In this episode, we talk about how multitasking is the least efficient way to get things done and actually is detrimental to your brain health. I show a better way to feel great while accomplishing more.
Transcript
Sometime in the 1960s, when computers were getting better at performing
Speaker:tasks, the concept of multitasking was introduced while this concept was
Speaker:intended to describe computers during multiple operations at the same time.
Speaker:Productivity experts quickly adopted it in an attempt to get us humans
Speaker:to get more done in less time.
Speaker:However, multitasking doesn't only make us less efficient.
Speaker:According to some studies, it also could potentially damage our brains.
Speaker:In this episode, I'm going to discuss a simple but powerful
Speaker:alternative to multitasking.
Speaker:That actually works.
Speaker:I'm Amin Ahmed and welcome to be.
Speaker:Well do well.
Speaker:There's a popular video on YouTube that I recently watched that demonstrates
Speaker:this idea called inattention blindness.
Speaker:You can find it by searching selective attention test.
Speaker:I've also included the link in this show notes.
Speaker:Take a minute and watch the video and then come back here and will continue.
Speaker:all right.
Speaker:If you watch the video, you'll see that the test was to count.
Speaker:The number of times a basketball was passed between players wearing a t-shirt.
Speaker:What you probably didn't notice was in the video.
Speaker:A gorilla actually walked across the screen and banged on its chest.
Speaker:This video is also referred to the invisible gorilla.
Speaker:It shows how our focus is limited.
Speaker:It's hard for us to be zoomed into something specific, like counting
Speaker:the passes between players and at the same time, be zoomed out,
Speaker:noticing all the other things happening around like the Gor.
Speaker:Daniel Leviton, a neuroscientist and the author of the organized mind
Speaker:explains that when we multitask, we're actually depleting the
Speaker:neurochemicals that we need to focus.
Speaker:The result of this is fatigue, exhaustion, and in the long term burnout.
Speaker:So what exactly is this solution to multitasking?
Speaker:How can we get more done in less time . If hopping back and forth
Speaker:between tasks doesn't actually work.
Speaker:What does?
Speaker:What actually works is batching your work?
Speaker:This is by far the best way to get things done.
Speaker:If you're asking me, can I listen to music while working out?
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:What I'm actually talking about is highly focused tasks, where you've
Speaker:got tasks that you need to focus.
Speaker:Batching is actually, what's going to help you get things done more efficiently.
Speaker:It sounds counterintuitive, but it works.
Speaker:The best example I can give on a power of batching is to show you what doesn't.
Speaker:Now, when it comes to email, we get lots of emails a day, sometimes
Speaker:even a hundred or more emails a day.
Speaker:Most people when they're working will keep their email program, whether it's Gmail or
Speaker:outlook open all day long on their screen.
Speaker:And when they get a ping ding or buzz, they'll jump into their email
Speaker:and check what came in and then read and respond to it right away.
Speaker:This takes us away from the task that we're actually working on at the moment.
Speaker:And slows us down as we switch back and forth.
Speaker:Now it's obvious that it slows us down because we stop working on the task.
Speaker:But when you get back to the task that you were working on, there is
Speaker:a bit of a delay that takes you time to get back into what you were doing.
Speaker:Some estimates show that it takes 50% more time when you switch back and
Speaker:forth, because then you have to realign yourself to what you're working on.
Speaker:As an example, if you're working on, let's say creating an email for your email
Speaker:newsletter or you're working on social media content and an email comes in and
Speaker:you leave, and then you go back to your task, well, then you have to get back
Speaker:to understanding what you were doing.
Speaker:And that takes a little bit of time.
Speaker:The better way to do this is to pick a time during your day, maybe once in
Speaker:the morning and once in the afternoon for, let's say 30 minutes where
Speaker:you're going to open your email and go through a top to bottom and even better
Speaker:approach is to go through your email in layers when you have this 30 minute.
Speaker:in the first layer.
Speaker:You're going to decide whether you need to delete it, archive it, or skip
Speaker:the items that need more attention.
Speaker:You're not going to respond to it.
Speaker:You're not gonna address it.
Speaker:You're just simply gonna skip it in the first layer.
Speaker:Then once you've deleted and archived all the emails that are in your way,
Speaker:you go through it again at the second time, and either respond to the
Speaker:emails that you skip the first time, or maybe delegate and forward it on.
Speaker:Batching can be used for various tasks.
Speaker:Like I mentioned, email is one of those, but we're all trying to get
Speaker:more attention on social media.
Speaker:And so batching can be used for social media planning and creating.
Speaker:You don't wanna be doing those two things at the same time.
Speaker:Planning your social media content and recording or creating your
Speaker:social media content, use two different parts of your brain.
Speaker:If you're trying to plan and create and then go back to planning and
Speaker:then back to creating, you're just going to end up burning out and
Speaker:it's gonna feel like a drag instead.
Speaker:You can take some time to plan it.
Speaker:So let's say on a Tuesday, and then on Thursday you create your content for the.
Speaker:So to recap, multitasking actually reduces productivity and could potentially
Speaker:cause long-term damage to our brains.
Speaker:Batching on the other end helps us get more done in less time and definitely
Speaker:reduces that feeling of exhaustion and eliminates that feeling of burnout.
Speaker:Now we've created a planner that works on these principles
Speaker:that we've discussed here.
Speaker:The be well do well.
Speaker:Planner has three main components.
Speaker:In the beginning, you start in your morning with your morning mindset.
Speaker:You plan out what it is that your life is going to look like in six months.
Speaker:And then you work on that one project today.
Speaker:That's gonna get you closer to that.
Speaker:That's the be well component then in the middle, you're gonna
Speaker:work on your tasks for the day.
Speaker:You're gonna plan it out based on your chronotype.
Speaker:now, if you don't know what a chronotype is, it's essentially your
Speaker:energy pattern throughout the day.
Speaker:Some people have more energy in the morning and others have
Speaker:more energy in the evening.
Speaker:I go through it more on the website and you can check the link in the
Speaker:show notes to learn more about that.
Speaker:At the end of your day, you wrap it up by writing down the three
Speaker:things that you're grateful for.
Speaker:It's a really cool planner and it's completely free.
Speaker:Visit the website@bewelldowell.fm slash daily planner.
Speaker:And I'd love to get your feedback on it.
Speaker:Let me know what you think.
Speaker:I hope this discussion on multitasking was really helpful to you and that you enjoyed
Speaker:it as much as I did talking about it.
Speaker:Join us tomorrow, where we're gonna be talking about whether you're
Speaker:planting mental seeds or mental weeds.
Speaker:It's gonna be a great episode.
Speaker:Thanks and have an awesome day.