Our Western society, unintentionally, without malice, created many concepts that, apparently normal, are not! Being a “multitasker”, for example, is one of them!
So-called Multitasking causes errors, low performance and a high level of stress that is not good for anyone. Advancement in technology by providing us with constant, quick accessibility to the world was and is good but it has been a master of this bad habit.
It seems that whoever can be in a hurry and do countless things at the same time is the one who wins the medal. Well, but scientists who study these issues have already discovered that it is not healthy at all and the World Health Organization also says: “Stop it”. And we explain why.
The term Multitasking is a bit misleading. In fact, the brain processes information serially and not at the same time. But, as it processes it so quickly, we don't realize it and we think that the mind is managing everything simultaneously. But not! It has been proven that when we mentally go from one task to another (we already give an example) there is a small pause lasting from 0.2 to 0.5 seconds. For example, when we are driving and we are talking on the cell phone, even loudly, what happens is that our attention goes from “driving” to “listening” to the conversation and being able to respond and then vice versa, this in milliseconds. It's not at the same time.
Furthermore, our beloved amygdala (which alerts the body to respond to stress) when we multitask for a long time also fires because it doesn't know what's going on, it's just being told that we're doing it. a lot of things at the same time. Therefore, the level of stress increases in proportion to the amount of things we are doing at the same time and focus decreases... as well as, obviously, productivity.
If you want to start reducing your stress level, we guarantee you that you can start now by avoiding “multitasking”! We know it's not easy, but with persistence you will succeed and feel the beneficial effects of this act right away. It will take a little longer to complete some tasks but it is worth it because productivity and focus increase.
Here the tips are very simple and obvious. For example:
- Talk on your cell phone before or after driving. At most, take advantage of being stuck in traffic to do this;
- Talk on your cell phone before or after reading emails and/or messages or responding to them.
Simple multitasking such as reading a message and stirring a pan at the same time is tolerated. However, things like the above should really be avoided. Take care of your mind... your whole body will thank you.
Vanda do Nascimento is a therapist, trainer and Mindfulness instructor at the Escola de Mindfulness Essencial , founded by her in 2016. She began her career as a teacher in 1997, obtaining a degree in Education. On that same date, he also began his studies in Reiki, Meditation and Mindfulness. Later, he embarked on the path of Psychology and delved even deeper into the topic of Mindfulness, in order to continue his fight to control stress and anxiety.
