My name is Alejandro, and I’m an addict to multi-tasking
This time I’m doing something about it.
There’s an increasingly mounting body of knowledge on the adverse effects that multi-tasking has on humans. From social issues with self-imposed isolation and missed key interactions, to chemical unbalances, permanent cognitive damage, metabolic shifts and even theories about physical changes in the structure of our brains.
Earl Miller, an MIT Neuroscientist specializing in divided attention says that “when people think they’re multitasking, they’re actually just switching from one task to another very rapidly. And every time they do, there’s a cognitive cost in doing so.”
And in an article for TalentSmart, Travis Bradberry, Ph.D wrote that “Even if it doesn’t cause brain damage, allowing yourself to multitask will fuel any existing difficulties you have with concentration, organization, and attention to detail. Multitasking in meetings and other social settings indicates low Self- and Social Awareness, two emotional intelligence (EQ) skills that are critical to success at work”.
Asking the brain to shift attention from one activity to another causes the prefrontal cortex and striatum to burn up oxygenated glucose, the same fuel they need to stay on task. And the kind of rapid, continual shifting we do with multitasking causes the brain to burn through fuel so quickly that we feel exhausted and disoriented after even a short time. We’ve literally depleted the nutrients in our brain, which leads to compromises in both cognitive and physical performance
All of this may sound apocalyptic, but judging by my own experience and coming to realization after a few hardships lately, I have now turned the corner into accepting that multi-tasking to drive theoretical effectiveness in my life and efficiency at work is driving me to a point of no return that I want to avoid. And this is why I researched, read many articles and decided to write this opinion, for those that like me, have hit the bottom.
I’m often losing sleep over work concerns. My social interaction quality has been affected. I have less friends and with those that I managed to keep, I talk less often with. My memory capacity to remember important things is reduced. And even though I can do a few things in a compressed time, the lack of efficiency are notoriously increasing in my life. I have multi-tasking to blame.
Let’s call multi-tasking what it is: Divided Attention.
With the appropriate name, it sounds less like a good thing.
True. Multi-tasking isn’t probably not the only culprit. My friends (and scientists) will say that aging doesn’t help, as I turn 42 soon, but even though indeed aging isn’t making me any sharper, I don’t really need to help it accelerate the results, right?.
Not “being present” is one of the clearest consequences of this bad habit of multi-tasking. Thinking that I can do two things at the same time and pay attention to what I’m writing while I’m listening to a discussion. Or typing wildly on the phone an email to my colleagues while I’m “listening” to what my kids have to say about their day. Or reading a document while the highlights from last night’s football match are playing on a screen nearby. It’s nonsense.
But it’s not just me, of course. It’s the whole society. Look around you and you’ll see it everywhere. I’m not talking about how glued we are to our phones, which we are, but the combination of it with trying to do other things in a short amount of time. We are busier than ever. The talent shortage that is so well documented requires that we do more with less, and achieve goals in shorter periods of time. Western society rewards quick decisions, fast-failing and correcting mistakes more than it does steady and enduring work/decisions. Multi-tasking is almost rewarded and meant to be.
It’s the smartphones that made it worse.
This problem wasn’t probably as bad as up to the time where smartphones were finally pervasive. The Blackberry started it all in my opinion, creating business environments where everyone was hunched over their tiny screens and thumbing away whatever important email needed to be written right that second — even though we all know it probably could wait, as have waited for years until that point. It happened during meetings, dinners, at the theater and social gatherings. And with smartphones increased capabilities, the reason to divide our attention are even greater and we feel more justified.
We get irrationally aggressive, unapologetic and defensive when we are called out for not being “present”. For being on our phones while we are supposed to do something else — like having dinner-. And we respond with an excuse of why we are doing it, instead of a reasoned “you are right, my apologies” and a profound acknowledgment that we are in the wrong, because we are.
It won’t be perfect, but it will be better from now on.
One of my attributes that made me a great sales person, and a successful professional is that I’m a good listener, and guess what?, people like to be listened to. Yes, I am a good listener, but only when I’m present and interested.
I’m just returning from two weeks out traveling in Europe. During this time, I exercised this newfound purpose in business meetings, while exploring Manchester and Belfast, and while conversing to strangers out there. It worked great. I learned a great deal, I enjoyed the views, made my business interactions better, achieved great results in my meetings and I even ended the day with a full battery for when it was time to check Twitter mindlessly for a few minutes before falling asleep to catch up on the day.
It worked wonders because when I caught myself going back to my bad habit, I stopped myself and used a phrase I read in a book while flying to Europe: “My job right now is to….”.
I used it to go back to sleep when I suddenly woke up. I used it at a couple meetings. I used it while walking in the city to stop me from pulling my phone and texting my wife to say something that could clearly wait.
I’m not saying you should follow my steps in this journey that will take me a long time to master — after all, it’s a bad habit-, but if you want to, I’m here to listen, learn from what works for you, and share experiences.
