Overwhelmed, Stressed Multitasking
Multitask Isn't a Stress Management Solution to Overwhelm
Multitasking may be contributing to your stress and feeling of being overwhelmed.
Millions of people are overwhelmed and are dealing with stress in their lives, according to a January 23, 2007 article on Washingtonpost.com. Being stressed out contributes to serious illnesses, such as heart attack and stroke, the article continues. Being stressed out can be caused by many factors, such as workload, financial problems, and values conflicts.
Dealing with Stress by Multitasking
With the corporate downsizing, buyouts, and acquisitions of recent years, workers are being asked to do more. Managers encourage multitasking, doing multiple activities concurrently. Harried mothers and housewives are caught up in the multitask phenomena, too, attempting stress management by trying to do more in the same amount of time. On the surface, doing more than one thing at a time seems logical, promising greater productivity and helping us get more done each day. But is the ability to multitask a strength? Or is multitasking a false promise, a myth of greater productivity?
The Multitasking Myth
Perhaps fueled by computer technology that uses concurrent multiple processors, we've assumed that our brains can do the same. Researchers Joshua Rubinstein, Ph.D., of the Federal Aviation Administration, and David Meyer, Ph.D., and Jeffrey Evans, Ph.D., both at the University of Michigan, say our brains don't function efficiently in multitasking.
They found that test subjects took longer to do tasks when working on them concurrently and switching back and forth between them, than if the tasks were completed one at a time. Furthermore, the quality of work produced declined during multiple task activities.
Task Complexity
Most people can walk and chew gum at the same time. Multitasking routine, habituated tasks generally isn't a problem. As task complexity increases, the brain has more and more difficulty switching back and forth between tasks. Humans have only one "executive control," explains Rubinstein. It's the mind's CEO and is associated with the prefrontal cortex.
Each time people switch from one task to another, such as dialing a cell phone while navigating a turn in traffic, the executive control must allocate and re-allocate mental resources to perceive the situation, think about an action, and take action. When these processes slow down the quality of thinking diminishes. This is not a problem if the tasks are walking and chewing gum, but dialing while driving in traffic is a more serious matter.
Work Smarter
Whether at home or at work, plan your activities, insofar as possible, to complete one complex task before beginning another. This may seem impossible in a busy home or office with the phone ringing, people asking questions, and deadlines looming, but if you're overwhelmed already, a promising change is worth a try.
The first step toward any change is awareness. Observe yourself while multitasking complex activities. Notice any feelings of stress and the difficulty you have in resuming an uncompleted activity.
Plan for Single Task Concentration
Once you decide to eliminate or minimize multitasking, you'll need a plan for dealing with the interruptions of others that you've been tolerating, or perhaps even encouraging. Focus on your roles, whether at home or work, where you tend to feel you must or should multi-task. Then work out a plan for change.
