The sheer amount of information we need to keep abreast of is probably driving many of us crazy. This makes it extremely difficult to say no to multitasking, even when it clearly appears not to increase our productivity.

We need not say that this generation is really bombarded with a lot of information (both useful and useless) when compared to previous generations.

This information overload is taking a toll on us and we had better do something now before it takes the joy in our lives away.

This article is written to expose the bad effects of multitasking on our memories and lives and tell us what to do to stop multitasking and live the life of the moment.

We will also tell you some multitasking you can do (if you must do it) that will have a lesser damaging effect on your attention/memory or may even improve your memory.

Why Do We Multitask?

Before we tell you the reason why multitasking is bad for you, we believe it is crucial you know why we multitask in the first place. Knowing this should help us in understanding the dangers of multitasking.
Many of us multitask because we have many things to do and doing them one-by-one appears ineffective.

We believe we are wasting time doing tasks one after the other. This belief makes us to combine two, three or even four tasks together to be done all at once.
For example, tasks like driving, making a call and using Google Map appears to be a common practice for multitaskers.

Chatting on a social media platform and simultaneously talking to our son is a daily occurrence for many of us.
To put it simply, we multitask because we are overwhelmed by our life activities, and we need to get many things done as fast as possible.

Do We Actually Do Things Faster When We Multitask?

In many cases, it appears that we do things faster when we multitask. For example, if you are chatting on a social media platform and listening to an audiobook at the same time, you will probably spend lesser time than when you do these two tasks individually.
That being said, the speed comes at a cost. Although you can perform tasks faster when you multitask, it is almost impossible to do these tasks thoroughly when multitasking.
Thoroughness is one of the things that are easily lost when you multitask.

How Does Multitasking Affect Our Memory/Brain

It is not hard to believe that multitasking seriously affects our attention. We usually have to constantly shift our attention from one task to another when we multitask. Having a poor attention affects the way we remember things. In fact, we have written a whole article on attention and memory, you can read it here.
Many scientific research works seem to agree that if there is one quality  that multitasking badly affects, it will be our attention.

Multitasking also affects our ability to focus on a task at once. It is likely you have a tough time immersing yourself in what you are doing if you are a heavy multitasker. Such a person might have a problem in listening attentively to their ward when he/she is speaking.  They will be in a constant battle with their mind in order to avoid it wandering off the present task!

To put it simply, heavy or chronic multitaskers will have a problem paying attention and focusing on the current issue.

Remembering things is another way multitasking affects us. It is usually difficult to commit a piece of information to the memory when you are multitasking. For example, it will be difficult to remember the way to a place when you multitask by driving and using Google Map. Remembering what your child has said afterward might be difficult if you are listening to a TV program while he/she was talking. The reason for having difficulty remembering information when multitasking might be because we often pay little or no attention to what we want to remember.

Before we conclude this aspect of the article, we believe you will be more convinced if we present some research works that expose the negative effects of multitasking on memory. Some of these research works are mentioned below:

1. Melina R. Uncapher and Anthony D. Wagner found evidence that suggests that heavier media multitaskers exhibit poorer performance in a number of cognitive domains when compared to lighter multitaskers.⁽¹⁾
   Heavy media multitaskers are a set of people who constantly switch between different sets of tasks. For example, a heavy media multitaskers might be writing an essay on a PC while occasionally checking his emails, responding to texts and Facebook messages, making phone calls and then getting back to writing.
   On the other hand, a light media multitasker would only be writing an essay on his PC, but may occasionally carry out one media task (like responding to an urgent email.) ⁽²⁾
2. Yvonne Ellis et. al found that exam scores of students who multitask by texting in the class are significantly lower than the exam scores of students who do not text in class. However, the researchers admitted that texting is the only form of multitasking used in the research and that different results may be found by using other forms of multitasking. Another Limitation the researchers acknowledged was that the students used in the research were from a single University. This can limit the generalizability of the study.⁽³⁾
   That said, this study further strengthens the fact that multitasking is generally bad for our memory.
3. Saraswathi Bellur et al. found that students who multitask frequently in class have lower current college GPAs.⁽⁴⁾

Sources of Multitasking in Our Lives

Some lifestyles attract multitasking than others. We can say that you only need to tell us about the material things you use daily for us to tell you whether you suffer from multitasking or not. It is as simple as that!
Materials things (gadgets) are the number one thing that makes multitasking unavoidable for most of us. We need not say that it is difficult to chat, text, read emails and surf the internet without using a gadget.
In this section of the article, we will be mentioning those material things that make us susceptible to multitasking the most.

• Smartphone: Most people will likely agree that this gadget is their number one distractor. Smartphones make it easy for people to do many things together. It allows you to chat, check emails, make calls (and more) at the same time. It appears that you can avoid many multitasking problems when you don’t have a smartphone. No wonder some people have ditched their smartphones to live a more productive and fulfilled lives. We will not say you can’t do the same thing.

