Want More Time? Maximize Your “Mental Bandwidth!”
“If I only had More Time.” How many times have you heard that or said that? What if it’s not about having more time, but your ability to focus on each task item that’s in front of you? That’s a novel idea, isn’t it?!
As some point, several years ago, I noticed multitasking became not just the standard way of operating, but something to brag about. I recall more then one conversations between friends where they were actually one upping each other with the amount of things they were doing. Proving their “street creds” by showing off their packed calendars. Got 5 spare minutes, better get some emails out.
This was serious business, reputations were at stake.
I tried it out and, at first, I felt like I was on fire. Getting more done then ever. Soon after, I started feeling like something was off. I noticed I wasn’t actually getting more done, I was just more busy. In fact, everything was taking longer.
Instinctively, I figured out that I could accomplish more by focusing on one thing at a time. I started gathering evidence in support of my new ideal, multitasking does not actually lead to increased results. In an article published by LiveScience, they state that we humans aren’t actually wired to be thinking about more then one thing at a time and the more complex it gets, the messier it gets.
According to Harvard Economist Sendhil Mullainathan, it’s actually a case of allowing for an appropriate amount of “mental bandwidth” for each task item. Just like computers, we can experience a bottleneck from information overload. Ever experienced the feeling of short circuiting? Yup, that explains it! The time in between each task is as equally important as the time given for the task itself. Time allocated to switching gears is essential. If I go from one task right into the next, my mind is actually still thinking about the first one. Those last thoughts are still taking up my “bandwidth.”
It’s all making sense. Thank you science!
I am a reborn Serial Tasker!
Recent Comments