It often feels like we’re doing everything all at once, doesn’t it?
As it turns out, we are!
An organization that studies office productivity went into several US companies to study how often we lose focus. They hypothesized that people would shift their attention from one task to another every 11 minutes or so.
Amazingly, they found most of us only keep our attention to one thing for just 3 minutes! That’s THREE minutes, folks!! And once distracted, we only return to about 40% of what we had started.
Some might think all this multi-tasking is efficient. But psychologists have shown time after time that trying to multi-task is actually one of the LEAST effective strategies. In fact, our brains do not multi-task at all but rather switch from one thing to another rapidly.
Action – If you’re tired, overwhelmed or feel like nothing is getting done, STOP multi-tasking. You’re wearing out your cognitive capacity by using energy switching focus.
Stay attentive to one thing at a time for as long as needed to complete the task. Turn off the phone, set boundaries for others to leave you alone, adjust your email behaviors – whatever it takes.
Multi-tasking is NOT a habit for sustained success. Stay focused.