Quick Tip: The Hidden Consequences of Multitasking

Have you ever listened to a podcast while cooking dinner and doing laundry, while also maybe texting a friend at the same time?

Most of us are multitasking some or even most of the time. With so much to do and consume and feeling like there’s not enough time in the day, multitasking can seem like a productive way to tackle it all.

On the downside, though, there’s a fair amount of research that suggests multitasking has negative effects on our brains, mental health and, ironically, on our efficiency.

‘A Diabolical Illusion’

What’s even more interesting and important to note is that some researchers have suggested that multitasking isn’t even really a thing.

For example, in his book, The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload, neuroscientist and cognitive psychologist Daniel Levitin describes multitasking as “a powerful and diabolical illusion.” He writes that what we think of as multitasking is actually task switching, or our brains switching from task to task to task. (We just think we’re doing it all at once.)

“We’re not actually keeping a lot of balls in the air like an expert juggler,” Levitin writes in his book. “We’re more like a bad amateur plate spinner, frantically switching from one task to another, ignoring the one that is not right in front of us but worried it will come crashing down any minute.”

To add to the disillusionment: We are probably a lot less productive when we’re multitasking. In fact, a 2001 study by a group of psychologists found that task switching could contribute to a roughly 40 percent loss in productivity. Meaning the time it takes the brain to make all of those small, incremental shifts could actually rob someone of almost half of their productivity.

How It Impacts Mental Health

Another downside of multitasking is in the realm of mental health, where it’s been associated with symptoms of depression and anxiety. For example, it can lead to feelings of overwhelm and stress, and sometimes we might use multitasking to distract or avoid, but if we do that too much, we can start to numb out or feel disconnected.

Also, multitasking can make it more difficult for us to control where we’re putting our focus.

A 2022 study published in Front Psychiatry found that college students who engaged in media multitasking (which could look like texting while watching TV or listening to music while reading a book) were more likely to experience symptoms of anxiety and depression because of the multitasking’s effect on the students’ ability to control their attention.

Specifically, the researchers found that these students were more likely to entertain negative information as opposed to positive or neutral information.

For example, let’s say a student is watching TV and scrolling through Instagram and comes across a post that sets off thoughts of comparisonitis. The research suggests that because that person’s attention span is divided, then they will be more likely to entertain or “feed” the thoughts related to unworthiness or low self-esteem.

Whereas if the student had encountered that Instagram post in a stronger or less distracted state of mind, they might have noticed the beginnings of those negative thoughts and ideally been able to distract or neutralize them before they affected the student’s emotional state and potentially contributed to a negative thought spiral.

Activating the Brain’s Reward System

Given these downsides, why do we multitask, other than trying to get a lot of stuff done?

Well, there’s also a biological reason that we are prone to doing multiple things at once. Levitin, the psychologist who wrote the book The Organized Mind, explains that multitasking activates a dopamine-seeking feedback loop.

He explains that the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that is responsible for focusing, has a novelty bias—it likes new things and can be easily distracted by them.

So when we’re multitasking or constantly switching tasks, it lights up the reward-seeking part of the brain, which then releases dopamine, and that feels good so we want to get more of that and will be more inclined to multitask.

Biologically, then, it makes sense that with all the opportunities to multitask in today’s world, we are more prone to do so, even though it might cost us time and mental/emotional bandwidth.

So what can you do?

If you want to try and multitask less frequently, start small.

The next time you’re waiting in line, or maybe you’re meeting people and you get there first, can you try not reaching for your phone?

Can you instead focus on what’s going on around you. Use your senses if that’s helpful. Not only will that help to ground you in the present moment, but you are strengthening your attention control. You are deciding what to focus on rather than whatever you might come across as you passively scroll through your phone.

See what you notice: Do you start feeling antsy; how many times do you reach for your phone and then put it back down; what thoughts go through your mind?

Sometimes treating a new habit (or the work of trying to break an old habit) with curiosity, like an experiment, can make it seem more inviting and help it to “stick” more.

*Disclaimer: The information contained in this podcast is for the sole purpose of being informative and is not considered complete.