The harm of multitasking –

Nowadays, multitasking has established itself as our lifestyle.

While many believe that multitasking is a great way to tackle multiple things at once, the reality is that tackling our tasks in this way can be harmful to our mental and physical health.

And not only because it is now confirmed that if you apply multitasking you could reduce productivity.

Surprised?

But what is multitasking?

When we talk about multitasking we are referring to the person who does different things at the same time, mentally constantly moving from one activity to another.

While most people believe that multitasking is an effective way to develop greater productivity, the reality is that while it may seem like you get more things done in the same amount of time, that’s not exactly the case.

Many people are not trained in the ability to say no, which is why this behavior becomes “poisoned candy”.

The ability to do certain things well requires the total focus of our attention, and when we are multitasking this does not happen.

Instead, our attention usually shifts from one thing to another.

How does multitasking affect you?

A study conducted by researchers at Stanford University compared two groups of people based on their level of multitasking. In these investigations, it was shown that those who consistently resorted to multitasking in their daily lives had much worse outcomes in both productivity and reward than those who only performed one task at a time.

This happened because a person who does a lot of things usually has more trouble organizing their thoughts and filtering out the most irrelevant information.

1. Effects on efficiency and performance

Our brain can only focus on one thing at a time, so when it tries to cover too many things, attention is lost and tasks are not accomplished successfully.

2. Reduces IQ

Multitasking, in addition to slowing down the person who does many things, also affects his IQ. So much so that studies have shown that the stress and unproductivity that go hand in hand with doing things at the same time has a similar meaning to daily marijuana use.

3. Brain damage

The University of Sussex has shown that realizing the meaning of multitasking in reality could lead to irreversible damage to the anterior cingulate cortex, responsible for processes related to empathy and cognitive and emotional control.

4. Memory problems

Multitasking also affects both our short-term and long-term memory.

5. Less ability to concentrate

To carry out our tasks with maximum efficiency, attention is one of the most important mechanisms. For this reason, multitasking is harmful because it fragments our attention on multiple things at the same time.

6. It hurts your results

The person who resorts to multitasking ends up getting worse results. In this way, carrying out tasks at the same time and their meaning results in damage to our self-esteem.

7. Shallower relationships

Being in a thousand things at the same time not only damages us personally and professionally, but also the people around us. So much so that the extreme habit of using multitasking in every field could make us lose the profound meaning of managing our closest relationships and could make us neglect to enjoy life.

The quality of our life is directly proportional to the quality of our relationships.

8. Chronic stress increases

One downside to the meaning of leading a multitasking life is chronic stress.

This means that people end up living in a situation where stress is constant and they cannot get rid of it.

9. You risk suffering from depression and social anxiety

There is a strong connection between multitasking men and women.

In this way, the level of multitasking that people have in their lives is proportionally related to the risk of suffering from psychological illnesses such as depression and social anxiety.

In many cases, multitasking can have consequences on our mental health.