Debunking the Multitasking Myth and Finding Real Productivity in Your Day
How We Perceive Multitasking
Okay friends, let me see the scene for ya. Right now, you’ve got your email open in one browser, your to-do list splayed out on your desk, your hand is tempted to pick up your phone to scroll the ‘gram and oh yeah, you’ve got to pick your kids up from school any minute now.
Sound familiar?
Now let me ask you one question - how much do you typically get done during one of those “office days” I just described?
I’ve been working from home for almost 2 years now and I run into a similar situation OFTEN (ya know, minus picking up the kids from school part) But I can’t tell you how many times I mistake multitasking for productivity or busyness for getting work done.
It’s because of situations like this that make me believe that multitasking is a myth. We can’t be focusing on our emails and going back and forth between blogs we’re working on, or a project we’re starting in the same few minutes. Our brains can’t keep up with that. I’ve even heard that for every time you switch focus, like open up a new tab or change directions in your brain, you’re losing minutes and minutes of actual productivity time.
And truthfully, at the end of these days, I end up feeling like I haven’t made any traction in my projects. I feel as though, I worked hours and hours on end, but didn’t really get anything of VALUE done. And that’s what we’re all striving for, right? Value.
So now that we’ve pretty much debunked the myth of multitasking, I want to share a concept with you that I actually heard from another podcast called “Life with Amy and Jordan” and I really admired how they put multitasking into perspective.
Working in Alignment
Multitasking as I just described with the browser tabs open and your phone in your hand and your emails in drafts - this doesn’t work for anyone. We need to focus on ONE THING at a time.
But what does exist is something called Working in Alignment. This is the phrase they used on Episode 2 of Life with Amy and Jordan and it’s truly stuck with me since then.
An example of Working in Alignment is when you are listening to our fave gal pals, like Audra and I, while doing in your car running errands. Working in alignment is when you catch up on messages from friends by sending them voice memos or calling them while folding the laundry. Working in alignment is like listening to an educational course while preparing dinner.
When you work in alignment, you’re able to do one thing simply out of habit: such as driving, folding the laundry, prepping dinner, etc - while focusing your brain on something else! I find that this works the best when you’re able to mundanely do things physically, like even going for a run or working out, while then challenging your brain in a different way.
Now, I know we glamorize the idea of multitasking because we believe it leads us to be more productive. Right? That’s the whole point! To get things done faster so we can free up more of our time for other important things.
That’s why I want to chat about a few other ways we can TRULY achieve this result, without feeling the need to toggle back and forth between projects and tasks.
Batch Working
Batch working is a tool I’ve learned about from a variety of entrepreneurs and basically says that if you have a certain task that you end up doing repeatedly, like weekly, set aside one day to accomplish that task for the entire month in one day.
For entrepreneurs, this could come in the form of weekly blogging. If your goal is to blog once a week every month. Set aside one day to draft 4 different blog posts. You can even schedule them so they launch when you need them to! Then, by the end of the day, you have a MONTH’S worth of work done, rather than just one blog post and a whole lot of time wasted on social media.
This could also work in your everyday life! It’s the same concept as meal prepping! Choosing one day to put together lunches/dinners for the whole week. This ends up being more productive and usually, healthier than if you throw together dinner when you start feeling hungry.
Focusing on One Thing + Setting Realistic Goals
I feel like this next idea seems obvious in its core, but in reality, is a lot harder in today’s society. 20 years ago, people would go to work, shut down their computer for the night and then come home, spend time with their families and have a clear divide between work and life.
Now, we all know that’s just not a thing. Even more than that, we’re expected to be AVAILABLE around the clock. Because of this expectation, we tend to overlap things, and rush tasks. Thus creating the myth of multitasking.
This is why I encourage you to actively focus on ONE thing. It sounds so silly! Right? But it’s truthfully focusing on one thing at a time has become a rarity, rather than the norm. So often, I’m trying to pile a thousand different tasks into my day and then I don’t end up accomplishing any of them. If we can focus on one thing at a time, and continue to encourage this idea in our daily lives, we’ll be able to get more done.
This looks like turning our phone on Do Not Disturb, only keeping one browser open at a time (yes, I’m guilty of this!!) and setting realistic expectations for our day. I find that when I write my To Do lists, I write down EVERYTHING I need to get done. Right now, I’m working on using this list as a Dump List because it’s great to have everything we want to accomplish written down. But then, I’m working on taking this one step further and writing down my REALISTIC daily goals. So many of my favorite mentors suggest including 3-5 daily goals that feel tangible. If you’re constantly writing down everything you need to get done, and only cross off 3 things, you end up feeling LESS than. And that’s something we want to avoid for sure!!
So create 2 lists: One Dump List and One Daily To Do List.
That way, at the end of the day, if you’ve accomplished those 3 things you needed to for the day, you feel like you’re on top of the world! Rather than feeling like crap because you didn’t cross off the other 10 things. Don’t do that to yourself. Set realistic expectations and continue to set boundaries when it comes to your time.
Final Note
Okay friends! We hope this episode was helpful for you in gaining some clarity about where you’re spending your time. TIME is our most precious asset. Learning how to make time work for you, rather than succumbing to the myth of multitasking is key to not only becoming more productive, but feeling more fulfilled in your day as well.
You got this, boo, we’re rooting for you!
And as always, if you love this episode, we would so appreciate you sharing it on your socials and tagging us! We love connecting with all of our incredible listeners!