By Rick Forbus, PhD
Like most of you, I think multi-tasking and concentration are obvious adversaries. The need for most of us to have sufficient brain power to perform in our jobs raises this battle of the mind to a heighten position of importance. Some recent coaching conversations and the practicality of experiencing this in my own work gave rise to the research and commentary found in this article.
A growing body of scientific research shows one of the mental juggler’s favorite time-saving techniques, the use of multitasking, can actually make you less efficient. Trying to do two or three things at once, or, in quick succession can take longer, overall, than doing them one at a time. This also may leave you with reduced brainpower to perform each task.
Warning Signs
Some signals you may be trying to multitask too much:
1. Lapses in attentiveness
2. Loss of concentration
3. Gaps in short-term memory
4. Communication problems with others
5. Stress symptoms, such as shortness of breath
“There’s scientific evidence that multitasking is extremely hard for somebody to do, and sometimes impossible,” says David Meyer, a psychology professor at the University of Michigan.
“Chronic high-stress multitasking also is linked to short-term memory loss. Yet, we’re clearly engaged in a long-term trend toward doing more of it. Some 45% of American workers feel they are asked or expected to work on too many tasks at once,” says a study of 1,003 employees by the Families and Work Institute, New York.
Though the research has been applied mostly to the debate over driving with cellphones, or aiding people in mind-boggling jobs like air-traffic control, it has quality-of-life implications too. Some findings:
People who multitask are actually less efficient than those who focus on one project at a time, according to a study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology. The time lost switching among tasks increases with the complexity of the tasks, according to the research by Dr. Meyer and others.
The process of switching back immediately to a task you’ve just performed, as many multitaskers try to do, takes longer than switching after a bit more time has passed, say findings published last fall by researchers from the National Institute of Mental Health. The reason is that the brain has to overcome “inhibitions” it imposed on itself to stop doing the first task in the first place; it takes time, in effect, to take off the brakes. If you wait several seconds longer before switching tasks, the obstacles imposed by that shutting-off process are reduced.
Managing two mental tasks at once reduces the brainpower available for either task, according to a study published in the journal NeuroImage. Marcel Just of Carnegie Mellon University asked subjects to listen to sentences while comparing two rotating objects. Even though these activities engage two different parts of the brain, the resources available for processing visual input dropped 29% if the subject was trying to listen at the same time. The brain activation for listening dropped 53% if the person was trying to process visual input at the same time.
“It doesn’t mean you can’t do several things at the same time,” says Dr. Just, co-director of the university’s Center for Cognitive Brain Imaging. “But we’re kidding ourselves if we think we can do so without cost.”
“People who are multitasking too much experience various warning signs; short-term memory problems can be one. Intense multitasking can induce a stress response, an adrenaline rush that when prolonged can damage cells that form new memory,” Dr. Meyer says. Other red flags are changes in your ability to concentrate or gaps in your attentiveness.
Some kinds of multitasking just don’t work very well. If the tasks require the same parts of the brain, such as two assignments that both draw on language skills, “it’s going to be extremely hard to succeed efficiently,” Dr. Meyer says. Listening for a child playing in the next room while talking to your boss by phone, for instance, creates conflicting auditory-processing demands.
What about sorting junk mail and listening to your child? “We all do that, but we’re short-changing the child a little,” Dr. Just says. Folding laundry and talking to the boss on the phone? “It depends on the complexity,” he says. Folding towels are easy. But I’d think twice about folding some complex shirt that needs the folds in the right place.
It’s possible to consciously tone your multitasking muscles. Meditation can cultivate the ability to willfully control your mental focus. Other steps may help, such as weeding out distractions, honing your mental skills by making a point of continuously learning about new things, and getting plenty of rest. Practice can also help; studies show it takes less time to switch between tasks you’ve repeated many times, like tying your shoes and signing your name.
The Roots of Focused Thought
Focused Thought is the act of contemplating a specific problem, and in turn, falling into a state of flow. Time slows as you contemplate a specific problem. The roots of Focused Thought had origin from a group of hermits in the Egyptian desert around 400 AD. These hermits were actually Christian monks who practiced repetitive and focused contemplation of the scriptures. Their practices centered around contemplating verses, ideas, phrases and prayer on a daily basis. It is suspected that these methods were influenced by the East.
By engaging in the habitual act of contemplating ideas, they exercised their minds, specifically, their prefrontal cortex. Researchers have found that such acts increase activity in the left prefrontal cortex, the part of your brain that drives concentration, meta-cognition and decision-making. Essentially, these desert monks were increasing their brain power every single day through Focused Thought. The same researchers found that such acts may even decrease anxiety and depression. The simple act of focused thought not only increases the mind’s ability to concentrate it reduces the likelihood of depression.
Focused Thought enhances attention span and makes the mind more flexible. This increases awareness of your environment, as well as the ability to be objective in emotionally charged situations. This sense of awareness doesn’t just apply to your environment. It also applies to the creative component within your mind. Essentially, you’ll find it easier to fall into the state of flow, or, deep concentration, when you practice Focused Thought on a habitual basis. (Based on an article by Scott Scheper in www.howtogetfocused.com)
In summary, the concept of focused thought isn’t a qualitative act (i.e. practiced in order to seek spiritual enlightenment). Focused Thought is a quantitative, and calculated way to exercise your prefrontal cortex; thus, improving your creativity, decision-making and general sense of happiness. In the realm of business thought and planning, focus will make or break our successes. Strategy thinking and visualizing creative ideas, moving them to actions, will take focused thought. Leaders learn to focus. Coaching may help you discover a focus process to improve your entrepreneurial thinking processes.
Rick Forbus, PhD – Executive Advisor and Coach
rforbus@troveinc.com
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