# The multitasking myth

- **Episode:** [111](https://agents.truthliesandwork.com/episodes/111.md) (2024-07-02)
- **Type:** news-roundup
- **Tags:** multitasking, productivity, focus
- **Time:** 3:01–6:15 (start 181s)
- **Listen:** [https://truthliesandwork.com/111?t=181](https://truthliesandwork.com/111?t=181)

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[3:01] Leanne Elliott: I saw an interesting article this week on The Telegraph website. I'm very cultured. Um, about multitasking. I know we talk about multitasking quite a bit, Al, don't we? Because both of us are generally pretty bad at it. Um, but it's one of those things, you know, that sounds like multitasking might be better for productivity. Um, it might be that you get more during the day. Well, it turns out that it's not as effective as we might think. So most of us do take pride, um, in our ability, or lack of, to juggle multiple tasks at once, whether it be cooking, emailing, chatting on the phone. There's a whole host of things. I think I, I'm a bit overambitious with what I can also do while I'm brushing my teeth. Um, turns out not a lot
[3:41] Al Elliott: Let's not go into that. Thanks for sharing there, Leanne. No worries
[3:46] Leanne Elliott: And of course, there's a cultural expectation as well. You know, there's always that, that people saying, oh, aren't they amazing? They get so much done. Look at her juggling everything. I'm sure women out there will, particularly with children, um, will, will roll an eye at that one. Um, but yeah, it can be seen as a superpower. But the thing is, the most recent research suggests that we're not actually really any good at multitasking, or indeed we're not multitasking at all, instead of just switching rapidly between tasks, um, and that can slow us down. So Dr. Roz Halari, a neuropsychologist, points out that multitasking can decrease our productivity and make us prone to errors because our brain processes information slower and less accurately when we're trying to do too many things at once. So this isn't just about slipping up in your daily chores. It could mean missing crucial details or even facing serious risks like accidents. But what really happens in our brain when we're trying to multitask is actually chemicals. So multitasking increases stress levels, shown by a rise in cortisol, um, our stress hormone. And also our attention spans take a hit too, uh, make us much more, um, distractible. And over time, it can even— research has shown it can even change our brain structure, reducing the density of the gray matter in areas responsible for cognitive cognitive control. If you're wondering why there's so much more talk at the minute about neuroscience and what happens in our brain, it's because we now have the technology to actually scan the brain and do lots of cool tests with it, and that's fairly recent, the last decade or so. So, we're starting to see stuff come out. Another expert called Dr. Addyisi suggests that we should actually focus on monotasking, which is just doing one thing at a time. This approach not only may help us to complete tasks more efficiently, but also makes us happier and less stressed. stressed, basically giving our full attention to one thing. So yes, food for thought next time you are answering emails during your lunch break or texting while walking the dog. Um, just remember, doing less could actually help you do more. I like the sound of that
[5:51] Al Elliott: Yeah, don't try and do 2 things at once. Just do one. Monotasking— do one thing really, really well. And there's also the switching cost, which we've talked about before as well, um, which if you are writing an email and then you see a text from your phone, you look down and you reply to it, There's a cost to switching to that and switching back to your email, which will become evident over time. So, monotasking is the future
[6:13] Leanne Elliott: Maybe. What have you seen this week, Al?