Multitasking

Myth or Reality.

Hello, everyone. 

Firstly, I want to thank you for the wonderful response you all gave to my previous newsletter "Opinion Matters". I'm humble to see the stats. Whatever I learn and the knowledge I acquire, it is my privilege to share it with my readers through newsletters or blog posts.

A few weeks ago, I was looking for a job in a general domain and what I observed while reading through the job description is the requirement of handling/managing multiple projects/tasks : 

Here, the word which catched my attention is "multiple projects/tasks." In simpler words, the recruiters are looking for candidates who have the ability to do MULTITASKING. 

I got intrigued about what exactly multitasking is. 

In layman terms, Multitasking is the practice of doing multiple things simultaneously. 

A structured definition as per Wikipedia, Multitasking is a concept that one can split their attention on more than one task or activity at the same time, such as speaking on the phone while driving a car. 

To gain an understanding about what people think of multitasking is, I surveyed via G-forms and polls and got these surprising results.

My inquisitiveness made me to dig deeper about its general impact on our lives which led me to meet a few of my friends and family members who had been working for a corporation since a long time who concurred with this concept of multitasking and asserted that "Multitasking is a new normal skill and is the need of the hour."

The concept of multitasking can be critically analyzed as :

1. It divides our attention amongst various tasks which hinders our performance, becoming more prone to errors and takes a serious toll on our productivity and mental stamina. (Check out this ARTICLE for insights on the negative impact of multitasking on mental health)

2. It can be a valuable skill required in industries which makes the individual quicker and efficient throughout the working day to increase the number of tasks completed and his performance.

It varies from person to person how they are reacting to the circumstances causing them to do multitasking. It is generally observed that extroverts or people who are flexible and adaptive are more good at multitasking as compared to introverts or people who are less flexible and adaptive. 

Multitasking is a reality in today's dynamic environment which is expected everywhere, at educational institutions, at workplaces and in household chores. It can be as advantageous to an employee as getting promotion for his versatile work performance or as disadvantageous to an employee as ending up with a lot of errors in his work and mental fatigue. 

An individual must follow the approach of multitasking once so as to assess his ability to do multiple things simultaneously and to decide the best approach of doing his work with effectiveness and efficiency, taking physical and mental health into due consideration. 

The secret to successful multitasking is to prioritize tasks and management of time in the best possible way.  

The prerequisite of multitasking is to prioritize tasks and to manage time. Prioritizing tasks according to their importance and urgency in the time available.

Prioritizing tasks include : 

1. identifying your Most Important Tasks (MITs) and arrange them in their urgency order; and 

2. optimize your cognitive best hours and block your calendars accordingly. 

Hope our intention to talk about this topic is cleared now. If you have any suggestion and Pov’s regarding the same are always welcome.

Thank you.

Love Arya & Aakriti Bansal