Multitasking: 8 reasons to stop being one!

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A study conducted at Stanford University shows how multitasking adds stress to our daily lives and negatively affects our mood, motivation and productivity: People who are regularly bombarded with multiple streams of electronic information don't pay as much attention  as those who prefer to complete one task at a time. Furthermore, they also tend to not control their memory and have difficulty moving from one job to another. That's what a group of Stanford researchers discovered.

Tech multitaskers are everywhere, having multiple email conversations and instant messaging at the same time. Or even texting while watching Belgium Phone Number List television and bouncing from one website to another while doing homework. Multitasking, do you think that's cool? 8 reasons for you to start doing one task at a time 1# Your brain doesn't like it. Some people pride themselves on multitasking. But when you do that, your mind can't stay focused, so you end up forgetting to finish something. A clear example is when a person who claims to be a “multitasker” meets a new person. In this case, she has a 99% chance of forgetting the name of this person she just met. This happens because our mind is distracted and is unable to process, or even retain, this new information.



This happens due to being distracted, or thinking about too many things at the same time.
People who are distracted by multiple streams of electronic information don't pay attention.
This inability to concentrate can affect both your professional life and personal relationships. By doing too many things at the same time, you end up not connecting deeply with others, be it clients, co-workers, friends or family members. So when we stop living in the present, we are essentially only half alive.

2# More tasks = more errors
This is a logical consequence of the lack of focus characteristic of the multitasking person. This is because, when doing several things at the same time, your mind is divided between them. So, it's natural for your mistakes to multiply. According to Stanford research, multitaskers are terrible at filtering out irrelevant information. This means there will definitely be some mental cross-firing and overlap between tasks.

Can you really afford to make these mistakes? Probably not. Therefore, each task must receive your full attention, separately.

3# Wait, what is multitasking again?
That's right, multitasking affects your memory.
In 2011, the University of California, San Francisco published a study showing how quickly switching from one task to another affects short-term memory.
Needless to say, the impact is always negative and becomes increasingly apparent as you age. Just because you can handle your tasks now doesn't mean that 5 or 10 years from now you can continue your life the same way. Therefore, it is always good to cultivate healthy habits from the beginning.

4# Multitasking Causes Anxiety
A big downside to multitasking is that feeling of anxiety that haunts people who consistently divide their attention. This study, carried out by researchers at the University of California, Irvine, shows that they can cause psychological and physical damage.
They ran a test that measured the heart rates of employees with and without access to office email. Those who were able to access their email and remained connected exhibited higher heart rates than those who were unable to access it. On the other hand, the second group was observed and ultimately performed their work relatively stress-free.

5# Creativity is Inhibited
By devoting your attention to too many tasks at once, you will never have the working memory to come up with ideas and concepts that are truly creative. Thus, you will perform your tasks in an average way and greatness will be beyond your reach.
When we are anxious, our bodies begin to access more primitive brain structures, which are designed to keep us safe from danger and alert. When this happens, we no longer access other areas, such as the frontal lobe, which has adapted to access critical thinking and creativity.

6# Multitasking is a waste of time
When you try to complete small tasks simultaneously with one big task, you feel like the tasks consume more time and never end. This happens because the mind has to reset itself for each task change.

7# It harms creativity
Multitasking requires a lot of “working memory”, as the temporary storage of information is known, which has limited capacity.
When this “memory” is depleted, it impairs the ability to think creatively, according to research from the University of Illinois at Chicago. With so much going on in their heads, the study suggests that multitaskers have a harder time daydreaming and spontaneously coming up with creative solutions.

8# You are not living
How many times a day do you check your phone for an update? You don't even realize it, but your thumb is permanently stuck on unlocking your phone to check the status of Instagram , Facebook, Whatsapp or read news on the web all day long. In other words, you might be reading this post right now and seeing your crush on Tinder , and that's not good. You multitask technologically and end up forgetting your personal side.
Considering all these reasons, it's easy to understand why the power of multitasking is a myth that has never helped anyone efficiently accomplish anything important.
So what can you do about it?

Here are some ideas for increasing productivity and decreasing stress:
1 – Create more structure for your work. Do highly creative tasks in the morning and take a short break before moving on to each different task. The efficient method that has helped many people is Pomodoro.
2 – Put your inbox on pause for an hour or two. At the very least, stop responding to their emails immediately. This “trains” others not to expect immediate responses.
3 – Share weekly goals and achievements with others. When you publicly commit to certain priorities and fail to follow through on them, it can motivate you to find a better way of doing things next week.