Debunking the Myth of Multitasking

Editor's note: This the first blog post from Mike Brenhaug, a longtime business coach and founder of BlueRock Coaching & Consulting Group, based in Foothill Ranch. He recently released his first book, WTF: Transform what appears negative into a positive to become unstoppable! He'll be blogging on Lake Forest Patch about how to identify and efficiently accomplish your goals.

Multitasking is Multifailure

Are you a multitasker? Do you pride yourself on saying “I am a master at multitasking”? 

Are you a computer? The word multitasking originally came about in 1966 with the early computers. The official definition of multitasking refers to a single CPU executing two or more functions concurrently. A computer is designed to multitask. You are not. Your brain works different than a computer. For humans multitasking is distractive and not productive. 

The myth that multitasking is productive is a complete fallacy! There’s no other way to say it other than that. If you believe you are going to achieve the greatest results from multitasking then you are fooling yourself.

Here’s the deal: Anything worth achieving requires your full attention and focus to achieve the greatest results.

I’m willing to bet that when you’re multitasking, much of your work is meaningless and you’re not focused on the important or the right things that will get you the right results. As humans we get a natural high by checking off a list and being busy. It gives us a false since of being productive. We want to feel good about ourselves so we can say at the end of the day, "I was busy, I got a lot done."

Be Productive, Not Busy

In life and business, there is greater work to be done than can be accomplished in a day. It may take weeks or months or years. When we’re not clear on what our goals are it’s difficult to see the big picture and the necessary steps involved to complete the more meaningful projects and objectives. So we turn to less meaningful activities to get the short-term high and feel good about what we’re doing, hoping that if we do enough of the unimportant little things we will achieve the important big things. 

This behavior is one of the tricks our emotions and mind play on us when we’re not pursuing life with intent. We jump into the day and begin do anything and everything we possibly can, shifting gears from one activity to the next and then back again. And we do this day in, and day out, and say to ourselves “I’m so busy that I don’t have time for anything else.” You feel stressed, overwhelmed, and say to yourself “I have so much work to do that I’m going to have to work the weekend or late at night to get caught up.” All because you were so busy multitasking that you never got to the important things.

When you’re in this mode you have put yourself in the WTF Moment Vortex, a place where you're simply spinning your wheels and creating your own frustration, fears and failures. Welcome to the Vortex!

How to Break the Cycle

1. Drop the word busy from your vocabulary. Busy does not equate to being productive. If you are busy that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re productive. To get results, to achieve success, means that you need to be productive and focused on the important things.

2. Don’t pride yourself on being a multitasker. Pride yourself on the results you get which will create real confidence, happiness and balance. I invite you to replace your meaning of multitasking to being productive with multifailure.

3. Ask yourself the same question each day. “What is the most important thing I can achieve today that will move me closer to my goals?”

With all this said, there is a time when I multitask. When exercising on my elliptical I enjoy reading. That’s about the extent of my multitasking.

The point is, to achieve great results requires your full attention and focus. If you are always multitasking then you’re never engaged in meaningful work that will get you the greatest results.