Multitasking: the good, the bad and the stressful

Nia Plamenova
Lecturer in the Master in Human Resources
Associate Professor in the Business & Management Strategy Dept.
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Not too long ago, the phrase "great multitasker" on a CV was seen as a badge of honor, demonstrating an ability to juggle multiple projects and stakeholders' demands simultaneously. The fame of multitasking has progressively gone downhill in the past decade, as evidence consistently showed that it's not the most efficient, nor effective way to work and live. 

In fact, when we are talking about intellectual work, experts point out that multitasking does not exist -we are instead switching our attention between two or more tasks (think of those times when you have 3 different projects and 17 tabs open -technically you are focusing on them one at a time). This switch has a high cognitive cost, as it takes mental effort to re-focus attention and resources every time. It may take as much as 23 minutes and 15 seconds to truly re-focus on a task after we have switched to another one. 

The fame of multitasking has progressively gone downhill in the past decade, as evidence consistently showed that it's not the most efficient nor effective way to work and live

One of the most eye-catching experiments on the topic revealed that multitasking (dealing with incoming e-mail and calls) lead to a 10-points fall in participants' IQ -the same result as if you had lost a night of sleep. Curiously, the study also found that multitasking has more than twice the effect of smoking marijuana in terms of IQ drop. Despite the study being sensationalized, and its methodology questioned, the negative effects of task-switching have been corroborated by many other sources. 

A meta-analysis of 26 studies showed evidence that multitasking is directly related to higher stress levels (higher activation of the sympathetic nervous system and lower activation of the parasympathetic nervous system while multitasking). A University of California, Irvine study showed that people sometimes compensated task-switching through working faster, but with the cost of increased anxiety. 

A work culture that leads to multitasking

Yet, many of us feel compelled to multitask. This is because multitasking (and the anxiety it creates) fits perfectly into our hustle culture, where one's human worth is dependent entirely on the results they obtain (as fast as possible, of course). Add to that, the quarantine experience that obligated many to parent, work, do housework simultaneously, with the added bonus of uncertainty and constant re-priorization, and you have a perfect storm of anxiety. For many of us, it actually creates more stress to not check our e-mail many times a day or to leave a phone call unanswered than to be constantly interrupted. And many organizations are more interested in employees looking calm, rather than being calm. 

Multitasking fits perfectly into our hustle culture, where one's human worth is dependent entirely on the results they obtain

Optimizing our time seems like a good idea in a time-starved life: our minds move faster than the outside world (we can hear more words per minute than someone can speak), so we trick ourselves into over-optimizing everything. While on a Zoom call, why not use that extra brain power to organize next weekends' trip? However, we are using cognitive power to notice nuances, process what we're hearing, and what's happening around us, so when we add another activity, we are really overtaxing our mind rather than optimizing our time. 

We also tend to overestimate how good we are at multitasking -heavy multitaskers are less competent at doing several things at once than occasional multitaskers. Multitasking, it seems, is one of the few things in life, where practice actually works in your disadvantage.

There is a time for multitasking

Is it all bad? No, there is a time for multitasking: when different parts of the brain are involved and one of the tasks requires low-levels of attention -for example, listening to a podcast or taking a call while unloading the dishwasher. Multitasking can also be useful when we are doing it to boost motivation -watching you favorite TV show while exercising seems to work for many. Furthermore, some evidence exists that it matters whether or not we are choosing our multiple task voluntarily or they are being imposed on us: when we have decided upon what we are multitasking, we are less likely to suffer the negative consequences of attention switching. 

Still, when dealing with intellectually demanding work, it's worth considering monotasking. 

Some evidence exists that it matters whether or not we are choosing our multiple task voluntarily or they are being imposed on us

First, make your environment monotask-friendly (switch off notifications, hide away phone -the very fact of seeing your phone on the desk while working, affects negatively your cognitive capacity, schedule time for deep work). If it feels uncomfortable, use short amounts of time -for example, try the Pomodoro method to force yourself to only focus on 1 task for 20 minutes at a time (you can add Pomodoro as an extension on your browser). 

Second, if you absolutely must multitask, try batch working -only working simultaneously on tasks that are similar to each other, as this lowers the cognitive cost of attention switching. 

Third (and this may only work for some people), set shorter deadlines when appropriate -our drive to multitask tends to decrease drastically the closer we get to a deadline, and when we suddenly find out we only have 15 minutes to prep for a meeting instead of 30 min., we are much less likely to pick up a call while prepping.

Attention is the golden currency of today's world of work, and the mindfulness movement has been drumming this message since decades

Finally, try monotasking in the social realm, and once you see the benefits of being fully present in conversations with others, it can serve to re-enforce motivation for monotasking in other areas as well. 

Attention is the golden currency of today's world of work, and the mindfulness movement has been drumming this message since decades. It is worth listening to, for the sake of our mental health and perhaps, sharper work results.