Most of us would not consider smoking marijuana while at work, but recent research has shown that multitasking at work causes a 10 point drop in your IQ, more than twice that found when smoking marijuana. The IQ drop when multitasking is also equivalent to losing an entire night’s sleep. So even though you feel like you are getting more done by editing your document while on the phone or checking email during your meeting, you might want to reconsider. Aside from slowing you down, multitasking can also have a negative impact on your health and quality of work.
Multitasking Slows You Down
The Journal of Experimental Psychology found that people who multitask are less efficient than those who focus on one project at a time, because managing two mental tasks at once reduces the brainpower available for either task. It is estimated that an employee who multitasks loses an average of two hours each day. Multitasking at work has reached epidemic proportions. Experts estimate that employees of Fortune 1000 companies send and receive approximately 180 emails each day, and they are interrupted an average of three times per hour. The estimated cost of these interruptions to the American economy is $650 billion per year.
Multitasking Increases Stress
As if the negative impact on your time isn’t bad enough, multitasking can prove to be detrimental to your health as well. The increased stress associated with multitasking has been shown to cause headaches, digestion issues, a reduced ability to concentrate, and even short-term memory loss.
Multitasking Reduces Quality of Work
In 2003, the Wall Street Journal reported that “multitasking makes you stupid”. NeuroImage, a science journal, has determined that managing two mental tasks at the same time significantly reduces the brain power available to concentrate on either one, ultimately damaging the quality of your final product.
So, before you check email during your conference call, think twice. Watch for future blog posts where we will provide strategies to reduce the amount of multitasking in your day. Does your team struggle with multitasking? Learn about our Finding Focus workshop.
