Multitasking: Is It All It’s Cracked Up To Be? (2 of 3)

Putting Your Job At Risk

When you multitask, you are wasting both time and energy. We aren’t talking about a few seconds of wasted time either; in the long run, you lose hours upon hours of productivity, and that costs your organization a significant amount of money. Think about it: productivity is important if you want to be a good employee, but the constant distractions and inability to assess what is a priority and what isn’t ultimately means nothing becomes a priority. Rather, parts of a project might get accomplished, but without using your abilities to the maximum, they don’t end up being as thorough or as useful as they otherwise might be if you had put all of your efforts into the job. Psychologist Gerald Weinberg summarized this problem thusly: if you’re fully contracted on a task, you are putting 100% effort into it. But if you’re doing three things at the same time, you are putting 20% effort into each of them and the remaining 40% is wasted due to switching between these activities.

What are the Problems with Multitasking Beyond Work?

The damage caused by multitasking doesn’t end when the workday is over. Indeed, it can cause mental health issues that affect your personal time and even your relationships. For instance, multitaskers are more prone to depression. In addition, it can lead to long-term memory problems. And let’s not forget that if you’re constantly on your smartphone checking your social media and private messages, your loved ones will grow to resent you since that could be time spent bonding with them.