The Art of Multitasking

When I was growing up, I remember my mother always talking about someone who was a “jack of all trades but a master of none.” She would then tell me that this person was always dabbling into many different tasks at the same time but never really doing a good job with completing any of them well. I also remember my parents instilling in me the idea of “if you are going to do a job, then do the job the best that you can.”

In reading “The Myth of Multitasking,” Nancy K. Napier shares,

“Rather than saving time, it costs time (even very small micro seconds). It’s less efficient, we make more mistakes, and over time, it can sap our energy.”

I know when I’m hiking and I’m going up a steep hill, it is easier for me to go up slowly but steadily than to stop and start every few minutes. I think multitasking affects me the same way.

When I’m cleaning the house, I used to work in one room, and then whenever I found something in the wrong place, I would stop and take it to where it belonged. I thought this was multitasking but it was more like spinning my wheels and getting nowhere. This caused me to feel very frustrated and tired. Cleaning a room took twice as long. Then I decided that I would put all the misplaced items in one spot and concentrate on the room I was working in. I finished the task more easily and quickly. Then I was able to gather the misplaced items and put them where they belonged. I felt happier when I was done because I accomplished what I intended to do.

When I am working on something and I get distracted or interrupted, I find myself having to take the time to refocus on the task I was doing.

When someone tells me that they can multitask, I know that means that they aren’t accomplishing one of the things very well and it will take them twice as long to finish all of the tasks they are trying to do.

In fact, some of my students become so overwhelmed when they try to multitask that they shut down and nothing gets done.

One way to fight the war on multitasking is to have my students make a list of what needs to be done. Then prioritize the list in order of what needs to be done first. Then tackle each task one at a time. I believe they will find more success with this process than multitasking.

How do you feel about multitasking? Please share.

Photo by alexey turenkov on Unsplash