“Excellent at multitasking,” is one of the buzz phrases sure to jetison your resume to the top of the pile. Or is it? As early as 2001, a University of Michigan study showed that workers’ productivity decreases by 20-40% every time they multitask or engage in “task switching.”
A study in the NeuroImage Journal concluded that managing two mental tasks at once reduces the brainpower available for either task. Could this be why we hate to follow the driver who is talking on a cell phone?
Furthermore, “the process of switching back immediately to a task you’ve [recently] performed takes longer than switching back after a bit more time has passed. The brain has to overcome ‘inhibitions’ it imposed on itself to stop doing the [original] task in the first place.” This according to findings published by researchers from the National Institute of Mental Health in the fall of 2002.
Granted, there are a few careers that by definition are “interruption rich” environments, such as retail managers, mothers of toddlers, help desk technicians, etc. Even in these extreme cases where multitasking cannot be avoided, consciously choosing to take these three steps can increase focus and productivity.
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