Men don’t multitask they say and that’s a good thing but so many people don’t understand why multitasking is not effective. For the avoidance of doubt evidence shows that women don’t either.
Writing in the Harvard Business Review Paul Atchley Associate Professor Of Cognitive Psychology at the University Of Kansas explains why. There are also many other scientific papers on this subject but I have chosen this one as it is an effective summary of the situation.
Our brains do not multitask but practice task switching. On average it takes us 15 minutes to re-orientate after a distraction and this makes someone who is “multitasking” up to 40% less efficient than someone who is only concentrating on one task at a time.
Effective people also understand the fact that the brain has a limited attention span and cannot multitask can be used to their advantage. On average, even if we are being efficient by only working on one task the attention you can devote to it will begin to wane after approximately 18 minutes and so effective people will not only avoid multitasking like the plague but will employ the pomadoro technique of only working intensively for short periods (unusually 20 minutes) at a time. You can discover more about the pomadoro technique by reading my blog https://www.wellsassoc.co.uk/the-pomodoro-technique-how-a-tomato-can-make-you-more-effective/
There it is then. One task at a time and a tomato and you have cracked it. Like most things it’s easier said than done but effective people try.
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