We have all been found multitasking at one point or the other. We even get excited switching from one work to another thinking we are effective without understanding that it has some effects on us.
I've always seen myself as a weirdo whenever the subject of multitasking comes to fore. It's so hard for me to really juggle different activities especially those that are unrelated. I was almost resorting to prayer when someone I would call a mentor mentioned that it's important to grow to be a pro at multitasking. After much analysis, I had to read about multitasking.
Multitasking is when you tackle more than one task at the same time. To say this in reality, it is switching between two or more tasks quickly. For instance, driving while answering a phone call or switching between seeing a movie on television and cooking. Oftentimes it feels like we're managing time well but in the real sense, one or both tasks is not properly done. Let's take cooking and watching Television for example, you either miss some information from the movie or end up having a burnt offering in the kitchen.
Recently, I had to take a break from everything and relax. I used to have a teaching job that requires my attention, I also have clients I sew for then I have other commitments in church. Now, my commitment in church is such that I have to really focus on it almost throughout the day even at work and while sewing as well. I noticed, I wasn't effective with my teaching job as well as my sewing projects; I had a lot of complaints that got to me then my church commitment too was shaky.
Meaning that while I teach in class, I have my mind on my church commitment and sewing project. In fact I take time out from work to tackle either sewing or church commitment. It really affected my productivity and mental health. So I resigned from work, dropped my major church commitment, then took a break from sewing. I took 2 whole months out of base to my hometown to clear my head and refocus.
I was trying to multitask but didn't realize I was giving less attention to each of the tasks I was doing hence the lack of productivity.
The truth is, for me, I don't believe multitasking is possible particularly from what I experienced lately. It's distracting juggling tasks. Imagine working on a computer while talking to a client on phone- you're engaging your verbal and visual cortex, there's no doubt you'll miss some details from the client.
Our brains have billions of nerves and neurons; so Biology taught me but our brain can only function properly when mono - tasking i.e working on one task at a time.
Multitasking as real as it sounds has it's effects.
It leads to burn out and overwork.
Can you recall the time you were stressed and drained from switching between different tasks?
I experienced it many times.
You experience attention residue. This is what happens when you still think about your previous task while on a new one
Productivity is reduced and mental health is affected because it takes mental effort to switch between tasks.
Remember I said I did personal analysis and some readings.
These are useful tips I got about being productive without multitasking.
Focus on one task at a time and try to complete it within a desired time frame. If your attention begins to wane in the task, you can then switch to a new one and leave a note indicating where you stopped on the previous one.
Instead of assigning a time frame to a task, group similar tasks together and complete them at once. This will help you focus your attention.
Align your priorities. While it may be tasking to align priorities because everything seems important hence the need to multitask. Understanding the impact of each activity will help to better prioritize them. You can't get everything done in one day. Know when to block communications that are of less importance and focus on the important ones.
Use do not disturb features. I use this feature often when I have to focus on a particular task without distractions.
Multitasking - juggling tasks is less effective and hampers productivity. The temptation to multitask is high especially if you've grown used to it. When you stop multitasking and focus on one task at a time, you'll be more engaged, focused, productive and impactful.
Therefore, I will say the key to productivity is effective time management. I don't think there is something like effective multitasking.
This is my response to Hive naija prompt, 60th edition.
Thanks for reading through.
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