Multitasking: How Bad is it Really?

You’ve probably already been warned to stay away from multitasking. In recent years, there have been many articles, blog posts etc. dissuading us from it. Why?

1. Multitasking doesn’t exist. Instead, when we do try to pay attention to two tasks at once, what we end up doing is switching our focus rapidly between different tasks.
2. This kind of switching makes us less productive than if we focused on one task only, and then moved on to the other task later.
3. People who are most likely to attempt multitasking – and who think they are good at it – have the lowest actual multi-tasking abilities.

This is all relatively uncontroversial and based on many experiments measuring task effectiveness and brain activity, and I believe it is important knowledge.

However, the implications are bigger than that.

Here’s a sketch to illustrate an additional problem. The blue and green areas show brain activity that is specific to certain tasks, whereas the orange area shows roughly what extra brain activity is required just for the switching between those two specific tasks. The point of the sketch is to show how the switching itself is actually a third task that consumes a lot of brainpower. Importantly, this switch cost occurs in the frontal areas of the brain, which are involved in decision making and planning – and that are, as I discussed in a previous post, very susceptible to fatigue and glucose depletion.

In other words, by switching tasks when we are trying to multitask, we are using the part of our brain (the pre-frontal cortex) which is most easily exhausted and uses up the most resources (glucose). Developmentally speaking, the prefrontal cortex is our latest achievement: it is the last part of the brain to fully develop in young adults, but also the most recently evolved part in our history as a species, and the part of our brain that looks most radically different from the brains of other animals.

In that light, it shouldn’t be too surprising that it is the least efficient part of our brain, and not as essential for survival as the older and more established parts. However, it is also the very part that enables us to focus, exert self-control, be kind and patient, delay gratification, and just overall make smart decisions.

What I’m arguing here is that by switching tasks (by trying to multitask, or by having too many distractions instead of focusing on one thing only), we are wasting the best part of our brain power. By the end of the day (or even the hour) we will have less self-control, make more unhealthy choices, eat the wrong kinds of foods in the wrong moments, spend money that we didn’t want to spend, get angry at our loved ones — in other words, are simply being more stupid than necessary.

So, in order to remain smarter for longer (throughout our long days), we should practice focus and avoid multitasking wherever we can. (Well, and take breaks. I still stand by that too.)

Here are some small practical steps you can take to increase focus:

• Make a conscious choice at what times of the day you want to be social. Don’t let others decide that for you by interrupting and distracting you.
• Turn off all notifications from all apps that are not absolutely essential.
• Close all those browser windows and programs you’re not using right now.
• Play just as hard as you work: think of being present as a skill and a habit that you want to practice everywhere, not just at work.

by Ursina Teuscher (PhD), at Teuscher Decision Coaching, Portland OR

Selected References:
Fuster, J. M. (1988). Prefrontal Cortex. In Comparative Neuroscience and Neurobiology (pp. 107–109). Birkhäuser Boston.
Fuster, J. M. (2001). The Prefrontal Cortex-An Update – Time Is of the Essence. Neuron, 30(2), 319–333.
Gopher, D., Armony, L. & Greenspan, Y. (2000). Switching tasks and attention policies. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 129, 308-229.
Meyer, D. E. & Kieras, D. E. (1997a). A computational theory of executive cognitive processes and multiple-task performance: Part 1. Basic mechanisms. Psychological Review, 104, 3-65.
Meyer, D. E. & Kieras, D. E. (1997b). A computational theory of executive cognitive processes and multiple-task performance: Part 2. Accounts of psychological refractory-period phenomena. Psychological Review, 104, 749-791.
Rubinstein, J. S., Meyer, D. E. & Evans, J. E. (2001). Executive Control of Cognitive Processes in Task Switching. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 27, 763-797.
Rogers, R. & Monsell, S. (1995). The costs of a predictable switch between simple cognitive tasks. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 124, 207-231.
Sanbonmatsu, D. M., Strayer, D. L., Medeiros-Ward, N., & Watson, J. M. (2013). Who Multi-Tasks and Why? Multi-Tasking Ability, Perceived Multi-Tasking Ability, Impulsivity, and Sensation Seeking. PLOS ONE, 8(1), e54402.