One afternoon I was sitting at my desk, on hold with my insurance company for 20 minutes, half listening to their repetitive music. I was also researching a topic for work and thinking about making tacos for dinner. I suddenly stopped what I was doing to pay a bill I had forgotten. I also used an exercise band to stretch my right shoulder. I thought I was efficient by multitasking. But when the insurance agent finally got on the phone, I couldn’t remember why I called. My brain felt like Swiss cheese.
When multitasking, a person switches between at least two tasks. Often one task is left unfinished in order to begin the next one. It seems like a good way to go through a to-do list. But in reality it can slow us down and be harmful to our health. “You actually have to stop one process in order to move on to another,” said neuropsychologist Karen Dahlman. This constant change causes mental and physical stress on our bodies.
How multitasking affects your brain
Studies show that multitasking affects your ability to perform short-term cognitive tasks and your long-term brain health by reducing your attention span and working memory and causing structural changes in the regions of your brain that control cognition. And anything that affects your brain health can increase your risk of diseases like dementia or Alzheimer’s.
Not only is multitasking harmful to your brain health, but it also doesn’t make you as productive as you think. In fact, you are more likely to make mistakes in your work, leave out important information, and take longer to complete a task.
This is because the human brain is not designed to multitask. Your brain is actually programmed to complete one task at a time. “Too many tasks that require high-level decisions are competing with each other,” Dahlman said. This can tire you out and make it harder to focus your attention on a task, even when you want to.
As you get older, multitasking becomes even more difficult. Dahlman said the older you get, the less equipped your brain is to multitask. “Sometimes you feel overwhelmed and think: I used to be able to handle so much more,” she said. Focusing on monotasking, doing one task at a time, can help you feel more in control.
Read: 9 Simple Ways to Fix Your Focus and Improve Concentration >>
Multitasking can be harmful to your health
Switching between tasks can stress you out and increase both your blood pressure and heart rate. Multitasking is also linked to depression and anxiety. Although these effects are often temporary, constant changes in blood pressure can affect blood flow to the brain and lead to strokes and other neurological problems.
Dahlman said high-level multitasking can also keep you awake at night and affect your sleep. It can be difficult to calm anxious thoughts, and you may wake up too early and feel pressured to move forward with your unfinished work.
Another common symptom of multitasking is brain fatigue. Constant fatigue can make you irritable, which in turn can lead to tension in the muscles, especially in the neck and shoulder area. All of this affects your overall mood and physical well-being. It can even affect your relationships.
Unfortunately, people with less access to mental health and economic resources are often more affected by these health problems. “If you can afford to pay people to provide services for you, you can block out some of those distractions,” Dahlman said.
The myth of multitasking
There’s a notion that people who multitask are smarter than people who choose to only do one thing at a time. Another myth is that multitaskers are more productive. However, the truth is that they may miss important things or skip steps. They don’t actually complete their tasks any faster and there’s no evidence that they’re smarter.
Dahlman also addressed the superwoman myth: the idea that women can handle multiple high-level tasks without consequences. But multitasking puts a strain on our brains and is not sustainable. It’s really impossible to do everything.
The attention economy makes multitasking more attractive
According to a survey by the American Psychological Association, about 40% of people multitask on their digital devices. If you’ve ever sat down to watch Netflix and then started scrolling Instagram at the same time, you can probably relate. It may feel good when you’re scrolling, but in the long run it actually increases stress and reduces productivity.
Compared to low-media multitaskers, high-media multitaskers use a larger portion of their brain to complete the same task. This basically means you are not using your brain efficiently. But with all the technology at our disposal, it’s almost impossible to stop multitasking.
8 Ways to Limit Multitasking
In a world where we are constantly bombarded with information, it’s not realistic to give up multitasking entirely. Luckily, there are ways to make your tasks less stressful.
Here are some tips to limit multitasking and achieve more success without raising your blood pressure:
- Only combine simple routine tasks such as folding laundry and making phone calls. Complete challenging tasks such as driving or reading one at a time.
- Think about when you have the most energy during the day. Use this time to focus on complex tasks, such as reviewing your finances or attending meetings.
- Build intentional breaks into your routine to rest your body and brain. Take a nap or meditate.
- Recognize your limits. If you know you will do something better if you concentrate, make sure you are in a quiet place to complete that task.
- Watch for behaviors that affect attention, such as lack of sleep and drinking alcohol.
- Ask for help and support when you feel overwhelmed.
- Limit distractions as part of your daily routine:
- Put your phone in silent mode.
- Remove social media apps from your phone.
- Turn off email while you work or set times when you want to check your email.
- Create a clean, quiet workspace and use noise-cancelling headphones.
Be strategic about addressing your needs rather than trying to eliminate them. As for me, I will focus on combining my simple tasks, such as waiting on hold, with other simple tasks, such as washing dishes. Then I have more space to complete higher tasks one after the other. As Dahlman said, approaching your tasks wisely can help you preserve your brain function.
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