When and if you “multitask” – doing more than one task at a time – does it make you more productive or efficient?
Psychologists who study what happens to cognition (mental processes) when people try to perform more than one task at a time have found that the mind and brain were not designed for heavy-duty multitasking. They uncovered this finding by measuring the cost in time for switching tasks – the “switch costs” incurred by multitasking.
Doing more than one task at a time – especially more than one complex task – takes a toll on productivity.
Your “switch costs” – the cost of time incurred when you switch from one task to another – can add up to the point can cost as much as forty percent of your productive time.