In the midst of the rise of telecommuting and technological advances, doing several things at the same time is not as positive a tool as it seems.
In his book “Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals“, the British author Oliver Burkemann takes up a subject about which many things have already been said: the multitasking. The possibility of do many things at the same time effectively is a skill that is often valued in the workplace, but could not be so efficient long-term.
Throughout his essay, the author recounts how he began to carry out one activity at a time: ran without listening to music; I listened to a podcast without having to drive. In this way, she noticed that he was much more present and focused when doing anything.
in the middle of this change of habits -which in turn functioned as a studio-, the journalist discovered himself as “addicted to not doing one thing at a time”. Perhaps as a product of a society that encourages this characteristic as something positive, the human being stopped living sequentiallythat is, focusing on one thing after another successively.
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Several scientific articles explain that Human beings cannot do more than one activity at a time.; what it actually does is shift attention quickly from one activity to another without realizing it. This, in addition to contributing to decentralization, makes performance in all activities decreases markedly.
However, the “ability” to do several things simultaneously imposes itself almost as a pressure from outside. Some jobs -especially those related to technology- require their employees to have multitasking capacity within the positive characteristics. At the same time, outside the workplace, human beings face the constant problems of the world, which force them to worry about different things at the same time.
Escape from multitasking: the goal of the future?
The technological advances They do not contribute to facilitating this situation. The social networks and the requirement to be “present” all the time encourage the use of telephones as a method of distraction, which puts even more barriers between human beings and the reality in which they find themselves.
According to the study, the only way to avoid falling into the spiral of multitasking is accept the reality of limitations from each person. Distracting from difficult tasks does not make them more bearable, as it reinforces the belief that they are the type of activities that can only be tolerated by being distracted. By doing this, the task that has to be done is not carried out correctly, and the “distraction” activity is not enjoyed as it should be.
To be truly effective at work, it is essential to let go of all externals while carrying out an activity. By doing this, you ensure that whatever you get to do it will be solved correctlyand without adding the pressure of wanting to do everything.
How to fight against multitasking?
- Reduce the distractions: turn off the phone or block unwanted calls and messages.
- Create a daily plan It helps to organize. Marking the tasks that you want to perform during a certain time in sections can be very helpful to avoid feeling that we are overwhelmed.
- train the brain. Learning to focus is a worthwhile skill, but it takes practice. Activities such as meditation can be useful to learn how to master attention.
Source: Ambito
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
