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Are Multitaskers Really More Productive?

I often hear—especially from the Gen Y crowd—that “I am a multitasker” and therefore more productive than those that are not. At face value that makes sense. Someone that can do more than one task at the same time should be able to complete more tasks in less time. Seems logical and even mathematically correct, however a recent study from Stanford University might change your mind.

Generation Y professionals grew up in an environment where listening to their iPod with a TV on in the background and chatting with friends via social networks while working on homework was the norm. It still is the norm, just with different media. Heck, even I fancy myself as a multitasker. In the current working environment we find ourselves in due to businesses downsizing and expecting more from each employee thanks to the dismal economy avoiding information overload seems impossible. It is not.

The research out of Stanford University, specifically titled “cognitive control in media multitaksers” addressed this question via a series of heavy media control groups against those who infrequently multitask. The determination between both subjects was measured through a series of questionnaires. Collectively, the data suggests that high media mulitaskers are less likely to filter irrelevant representations arising from either external or internal sources.

This means, that high media multitaskers have a difficult time focusing their attention to one specific task, therefore they perform poorly in areas that require focus, especially over long periods of time. In all, the information saturation that we are all under does not change from person to person; rather how each person deals with the information overload is the crux of the issue.

The takeaway is that when possible; focus your attention on a single task. In the end it’ll payoff as the task gets done faster and with more accuracy.

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