When constantly switching from one task to another, so-called ‘switching costs’ arise. These costs include the time and mental energy needed to reorient yourself to the new task, let go of the details of the previous task (attention residue), and fully concentrate on the new task. This process can take several minutes, which means that frequent task switching can lead to a significant decrease in productivity.
By handling tasks sequentially instead of in parallel, these switching costs can be minimized. Once you start a task, it is more efficient to continue it for as long as possible until it is completed. This eliminates the need to switch constantly and allows you to fully focus on the task at hand. Research has shown that subjects who repeatedly perform the same task work faster and more efficiently than when constantly switching tasks.
Additionally, studies have shown that employees lose a significant portion of their time by frequently switching between applications and websites. This constant switching can lead to a loss of 9% of their working time. By consciously choosing to monotask and handle tasks in a logical order, employees can increase their productivity and improve the quality of their work. It is therefore crucial to create a work environment where unnecessary interruptions are minimized and focus on one task at a time is promoted.
Related:
- Before you start (a task, a work session, a project…), set a time budget
- A small part of the population is able to multitask without performance reduction
- Ensure that your computer screen is large enough so that you can view both the work document and the reference material at the same time
- Attempting to do two or more attention-demanding tasks simultaneously reduces productivity
- Workers lose 9% of their time at work by toggling roughly 1200 times per day between applications and websites
- A little time pressure while working on your tasks helps to reduce ‘attention residue’
- The human mind and brain lack the architecture to perform multiple tasks simultaneously
- We pick up our phones over 350 times per day, almost four times more than in 2019
- Interruptions aren’t intrinsically distinct from other events, they’re just events most professionals don’t want around. The distinction is in our head.
- Work in 90-minute cycles separated by 20-minute breaks
