Blog: Is it a yes or a no for Multitasking?
Either you are one or you are not. If you know where you belong to, experience says you better stick to the lane. Some people can be very good at multitasking or some can only work in a one-after the other approach.
Both has its own benefits and disadvantages. The success of your approach lies in understanding what your inherent strengths and weaknesses and using that understanding to decide which would be your best option.
Let’s list out some of the key advantages and disadvantages of multi-tasking and what are the key traits that decides how good you will be in it.
Better utilisation of time – Almost everything we do in life is time bound and more than ever, time sells at a premium these days. The possibility of doing more things and finishing them in lesser time and no task waiting to be taken up only upon finishing of the previous is an ideal scenario for people hard pressed for time. The higher you are in the responsibility chain of your organisation or professionally, the more tasks you have at hand. The people who you are answerable too, wouldn’t want to be your second preference. Many times, you would need feedback or collaboration from someone else to finish your task too. The ability to fill those gaps of waiting time productively will surely add value in your overall ‘productiveness’.
Higher productivity – Getting more done is productivity. Simultaneously working on tasks helps you achieve more in lesser time. So multitasking is key to increasing productivity.
Quicker turnarounds – Very often internal or external stakeholders you deal with are hard pressed for time. You are as well. In any sphere of life or profession quicker turnarounds are appreciated highly and often expected too. Quicker turnarounds are key for higher productivity and in turn for higher revenues too
Flexibility to do more – When you multitask, there is possibility to achieve more. When you multitask, you switch from task to task thus increasing the flexibility and making your brain flexible and resilient to change.
Great for people with less attention span and who craves variety: Not all of us are great with concentration or have great attention span. Some of us have flitting minds and can only retain focus on a task for a shorter time. For such people to be more productive it is best to alternate between different tasks. This avoids boredom from setting in as well.
Now, is multitasking the answer for all your productivity worries. Obviously, no. Like every hack known to humans, even multitasking has its own problems. What are they?
Lesser efficiencies due to distraction – A multitasker is permanently distracted. When you are doing a task, most often you will not be able to devote you entire mental faculty to the task at hand. Your mind could be travelling to problems or challenges in another task which is being simultaneously done. This could considerably reduce the quality of work and efficiencies achieved a swell. Your skills will not be optimally utilised in these semi-attentive states and the chances of reaching a state of perfection or near perfection is obliterated. This erosion in quality of output is perhaps the most important disadvantage of multitasking.
Propensity for errors – As mentioned above, your mind space is split among various tasks. This is the exact environment that fosters errors in the job done. Errors and slip ups happen when we are not devoting our entire concentration to something. A mind like that is in a hurry to close out one task and move on to another. In life we all know how often we make wrong calls or say wrong thing when we hurry. A patient devoted manner of working is as important as an unhurried well thought response .
Increased stress and anxiety levels – When a human mind has to devote to attention to many things rather than having just one thing to focus, it is obviously going be a stressful proposition. So, someone who tries to multitask always, will be in permanently wound up high adrenaline state which is the only way to get multiple things done simultaneously.
Problems due to priority mix ups – When there are many tasks are to be done and when you decide to do one thing at a time, the first activity of yours would be prioritisation. You would take up things in the order of importance and finish the most important first and keep lesser priorities for later. This approach might not work when multitasking as one switches from one task to another in quick succession and end up prioritising a low priority task over a task that should be on the top.
May not be suitable for complex tasks: Multitasking is not suitable for tasks that require intense focus or involve a lot of complexity. Complex tasks require many tasks done together and brought together which requires undivided attention.
In conclusion, multitasking can have both advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, it can increase productivity and efficiency, allowing us to tackle multiple tasks at once and save time. Additionally, it can be a necessary skill in many jobs and daily life situations. On the other hand, multitasking can also lead to a decrease in the quality of work, increased stress and anxiety, and a reduced ability to concentrate and remember information. It can also have negative impacts on interpersonal relationships and communication.
Ultimately, whether multi-tasking is beneficial or detrimental depends on the individual and the situation. It’s important to be aware of the potential drawbacks and to evaluate the costs and benefits before engaging in multitasking. By considering the task complexity, the urgency of each task, and individual capacity to handle multiple tasks, one can make an informed decision on whether multitasking is an appropriate approach. It is important to balance the need for productivity with the need for accuracy and focus, and sometimes it is better to prioritize one task at a time for better outcomes.
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