Singletasking beats Multitasking

I fell into this trap big time when I was young. I created systems for myself in which I would constantly work on multiple things at the same time. Because that saves time, right? It allows you to do three tasks in an hour, instead of one, right?

No, it did not.

Multitasking merely means you do multiple things badly.

You work most efficient and creative when focused on one task. Our brains were not made for multitasking. Why would they? They weren’t even made for “tasking”! It’s just how we’re using our brains right now, due to society and technological advancement.

But we like to fool ourselves. I see many people—young ones, especially—looking at two or three screens simultaneously. They’re watching a film, reading their material for school, and scrolling through their phone.

The end result is obvious. They neither enjoy the film, nor learned anything, nor actually relaxed playing a game on their phone.

But they think they’re doing great. That they’re a genius, doing three things at once, never missing a thing. And they’re surprised when they get low grades, don’t understand the film, and are so tired and stressed all the time!

Multitasking merely means accomplishing nothing multiple times. Do not fool yourself.

The lesson

The lesson is therefore short and sweet: do not multitask. Again, this partially comes from our doubt. What if we’re doing the wrong thing? Shouldn’t we be doing this other task instead? So we start doing everything “kinda” and taking on multiple tasks simultaneously.

This is a major reason why people work a lot … yet achieve little. Multitasking gives the illusion of being very busy and proactive, while actually hindering all progress.

So pick one thing. Focus on that single task. Finish it, then continue to the next. (And please, do not try to look at multiple screens all day. One screen is bad enough!)

The only exception

You know what our brains evolved to do? Physical activity. We have a completely different memory for physical tasks. This allows us to learn a skill once and never forget it, even if we don’t practice it for a long time. (For example: you don’t unlearn riding a bicycle.)

You see it in older people with severe memory loss: they can still execute complex, fine-motor skills, they just can’t remember they did it.

This means that yes, you can multitask, as long as one task is completely physical and subconscious, and the other is “brainy” and conscious.

We already do this, all day. When I’m working, it’s not like my body shuts off. I still sit (or stand) upright, I can drink some water while still looking at the screen, I can think about a problem I have while exercising.

In my view, multitasking is therefore at its best when you use it this way: to get exercise, to perform a physical activity, while you’re still somewhat actively working.

In any other case, avoid it.