Our work efficiency depends largely on how to release stress at work. Today, we bring you 6 reasons not to give in to multitasking, one of the main causes of stress:
1. You are not ‘multitasking’
Doing lots of things at once is not as productive as you may think it is. The reason? Our brain can only focus on one task at a time. What we usually call “multitasking” is nothing more than jumping from one to another (switching), which results in shoddy work and wasted time.
The work overload that comes with multitasking also causes a high level of job stress. Think of how to release stress at work and you will see your daily productivity increase. Say no to multitasking.
2. An enemy in disguise
Multitasking is so frequent, that we often convince ourselves that we can do a lot of things at once. Big mistake. How many times have you asked yourself the usual “where was I” when resuming an activity?
This attitude, besides increasing our stress at work, will make us step into mediocrity. Without realizing it, we will settle for the “enoughs” when the truth is that we could aspire to much more.
Read more: 7 signs that you are stressed out
3. You are not going faster
Performing lots of tasks in a given interval does not necessarily mean you are making the most of your time. Actually, it means the opposite. If you were doing a single task at a time, you would possibly be working faster.
4. You slow your creativity down
The habit of ‘multitasking’ makes your stress level increase while it slows your creativity down. Your efforts will be solely focused on doing more in less time, ignoring everything else, including the details that develop your innovation skills.
5. You limit your short-term memory
Jumping from one task to another frequently (the switching we mentioned before) helps to limit our short-term memory. We do not leave time for our brain to take mental notes of that which we are leaving for later. What happens then? Our stress skyrockets and with it our forgetfulness. That is yet another one of the great dangers of multitasking.
6. You are never finished
It is impossible to fight your stress level at work if you never feel you are finishing your tasks. Think for a moment of the huge satisfaction you feel when you finish a project or meet a deadline. That sense of confidence will come much later, if it ever comes, if you get used to doing tasks simultaneously. If you always have something half done, it will be impossible to measure your progress and keep your stress under control.
Do not kid yourself; learn how to release stress at work simply by avoiding multitasking. It is in your hands. Do not interrupt your tasks until you finish each of them, and then you can move to the next one.
You may also like: Mindfulness-based stress reduction: 7 ways to relieve stress
What do you do to fight your stress and avoid multitasking?
