It does happen too frequently to me. Driving and there is another car in front, too slow, swaying between lanes, oblivious to the surroundings. Why. The driver is on the phone whilst driving! I ‘researched’ myself. Operating the mobile phone whilst driving is not safe, not legal in most countries. The reason, we are not well equipped to multi- task.
This brings me to the point of this little article. Can we multi-task, in other words do two things well at the same time? Apparently, if the multi-task requires thinking we CANNOT multi-task.
So, what happens when somebody
- listens during a meeting and answers emails at the same time?
- drives and fumbles with the mobile phone at the same time?
- has a conversation with a colleague and sends or reads sms’s in between?
Instead of doing two things (multi-task) at the same time we really are switching quickly between the tasks (multi-plex). Therefore, if we focus on one task we lose out on the other and vice versa. The result: We don’t pay full attention to either task; we miss out on information, make mistakes, make low quality hasty decisions, need more time to rectify things later.
Some comments, which I picked up from a famous German business magazine ‘WirschaftsWoche’ 12/2007.
Quote –The brain can multi-task if absorption of impressions is required only, NOT IF A REACTION IS REQUIRED. A minimum of 2 areas in the frontal cortex, which are involved in choosing a reaction, act like a bottle neck as these are only able to process one process after the next. Attempts to Multi-Task waste 25% of our time (more mistakes and recovering from mistakes) – Irene Koch – University Aachen.
People who believe that they multi-task successfully do a quick switch between tasks only and mix up speed with intelligence. – Ernst Pöppel – Brain Scientist
If every person would be able to work 1 hour per day without interruption, we would expect the biggest innovation push of all time – Ernst Pöppel. Unquote
So, disapprove of multi-tasking, whenever possible. Get one job done properly and then the next one. You and your staff will be more efficient and, by the way, experience less stress. There is nothing wrong with a bit of ‘good old fashioned planning’. Decide on priorities and reserve time slots when you and / or your team fully focus on one task only and do this with 100% focus.
This brings me to the point of this little article. Can we multi-task, in other words do two things well at the same time? Apparently, if the multi-task requires thinking we CANNOT multi-task.
So, what happens when somebody
- listens during a meeting and answers emails at the same time?
- drives and fumbles with the mobile phone at the same time?
- has a conversation with a colleague and sends or reads sms’s in between?
Instead of doing two things (multi-task) at the same time we really are switching quickly between the tasks (multi-plex). Therefore, if we focus on one task we lose out on the other and vice versa. The result: We don’t pay full attention to either task; we miss out on information, make mistakes, make low quality hasty decisions, need more time to rectify things later.
Some comments, which I picked up from a famous German business magazine ‘WirschaftsWoche’ 12/2007.
Quote –The brain can multi-task if absorption of impressions is required only, NOT IF A REACTION IS REQUIRED. A minimum of 2 areas in the frontal cortex, which are involved in choosing a reaction, act like a bottle neck as these are only able to process one process after the next. Attempts to Multi-Task waste 25% of our time (more mistakes and recovering from mistakes) – Irene Koch – University Aachen.
People who believe that they multi-task successfully do a quick switch between tasks only and mix up speed with intelligence. – Ernst Pöppel – Brain Scientist
If every person would be able to work 1 hour per day without interruption, we would expect the biggest innovation push of all time – Ernst Pöppel. Unquote
So, disapprove of multi-tasking, whenever possible. Get one job done properly and then the next one. You and your staff will be more efficient and, by the way, experience less stress. There is nothing wrong with a bit of ‘good old fashioned planning’. Decide on priorities and reserve time slots when you and / or your team fully focus on one task only and do this with 100% focus.
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