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How Multitasking Erodes Productivity And Dings Your IQ

Five takeaways:

1. This article examines the darker side of multitasking, something many of us might consider essential to the daily performance of our jobs and lives. Does it have harmful effects?
2. Although multitasking purports to increase efficiency, it may only increase “busyness” – and sap effectiveness. Paying partial attention to multiple things might provide the sensation of accomplishment when, in fact, it is unproductive.
3. Our attention should be viewed as a precious currency, and studies show that every time you switch tasks, you lose a little bit of your power to focus that day.
4. Our brains are simply not wired to handle long term multitasking. Our brains first evolved, its stimulus-response incentive as a survival tool. But today, when multitasking triggers multiple stimulus-responses every hour, there is an imbalance.
5. In the age of distraction, it is incumbent upon business leaders and managers to minimize the “scattershot” approach to task completion, and give your teams the chance to apply their innate human strength of focus.

From Curt Steinhorse at Forbes:
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