Avoid “priority ping-pong” — stay committed to one task at a time. Batch similar tasks together to minimize context switching.
The Cocktail Party Effect
- refers to the ability to focus one’s attention a particular stimulus while filtering out a range of other stimuli (i.e., noise)
Human Brain Paradox
- Your brain is a supercomputer, but it can only have 1 thought / really focus on 1 thing at a time.
Automatic System v.s Controlled System
In his book Thinking, Fast and Slow, Nobel-prize-winning psychologist and economist Daniel Kahneman details how our brains have two processing mechanisms: an older, faster, “automatic” system and a newer, rational, “controlled” system. Kahneman refers to these as System 1 (automatic) and System 2 (controlled).
In The Happiness Hypothesis, New York University psychologist Jonathan Haidt describes the key distinction of “automatic processing” and “controlled processing” as it relates to multitasking:
Controlled processing is limited — we can think consciously about one thing at a time only — but automatic processes run in parallel and can handle many tasks at once. If the mind performs hundreds of operations each second, all but one of them must be handled automatically.
Only do one task at a time in sequence. Do not multi-task in parallel. 1
Multi-tasking Costs
- Increased Errors: Each switch risks losing focus on important details or skipping steps, especially if the tasks are complex or require high concentration.
- Longer Completion Time: The time taken to re-focus and re-establish where we left off adds up, sometimes resulting in doubled or even tripled task durations.
- Cognitive Fatigue: Constantly redirecting attention can exhaust the brain, leading to hinder your creativity and reduce overall decision-making quality.
See also:
Footnotes
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Multitasking isn’t always bad — you just have to make sure the conditions are right. ↩