• Tablets: Tablet is another device that makes it difficult for people to avoid multitasking. It allows people to switch between a couple of tasks at the same time.
• Laptop/Desktop computer: PC is another device that makes multitasking attractive.
• TV set: TVs make it difficult for people to shun multitasking. It is a common thing to see people talking to a family member while watching a TV program. In fact, TV appears to have destroyed good communications among family members.

Note: We have just mentioned four items above and the list above is definitely not exhaustive.

It is almost impossible to substantially reduce multitasking without reducing the way you use the tools (gadgets) mentioned above and this will lead us to the next subsection.

How Employing Digital Minimalism Can Help Us Reduce Multitasking

We have written a whole article on digital minimalism and you can find it here.

That said, digital minimalism is one of the most effective ways to effectively combat the problem of multitasking. Digital minimalism involves consciously reducing your dependence on digital life.

It involves moderate use of just only the digital products that are necessary for your growth and wellbeing.
This means that you might need to drop off your smartphone or tablet, or delete your social media accounts when you embrace digital minimalism.

Note: We believe digital minimalism should not be treated as an ideology (or faith) and you don’t need to join any club or organization to become a digital minimalist.

Digital minimalism simply involves cutting back on your digital activities and leaving ONLY those ones that are necessary for your growth and wellbeing. In addition, digital minimalism stresses the importance of moderate use of digital items. When you are a digital minimalist, you control your digital life and not the other way round.

Other Ways to Solve the Problem of Multitasking

Apart from reducing your dependence on digital products, there are other things you can do to fight multitasking. One of the best ways to fight multitasking is to have a proper mindset. Always have it at the back of your mind that you can’t do it all.

There are just too many things to do every day (both relevant and irrelevant) and you will never have enough time to do everything even if you are to multitask like never before.

You need to be fully aware that the world can and will continue without you and there is no need to kill yourself trying to catch up with everything through multitasking.

You don’t need to put undue stress on body and mind trying to perform three or four tasks simultaneously.
Always remember that whatever worth doing at all is worth doing well. Put your attention in only one task at a time and do it thoroughly. Do tasks because they are crucial and not because you want to earn praise from people you don’t even like.

You don’t need to be aware of everything that happens in this world. You probably only need to be aware of those things you deemed crucial. Spend time with your family, friends, and community instead of using all your valuable time to Facebook, tweet or check emails.

It is almost likely that on your death bed, you will not remember how well you have done on social media. What will probably be important to you will be how well you have spent time with your loved ones. Stop multitasking today and do your tasks one at a time; do and enjoy it thoroughly.

Is There a Situation Where Multitasking Might be Good?

So far, we have been saying that multitasking is bad and you need to avoid it. However, multitasking appears to be good in a few situations.

Multitasking appears to be good when you combine a physical exercise with a mental one.⁽⁵⁾ For example, your memory may actually benefits when you combine physical exercise like riding a stationary bike and memory/mental training program simultaneously.⁽⁶⁾
This means that you can probably improve your memory by performing physical exercises and training your mental faculty simultaneously.

In addition, we will recommend that if you ever need to multitask, you should multitask by combining physical activity with a mental one. For example, you may combine a physical activity like ironing clothes with a mental activity like listening to an audiobook.

Always avoid combining two or more mental activities when multitasking; this appears to be bad for your memory in the long run.

Please don’t forget to share this article with family and friends if you find it helpful.

References:

(1) Uncapher, Melina R., and Anthony D. Wagner. “Minds And Brains Of Media Multitaskers: Current Findings And Future Directions”. Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences, vol 115, no. 40, 2018, pp. 9889-9896. Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences, doi:10.1073/pnas. 1611612115. Accessed 17 Feb 2020.

(2) University, S. (2018) Heavy multitaskers have reduced memory, Stanford News. Available at: https://news.stanford.edu/2018/10/25/decade-data-reveals-heavy-multitaskers-reduced-memory-psychologist-says/
(Accessed: 17 February 2020).

(3) Citeseerx.Ist.Psu.Edu, 2020, http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi= 10.1.1.352.4425&rep=rep1&type=pdf. Accessed 17 Feb 2020.

(4) Bellur, Saraswathi et al. “Make It Our Time: In Class Multitaskers Have Lower Academic Performance”. Computers In Human Behavior, vol 53, 2015, pp. 63-70. Elsevier BV, doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2015.06.027. Accessed 17 Feb 2020.

(5) McEwen, Sarah C. et al. “Simultaneous Aerobic Exercise And Memory Training Program In Older Adults With Subjective Memory Impairments”. Journal Of Alzheimer’s Disease, vol 62, no. 2, 2018, pp. 795-806. IOS Press, doi:10.3233/jad-170846. Accessed 18 Feb 2020.

(6) Ibid