Multitasking is a myth. And the reason why is because we don’t possess enough RAM in our brains to do it effectively.
This is going to rattle some of your beliefs, but multitasking is fake.
Your mind is blown, isn’t it?
Multitasking, if you don’t know, is doing multiple tasks at the same time.
For instance, you would do math questions, while checking your social media, while listening to music.
But our human brains are not capable of this. We can barely focus on our work in noisy environments.
I remember thinking that I was able to multitask. When I was younger, I wanted to do so many things (activities that countered my schoolwork).
Thus, I would try to do a bunch of stuff at once while I did my homework.
But as I got older, I realized I wasn’t focusing on the stuff that needed to be done when I multitasked.
If I was listening to music and doing homework at the same time, I would concentrate more on the music and not on my homework (probably because it was more fun and a simpler task).
At that time, I didn’t understand what was going on. It wasn’t until I got I took a psychology course in college that I figured it out.
Why We Can’t Multitask
We were in the cognition unit, I believe, and my professor talked about multitasking one class.
She said that it was fake and this caught me by surprise.
I don’t remember exactly what she said, but it was similar to how this Entrepreneur article explained it:
“Multitasking reduces your efficiency and performance because your brain can only focus on one thing at a time. When you try to do two things at once, your brain lacks the capacity to perform both tasks successfully.”
So essentially, our brain lags when it has to do more than one thing at once.
And the reason why is because it does not possess the power to do multiple tasks (do it well, anyway).
Ever since then, I only listen to lyric-less music when I am writing or doing work.
I am able to be mindful when I do this and am able to put full focus on the task at hand.
And this is what you should do too (if you want to do better in school).
You have to work on one task at a time and put your full attention on it.
Once you’re done, go on to the next task, and so on.
A Tip on How to be Mindful
If you find that you have trouble focusing, try using the Pomodoro Technique.
This productivity hack will help you focus on a single task at a time by breaking up and timing your work period.
When used, you will work on a task for 25 minutes, take a 5-minute break, and then work on another task for 25 more minutes.
This helps you be mindful of your work because you are being timed.
The timing, for whatever reason, forces you to concentrate and be attentive. It adds pressure on you.
You can learn more about it here if you are interested.
Final Thoughts
Multitasking will hurt your productivity.
When you do it, you are mainly focusing on the easy and simple tasks, which the majority of the time are the tasks that cause you to procrastinate.
So, cut it out and do one thing at a time.
And if you really need to have background noise when you are working, listen to music with no lyrics.
I suggest listening to classical and Lo-Fi hip-hop music as these are my favourites.