Recovering Multitasker

Hi, my name is Leticia, and I am a multitasker... A recovering multitasker. And I say recovering, because multitasking is not what it's cracked up to be; it's a myth! Multitasking is glorified by modern media as being a way that humans cope with the ever increasing pressures of work and life, but in reality, it decreases efficiency and productivity, and increases overwhelm and stress! More realistically, multitasking is actually "task switching." Jumping back and forth between tasks without finishing them means that the brain has to reset itself each time you "restart" each task again. This takes time and energy that drains productivity and focus, making multitasking even more detrimental! And I'm a chronic multitasker! I used to always fall into the trap of trying to do three things at once, and getting nowhere, while also getting overwhelmed and stressed out. But then I started to learn what was actually happening when I task-switched, and how detrimental it was to my overall productivity and mental wellbeing, and learnt tricks to stay focused and present on one task at a time until it was finished. Everyone is a little bit different, so find what works for you! But probably the biggest thing that's helped me is scheduling using a calendar app. There's lots of different ways to schedule; using a physical diary or calendar, or something digital like an app or spreadsheet; but scheduling, even in broad strokes, or using a to-do list, if you don't want to be specific down to the minute, helps me plan my day and stay more or less on track. My calendar is laid out in bare bones, since I only stress myself out if I try to get more specific and then can't stick to it! When filling in your schedule, you should always start with "me time," give yourself 30-60minutes (Or more!), per day, just to BE - whatever self care looks like for you, or just doing something that makes you happy, make sure you put aside time for it every day, and stick to it!! (I put aside an hour for my morning routine). Next up, schedule in the necessities - things like work or study, the things that you have to do. After that, you can see what white space you have left, and can slot anything else in! But it's important to have white space in your day too - this allows for anything unexpected to pop up, or if something takes a little longer than anticipated, you've already got room for it in your schedule! I block out my schedule with my me-time and work, and then add in any appointments, calls or meetings around that; leaving space in between for things to take longer than expected, or do other work in between! The next tip after scheduling, is to use timers and alarms to stay on track! I have my calendar ping me with any appointments, etc, so that i don't miss anything important. But I also utilise alarms for when it's time to switch from one task to the next; this also gives me the choice of whether I want to stay focused on what I'm doing, or move on and refocus on a new task, since I don't like to schedule my day down to the minute, just broad brushstrokes! But in saying that, it's incredible how much you can get done in a focused chunk of time when you have a time frame. I set myself timers when I want to focus on just one thing, say for 10 or 30 minutes, and I've noticed a massive increase in productiveness! For example, when I come home from work, I sometimes set myself a 10min timer to get the washing in off the line, turn on a sprinkler and make a snack - then by the time the buzzer goes off, I'm sitting down and I set a 30min timer to work on my online business. Then, after I've done 30mins of focused work, I can go and enjoy the rest of my afternoon; take my dogs for a walk, feed the animals and do my outside jobs, without feeling like I need to check my phone, or feeling anxious about work I haven't done yet! I always thought that having a timer yell at me when I was halfway through a task would be annoying and make me less productive - but I find that when I'm realistic with my timers, in most cases, I've completed what I set out to before the timer goes off - and even when I haven't finished, somehow the timer helps my brain switch off from that task, and I know I can always come back and set another timer later to finish it if it's not urgent! It also works in reverse - setting a timer to do something unproductive, like 10mins in the scroll hole on Facebook, let's you take back some control - since we all know how easy it is to get lost in social media for way too long! If you set yourself a timer, then switch to the next thing as soon as it goes off, you're protecting your valuable time and energy, without falling into the addiction of the scroll. The main thing is that you're intentional with setting a timer, and then sticking to it! Hopefully by now you're seeing the value of being focused on individual tasks for smaller chunks of time, rather than fluffing around with two or three things at once with no time frame or intention! But I wanted to circle back to the No Extra Time concept from my previous blog; while true multitasking (doing two things at once), is mostly impossible, there is one exception! It is possible to do two things at once, if each one uses a different part of your brain, for example: listening to a podcast while driving. Because one is physical and one is mental, it's possible to stack these two activities and "do two things at once!" Similarly, cooking, cleaning, walking, or any kind of physical activity can be partnered with listening to audio or having a conversation, because it uses different parts of the brain. And any time that the physical part of what you're doing needs more brain power to concentrate on your surroundings, you will effectively tune out whatever you're listening to, while you focus on just one thing! How clever is our brain!? This is why it is impossible to listen and talk at the same time, or read and listen at the same time; our brain can only process one at a time. So if you think you can multitask, you've probably just found the loophole! In reality, multitasking lowers effieciency and productivity, and actually adds to stress, overwhelm and burn-out. Definitely do stack tasks that you can, in order to be productive with the time that you have; but be wary of falling into the trap of "multitasking"... it's a myth! If you've realised that your multitasking is not quite as productive as you once thought, try implementing some of the time management tools I mentioned, and let me know how they work for you!