If you want to improve your cognitive performance at work—and reduce stress and errors in the process—consider structuring your work to eliminate as much multitasking as possible.