Don't Fall for the Lie of Multitasking

Why task-switching and a cluttered tech stack are not good for business

Fall onto the couch after devouring your Thanksgiving meal, fall into that big pile of leaves you raked, fall for the once-a-year delight of a PSL (pumpkin spice latte), but please don’t fall for the myth of multitasking. In fact, let’s come right out and say it: You can’t multitask. It’s not possible—at least not in the true sense of the word.

In a Wall Street Journal article, MIT neuroscience professor Earl K. Miller explains that our brains can only put energy toward one cognitively demanding task at a time. What we can do is rapidly toggle between mental activities, which is more accurately described as task-switching.

The brain has a one-track mind

However, although task-switching is possible, research indicates that only about 2% of people are actually any good at it. The remaining 98% of us are poor task-switchers, which means we are probably suffering the negative consequences of believing we can do it. Miller says that juggling tasks can cause our brains to hesitate as we try to remember what we were doing. This tends to make us less creative and more prone to mistakes.

So why do we do this to ourselves? Well, for one thing, the technology we use makes it really easy. We can have multiple tabs open in our web browsers with several apps running on our phones all while “listening” to our boss during a Zoom meeting.

Also, our personal and professional lifestyles practically demand this frantic toggling. App notifications that go unnoticed often show up a few minutes later as an email. Colleagues who don’t get an answer right away via text message will quickly ping us on Slack.

We may even feel quite productive as we’re jumping around to different programs on different devices. In reality, though, we probably aren’t getting much actual work done. Laura Cassiday of the NeuroLeadership Institute explains that there is a significant “switch cost” to trying to manage the multiple sources of information hitting our brains all at once. This cost is a cognitive “delay that happens when the brain stores information related to an abandoned task and redirects its attention to a new one.”

How to minimize switch costs

If all this sounds discouraging, don’t worry. You don’t have to be at the mercy of your tasks. Reclaim.ai offers some helpful advice for how to minimize the cost of task-switching:

Try task-batching

This is the process of completing similar tasks back to back. For example, you can designate a specific time of your day for replying to emails. It’ll help you stay focused on just the emails and not wander off to do other tasks that pop into your mind.

Create day themes

Day-theming allows you to dedicate certain days to specific projects or types of work. If you have an entire workday committed to writing that report, for instance, you’ll be less tempted to jump on the latest task assigned to you in Asana.

Set aside days for no meetings

If you have quite a bit of control over your schedule, try blocking off your calendar on certain days so no one can set up a meeting with you. This allows you big blocks of focus time during which you aren’t interrupted by meetings.

Integrate your apps

Bouncing around between work apps is where many people pay a hefty switch cost. Look for ways to integrate the apps you use the most so you aren’t constantly moving back and forth between programs.

Simpler tech stack = less task-switching

In fact, simplifying your tech stack in general is one of the best ways to reduce the task-switching load. Bloomberg’s Matthew Boyle writes that “large companies now deploy 187 apps on average, up from 77 in 2015. What’s worse, nearly one-third of them are redundant or add little value.”

Nadir Ali, CEO of Inpixon, a data intelligence company, explains to Drew Robb of SHRM that now is the time for companies to adopt “platform singularity." Otherwise, workers will continue to experience productivity decline from using too many disparate programs with variable user interfaces.

Glances reduces app clutter

Using Glances is an excellent way to simplify your tech stack. Not only does it integrate your favorite apps (with no code!), it offers a simplified view of the data you need in real time, essentially creating platform singularity. And with Actions, you can complete tasks directly within Glances while continuing to work from any webpage or app you choose, thereby reducing switch costs. Creating streamlined workflows has never been easier!

So while you shouldn’t list multitasking as a skill on your resume, you should boast about how you increased productivity at work by reducing app clutter with Glances.

See how it all works with a free trial of Glances today!

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