In this digital age, multitasking — doing more than one thing at a time — is the new normal. You check emails during a meeting, scroll while watching television and listen to a podcast while cooking dinner.
Doing two or three things at once may seem like an efficient use of your time. But constantly switching from task to task can place heavy demands on several parts of your brain.
To manage life in a multitasking world, it's important to understand what it's doing to your brain. That way, you can create a strategy that works for your growing to-do list and your brain health.
What is multitasking?
Multitasking is often thought of as juggling two or more tasks simultaneously. However, your brain cannot do two things at once. What's really happening is that your brain is rapidly switching between tasks.
Multitasking uses three parts of your brain:
- Dorsal attention network, which manages your focused attention
- Frontoparietal control network, responsible for goal setting and filtering
- Ventral attention network, which helps bring your focus back after a distraction
Some kinds of multitasking are easier for your brain to handle than others — it depends on the complexity of the tasks and the environmental risks involved. For example, folding laundry while talking on the phone is easy to manage with a low risk of disaster or bodily harm. Texting on a cell phone while driving at high speed is more complicated and riskier — which is why it’s illegal in most states.
Typically, your brain can switch between tasks without you realizing it, but the ability to multitask is personal. Your executive control enables you to quickly shift between goals while replacing rules for the first task with rules for the second task. If you have weaker executive functioning skills, you may not be great at multitasking.
In addition to your level of executive functioning, your multitasking ability may depend on:
- Age, as the ability to multitask decreases as your brain ages
- Experience, because executive functioning skills can be taught, practiced and strengthened
- Genetics, which can affect your ability to focus
4 ways that task switching impacts your brain function
While your mind can quickly switch from one thing to another, it's not designed for constant or heavy multitasking. The more you try to juggle, the higher your mental load.
A heavier mental load can impact your brain in several ways, including:
1. Affects productivity
Most people multitask because it seems like a more productive use of their time. But each time you switch from one task to another, your brain needs time to refocus. The "time cost" of each switch may be minimal — fractions of a second — but those fractions can add up.
What seems efficient on the surface may be taking you longer — especially if you are switching often and between complex tasks. According to the American Psychological Association, even brief mental breaks during transitions can cause your productivity to drop by up to 40%.
2. Increases errors
Ever send a text or email to the wrong person because you are doing it while your attention is elsewhere? If so, you know what it's like to strain your brain with multitasking.
When brain systems get overloaded, you are increasingly prone to forgetting things and making poor decisions. Research suggests that not only will it take you longer to complete a single task, but you can expect to make more errors as you switch from one task to another. The more tasks you are managing and the more you switch between them, the more likely you are to make mistakes.
3. Reduces memory
As you switch between activities, your brain's working memory needs to retain and manage all the relevant information from both tasks. With each added task, that responsibility grows. As a result, multitasking too often or too heavily can reduce both your working memory function and your ability to turn new memories into long-term memories.
Experts have uncovered that your memory is especially at risk if you are a media multitasker — someone who engages with or switches between multiple media streams. This includes stopping a task to scroll social media, watch a pop-up or respond to a text.
Research dating back to 2009 shows that people who regularly participate in media multitasking do not perform as well on memory and attention tasks as people who multitask less. A more recent study finds that people who manage multiple media streams at once are also slower to return to their primary task and slower to complete that task overall.
4. Causes mental fatigue
When your brain is working under such stressful conditions all the time, it can increase cognitive strain. Switching your focus interferes with ongoing processing and uses more mental resources.
Some experts believe that multitasking can increase your body's overall stress because tasks must be completed more quickly to make up for the time cost. Completing those tasks while compensating for distractions can feel draining relative to what you've accomplished.
Protect your brain with monotasking
The best way to keep your brain safe from multitasking is to avoid it altogether whenever possible. But embracing "monotasking" — focusing on one task at a time — isn't easy.
Things you can do to make monotasking easier include:
- Block your time to make focus more manageable.
- Define the priority task so that you know which task to focus on.
- Refresh your attention with regular breaks and mindfulness practice.
- Turn off notifications to limit distractions.
If monotasking still feels challenging, consider a temporary or daily digital detox. Taking a break from electronic devices may help reset your brain and improve your focus.
