The Dangerous The Long-Term Effects Of Multitasking:
This is important! Read up!
I even am going to take this to heart.. over the past few months I have noticed that, while my productivity has increased, my errors have as well. I think that can go for anyone in this age of constant devices zapping brains and attention spans.
A study at the University Of London found that subjects who multitasked experienced drops in their IQ comparable to someone who missed a night of sleep. Even if multitaskers feel like they’re getting more done, they’re working at a much lower cognitive level and costing companies billions of dollars in lost productivity.
And the cognitive costs get worse. If you’re a multitasker, you might have done some serious permanent damage, as a study that ran MRI scans on the brains of multitaskers found they had less brain density in areas that controlled empathy and emotions.
And how to beat the problem?
“High-quality work produced is a function of two things—the amount of time you spend on the work and the intensity of your focus during this time,” said Newport. “If you can increase your focus, you’ll get more done in less time.”
So, unless you’re just way ahead of the curve and can afford your brain performing at a much lower level, then you’re going to have to stop multitasking if you want to beat the competition.
Basically retrain your mind. If you are writing a long memo at work, for example, put your phone away and close your email. Focus on it.. no distractions.. close your door if you have to. Turn off the radio. If you want to clean your email inbox? Same theory.. focus on that on nothing else. Don’t allow the world around you to dictate what you are going to do.
Multitaskers have an edge over competition. For a while. Until the errors start getting noticed.
Focus.
Focus.
Focus…..
hang on.. gotta check my email.
