Stop Overscheduling And Reduce Overwhelm
For many people, especially women, multitasking has become a badge of honor.
But is multitasking really productive?
Are we really achieving our goals when we're trying to overschedule ourselves and do everything all at once?
I want to talk about some of the negative impacts of multitasking and provide four practical tips to help you unlearn this habit and regain control of your time and life.
What is Multitasking?
According to a GBH article from February of 2021, multitasking originated in the mid-1960s when we started working with computers. At that time, it meant a computer's concurrent performance of several jobs at once. It became more of a layman's term that became more common in our everyday vocabulary because it refers to the computer working on one or more tasks seemingly simultaneously.
And that's a keyword there, seemingly.
Because computer processors can actually only do one thing at a time. They do those things really, really fast. So, while your computer is streaming audio, downloading emails, and calculating a spreadsheet without missing a beat, its multitasking processors are bouncing between all three jobs.
When it comes to people, We can only think of a very small bit of information or one train of thought at a time. So when you think you're multitasking, you're actually task-switching. Task-switching is bad for productivity because it takes our brains so much longer to return to the task and the focus level needed to complete the task.
How multitasking reduces our productivity
According to a study by the American Psychological Association, multitasking can reduce productivity by 40%. That means that we're actually getting less done by trying to do everything all at once.
Multitasking leads to chronic stress. When we jump from one task to another, our brain produces stress hormones, leaving us feeling overwhelmed and anxious. That's where that frazzled feeling can come from.
Multitasking can lower your IQ. The University of London found that multitasking can lower our IQ by up to 15 points, similar to the effect of staying up all night. So, multitasking is not the way to go if you're aiming for better cognitive performance.
Multitasking impairs focus and attention. This is from research from Stanford University, and they discovered that heavy multitaskers have difficulty filtering irrelevant information from their working memory. This can impair their ability to focus on the task at hand and make them more prone to distractions.
Task switching
It’s easy for us to lose a lot of time as we switch from one thing to another because we're more apt to get caught up in distractions or pulled away from what we need to be working on. And it's much harder for us to get into that deep work and into that good focus time.
4 tips we can implement to unlearn multitasking and reduce overwhelm
1. Prioritize your tasks.
One main reason we multitask is that we feel like everything is equally important. In reality, not all tasks are created equal. Start by prioritizing your to-do list. Identify the most important thing that needs to get done to move you closer to your goal and focus on them first. This will help you allocate your energy and attention more efficiently.
2. Set clear boundaries
It's really critical to set clear boundaries throughout your day. Designate specific times to focus on work and others for checking emails or social media. You can use a tool like the Pomodoro technique, which works in smaller chunks of time focused with a break scheduled to concentrate on the single task at hand. Time-blocking, Pomodoros, and Power Hour blocks all help to stop you from overscheduling and reduce the overwhelm on your calendar. By trying these techniques, you'll create a more structured environment that will help you minimize distractions.
This strategy applies if you are a parent or working on your business while also working in a full-time job because it's easy for us to think that we can slip in a few things here and there, but the reality is you're just going to end up in that spot where you’re feeling distracted, scattered and building up that chronic stress in your life.
3. Practice mindfulness
If we can engage in activities that help us stay present, such as meditation, deep breathing, or even taking a short walk or a short break throughout our day, we're able to bring our full attention to the present moment much more easily.
If you’re not a meditator, try taking a few deep breaths when you start to feel scattered or overwhelmed. Sit still, take a few deep breaths, go back to your prioritized to-do list, and work on one thing at a time.
4. Embrace single-tasking.
When you're working on a task, give it your undivided attention. Turn off notifications, close unnecessary tabs, and commit to finishing one thing at a time. You will be amazed at how much more efficiently and effectively you can complete your tasks.
Remember that it's okay to slow down and focus. You will see your productivity increase exponentially when you do one thing at a time. You will not only increase your productivity, as I mentioned, but you'll also reduce the stress and enhance your overall well-being by being a single single tasker.
Free Resources For You
Grab Chelsey’s free guide on Understanding Procrastination.
Schedule a free 30-minute consultation call with Chelsey so that you can create a booked-out business without burnout.
Connect with Chelsey Newmyer
Website: https://chelseynewmyer.com/
Instagram: @chelseyncoaching
