#019 Multitasking and productivity

The myth and the reality

It's a well-known fact that multitasking ultimately reduces productivity, right?

In fact, a study by Gloria Mark et al. from the University of California demonstrates the opposite. Workers interrupted in their task worked faster than those left alone, and delivered equivalent results in terms of the number of errors. Hey, that reminds me that the days I get the most work done are often the days I'm bombarded with requests and calls. For what? Knowing that I will probably be interrupted in a task, I give it my full attention to make as much progress as possible before the next phone call. And so this has a definite impact on my productivity.

Interruptions can be productive when they are relevant to the topic you are working on, or when they are short. For example, you are doing your monthly billing. A customer calls to make a credit card payment. If you're working on one task and someone interrupts you on something completely different, you need to completely redirect your thinking. It takes time to redirect your attention to the impromptu topic. Let's say an employee wants to talk to you about a production problem, and to dive back into your figures and accounts receivable afterwards.

Now let's talk about self-interruption. Admit it, you are an expert! Another study published by Gloria Mark showed that frequent technological interruptions have made us accustomed to checking our emails and messages at all times. Sometimes a surprise slips into our emails: a message from someone we love, a discount on our favorite products or a potential customer showing signs of buying. We don't want to miss anything, and we ourselves interrupt the flow of our activities to check what has come in. Researchers at Duke University found that people received an average of 65 to 80 notifications per day! Their study demonstrated that by turning off all notifications, participants became anxious and worried about missing something important. However, when they had the freedom to check their notifications as often as they wanted, they felt stressed, unhappy and unproductive.

The real victim of multitasking and interruptions isn't actually our productivity. It’s actually our mental health that is most affected. Even though we have the ability to manage several tasks almost at the same time, this requires a great deal of energy and concentration which drains us from hour to hour. After just 20 minutes of interrupted work, Gloria Mark's research shows, people reported feeling significantly more stressed, frustrated and under pressure in the face of increased effort and a heavier task at hand.

There are several software and applications that allow you to deactivate certain functions or activities when you use your technological tools. Your happiness will not be achieved until you realize that you can improve your productivity by reducing interruptions. To focus on what really matters. Once you decide to improve your lot, form new habits according to what makes sense and is accessible to you. For example, you can train yourself to lose the reflex of checking your email as soon as it rings. You know very well which habits are harmful to you, attack them directly in small bites. In addition to reducing your stress and your feeling of helplessness in the face of everything that challenges you, you will gain greater confidence in your own abilities to improve the way you work and the happiness you derive from it.

For more information on the cited research (in English):

Zapier

Fastcompany.com

Business Insider