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MULTITASKING AND ITS COSTS
Somehow people believe that they can do several tasks at once, but ALL of the studies show that
1. It is impossible to do two things at once. So far, no human has been able to do it.
2. We are simply switching between tasks with our limited attention units as a human.
3. The extra costs incur in the fact that the mind must pause and think in order to start another task well. There is always a cost.
4. All of the studies show that a person is much, much less productive doing multitasking than sticking to one task for a longer period.
5. One's brain ends up being trained to not pay attention and to be more frantic, so the primitive brain is dramatically more anxious than if it is trained to pay constant attention for a bit. (And the anxiety causes one to operate less effectively all by itself! So there is double dipping in terms of harm to one's productivity and also one's happiness!)
See The Huge Costs Of Multitasking - A Fool's Errand! And make a decision on whether you are going to straighten up this damaging way of operating.
MULTIPROJECTING AND ITS COSTS
The productivity experts recommend that you stop believing you are superman (or superwoman) and that you follow the rules that fit humans.
Basically, the rule is to never have more than two major projects at one time.
You simply cannot do more, at least not well and definitely not efficiently.
Those people who keep on having more will always be super-busy, super-stressed - and sitting there wondering what's wrong with themselves, as they "should" be able to do it, as, after all, "others can do it, so they should be able to do it. However, the fact is that it is simply idealism and false hero worship for a person to believe that others can do - as they can't do it well - and we misperceive, without really adequate evidence, that others are able to and are doing these fantasized levels of being above humankind's capabilities.
Everybody who violates the rule will suffer in some way, emotionally and in terms of productivity.
Don't do it.
Each time you return to a different project, besides losing momentum, you will have to figure out where you were, restart your thinking mode, lost you prior stream of thinking. You will think less well if you are anxious and pressures because of the busyness and wondering if you can get it all done well. You will be prone to procrastinating and juggling. You, just plain, will suffer, as well as the quality of your work.
In my book (which is about producing happiness), called Life Value Productivity, says that we will always lose productivity when we violate the rule of the straight line and start zig zagging back and forth in life or between multiple projects.
JUST DON'T DO EITHER OF THESE, UNLESS YOU ARE SUPERMAN/WOMAN!
Both of those strategies are very costly, in terms of losses in productivity but also in emotional well-being. We take on the impossible and somehow think it will work, not noticing that it most often is not working! Imagine that "not noticing"! Amazing, and definitely the opposite of Living Life As A Life Champion. It's more like Living Life As A Boiling Frog. Your choice: keep on the same path or change it. Well, duh!
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
Multitasking and multiprojecting - both harmful for all living creatures
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