Multitasking often gives us the feeling of being productive, doing numerous things at once. But does it really works? Studies revealed multitasking can actually result in losing 20-30% of your productive time. The simple reason, why multitasking doesn’t work? Because our brain cannot focus on multiple things at one time. Given below are a few negative effects of multitasking:

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Slows you down:

Contrary to popular belief, switching between tasks doesn’t save time rather it slows you down. Different task requires different mindsets and when you jump from one task to another, you fail to give 100% focus on any of the tasks. As a result, you complete lesser amount of work.

You make more mistakes:

When you work on different tasks at the same time, you tend to err more which reduces your productivity by up to 40%. The human brain is likely to deliver best when it works on a single task. To a certain extent, it can deliver decent performance up to two tasks. However, if the number of task exceeds more than two, chances of committing mistakes increase by three times.

Stresses you out:

Working on a number of critical tasks simultaneously demands greater efficiency failing which can stress you out. It is not the physical efforts you are pumping in to complete multiple tasks that put high level of stress on you but the end results if not good enough. In the long run, piling up of stress can affect your health adversely.

Affects your memory:

When you keep switching between tasks, you can suffer from short term memory loss. A study found as we grow older our memory becomes weak and jumping from one task to another makes it hard to remember things clearly.

If you want to increase your productivity at work, try working in batches rather than multitasking. It can help you to work more efficiently, do fewer mistakes and achieve more.

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