"When you bow, you should just bow; when you sit, you should just sit; when you eat, you should just eat."

- Shunryu Suzuki

 

We are an overwhelmed, over-scheduled, and distracted society. Most of us try to do more than one thing at a time, thinking that we're accomplishing twice as much in the same amount of time as just doing a single thing. Most of the time, we're deluding ourselves. Instead of doing one thing well and then moving on to the next, we do two things poorly and take more time doing it. How many of us have tried to hold phone conversations while checking out stuff on our computer or TV screens? Or tried to write something - an article or report - while trying to keep track of incoming emails or texts? For mundane tasks that require little brain work, like folding laundry, the distraction of TV may help make the task less tedious. Adding music to our workout can help us go faster, longer, stronger, and take our mind off the pain! But most of the time, doing two things at once just makes everything take more time, causes us to make mistakes, and stresses us out.

 

The key to productivity is focus. When we try to work on a project while intermittently checking email, answering the phone, or surfing the 'net, we never really get into full concentration mode. Contrary to popular opinion, your brain really can't fully focus on two things at the same time. What really happens is that your brain needs to take time to switch back and forth between each task. It may only be just a few seconds each time, but it adds up over time. It takes longer to accomplish both tasks than if you just focused on one single task until it was completed, then moved on to the next. We never really get "in the zone." Don't believe it? Try setting a timer to see how long it takes to do a task that requires concentration, while at the same time, reading emails intermittently. Then time yourself doing the two tasks separately without bouncing back and forth between the two and add it up. You will find that your total time spent is less when you focus on each thing separately. You will avoid losing those few seconds each time when your brain must switch its focus back and forth between the two. And, most likely, you will make far fewer mistakes and produce work of higher quality when you allow yourself to fully concentrate on one, single task.

 

5 Tips to Minimize Multi-Tasking