HYDERABAD: Take a second to notice the way you work. You’re answering calls, replying to emails and thinking about what to make for dinner, all at once. Most often, we are under the assumption that when we are dealing with various tasks at the same time; we are multitasking. But here’s the truth: multitasking — doing more than one task at a time and paying equal attention to all of them — is a myth, say experts.
What we assume to be ‘multitasking’ is just alternating between tasks very quickly. While we can perform simple tasks at the same time, the same can’t be said for complex tasks. Multitasking may be possible to some extent but achieving perfection in multitasking is a utopian concept, says Rita Roy, a senior clinical psychologist at Chetana Psychiatric Hospital and Pranaam Multispeciality Hospital.
“The attention span of a human is limited; we can only focus on one task in a moment, while the other tasks are at the periphery. The focus, or attention, towards a task is split. Multitasking is nothing but dealing with individual tasks with quick switches throughout the working period. In the true sense, we only focus on one task in a moment. Even if there is a high need for work, we cannot equally focus and apply complete concentration,” she says. The myth of perfection in multitasking can lead to stress and anxiety in today’s life as it could lead to dissatisfaction, frustration or failure, she adds.
While multitasking, we go through two stages. Goal shifting - switching focus from one task to another. And role activation - change from the rules or context of the previous task to a new one. Experts say that when we think we are multitasking, we are just switching focus and attention from one task to another, we are not paying equal attention at the same time.
The switches are fast and that is why we may not notice it and think we are multitasking. Amthul Fathima, a psychologist and assistant professor at the Department of Psychology in St Joseph’s Degree & PG College, says that multitasking often results in inefficiency. “Research shows that multitasking makes us less efficient and leads to more errors. Only 2.5 per cent of people can multitask effectively. It can affect our ability to learn, as learning requires focus, which is not possible while multitasking. If we are constantly attempting to multitask, we don’t practice tuning out the rest of the word to engage in deeper process and learning,” says Fathima.
According to another study, college students who tried to multi-task took longer to do their assignments and had lower grades, she says. Fathima continues to say that trying to do too much at one time can get difficult to be mindful and present at the moment. “Chronic multitaskers tend to be more impulsive and distracted. It reduces a person’s comprehension, attention, and overall performance,” she says.