Why Multitasking Is Secretly Making You Less Productive (And What to Do Instead)

Most people think of multitasking as a sign of being a superstar — answering emails while talking on the phone, or texting while cooking, for example, or having five browser windows open. It feels efficient. But in the real world, it's typically against you.

What's actually happening

Your brain doesn't really multitask. What seems like doing two things at once is actually your brain flitting back and forth and it takes a toll every time. Each time you jump from one task to another, your brain needs a moment to re-orient itself to where you left off. Repeat that many times throughout the day and it's an incredible amount of time and attention that you're wasting, even though it appears productive at the time.

A familiar example

Midway through composing an e-mail message, a pop-up appears. You say to yourself you'll only have a look. 2 minutes later, back in the email — but you lost your train of thought, and you have to reread what you've already written just to remember where you are! The few seconds that it would take to look at the screen turns out to be much more expensive.

Instead, do one thing at a time.

The fix isn't difficult, only more challenging than it sounds:

When working in a focused block, disable notifications. If you're already using the time-blocking method, this goes hand in hand — each block is one thing, one focus, no other thing is going to distract you.

Follow the "One Tab, One Task" rule on the laptop/Computer. Close all the files that are not directly related to the work you are doing at the moment.

When a new idea occurs to you during the task, record it, but don't do it right away. A note to be read later helps to keep your focus without losing your thought.

I personally have my Whatsapp and other social media notifications off in my phone. Also my phone is also always in silent mode. Only I can reach out to people, when I wanted. 

I'm not saying you to follow the same. But what I would suggest is that do have a boundary, which will let you focus in a single task than fidgeting about other tasks, which sooner or later will occupy your mind.

The one exception

Not every multitasking is created equal. But listening to music while cleaning, or a podcast while walking — that's not the same issue, as one of those activities doesn't require your attention. The real cost is when you have to attend to two things simultaneously, such as reading and talking or writing and reading.

Think of a situation in which multitasking went wrong for you.  May be you where working on something and also talking with some one on phone. I pretty much guess the probability of you doing that work with perfect quality and intention would have been very less. Am I Right?

The takeaway

Multitasking is not a productivity hack, it's a hidden cost on your time and focus. "Fewer things done fully beats more things done partially — especially since the 'partial' version usually ends up taking longer anyway