The Mindset Mentor - How to Multitask

Starting point is 00:00:00 Welcome to the MWF Motivation Podcast, one of the top-rated motivational podcasts in the world. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I come out with a short, to-the-point, no-BS podcast designed to transform you from who you are today into who you want to be. There's no fluff here, just life-changing content. My name is Rob Dial and the podcast starts now. Welcome to today's episode of the MWF Motivation Podcast. I am your host, Rob Dial. And if you have not yet done so, please subscribe to us, however you listen to us, whether it be iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud, or watching along out in

Starting point is 00:00:51 YouTube land. So today what I'm going to be talking about is multitasking. And some people take pride, and I mean they really take pride in being great multitaskers. And they say, you know, I can do this, but I can also do this. And you read articles about how women are better multitaskers than men and all of these different things. But the idea that you're more productive when you're a great multitasker is actually just complete BS. So let's talk about focus a little bit more in depth, but let's talk about focusing on the things you need to focus on versus going off and multitasking on a bunch of different things. Because to do a little bit of a bunch of different things is to basically do nothing.

Starting point is 00:01:36 But to do a lot into just one topic is to get a lot accomplished. So multitasking is actually completely false. So they tell you about multitasking where you can get more done if you're multitasking. Multitasking is actually just something that should be called task switching. You're just switching your tasks that you're doing. That's it. So let me tell you the reasons why. And just so you have an idea, before I went into this episode, I was like, I'm going to do a bunch.

Starting point is 00:02:03 I'm going to study as much as I possibly can and find out through empirical data exactly how bad multitasking is for you. So from all of the different articles that I read, I'm going to go ahead and share the news with you on why you should stop multitasking and why you should learn to focus on what you need to focus on. So here we go. on what you need to focus on. So here we go. The thing about multitasking, the human brain is actually not designed to multitask. Our brains are designed to concentrate on one task, one thing at a time, instead of bombarding them with multiple tasks that will actually

Starting point is 00:02:39 slow them down. So when we give multiple tasks to our brain, different things to focus on, your efficiency will actually slow down. So your multitasking, which you think is making you get stuff done so much quicker, is actually slowing you down. It's taking longer to get these projects done. And so I have a quote in here from an MIT neuroscientist. What he actually says is that our brains are not wired to multitask very well. When people think that they are multitasking, they're actually just switching from one task to another very rapidly. And every time they do so, there's a cognitive loss. This constant task switching encourages our brain to have bad habits. When we complete a tiny task, for instance,

Starting point is 00:03:27 sending an email or answering a text message or posting a tweet or a Facebook status, putting up a picture, we actually get hit with a dollop of dopamine, which is basically just our reward hormone. So when we get one little tiny task done, we get a little bit of release of dopamine in our brains, which make us feel like we're actually getting something done, which make us feel like we're being productive. So what we're getting with that dopamine is just our brains love the dopamine. So we're encouraged to keep switching between small tasks to get that instant gratification and that little release of dopamine into our brains. Just so you have an idea, when someone takes ecstasy,

Starting point is 00:04:10 when someone takes molly, they get a huge rush of dopamine into their brain. That's all it does, is it actually releases dopamine into your receptors. So obviously, multitasking is not like doing drugs, ecstasy or mo mal or anything like that, but it is the same receptors, the same drug that's being put out into your brain, dopamine, which then makes you feel like the reward hormone, like you're doing actually doing something productive. So this makes us feel, it makes us feel, that is the correct word, feel as if we're getting a lot accomplished because our brains, we're rewarding ourselves in our brains. But in reality, we're actually getting

Starting point is 00:04:45 less done. So we feel like we're getting more done. We are actually getting less done. And multitasking actually lowers the quality of your work and lowers your efficiency. It lowers the quality of your work and lowers your efficiency. In fact, this is the crazy part. you're working, it lowers your efficiency. In fact, this is the crazy part. Multitasking actually drops your IQ for whatever the task is that you're working on. The University of London did a multitasking study and found that multitasking, believe it or not, the people who are multitasking, these participants, their IQ lowered about as much as somebody who lost an entire night's sleep. So if you're working on a task and you're switching back and forth between it, you might as well just concentrate on that task after just never having a night of sleep before.

Starting point is 00:05:35 So you know that feeling that you have when you completely lose a lot of sleep or you don't get much sleep and you're just out of it the entire next day and you're not productive, your brain's not working very well. Well, imagine working on your tasks in that state. That is how productive you are when you're multitasking. So you're inefficient and your quality of work drops just from multitasking. So multitasking has found to increase the amount of cortisol that's actually in your brain as well, which is the stress hormone. So by switching back and forth, because of the fact that our brains are designed to just stay on one task until that one task is completed or until we at least feel like it's somewhat done,

Starting point is 00:06:15 if our brains are designed to do that and we keep switching back and forth, it's going to stress our brains out. That releases cortisol into your brain and cortisol is the stress hormone. People who have stress problems, who have a bunch of different problems with levels in their brain, usually cortisol is one of the main things that they have more than they should have in their brain. So multitasking not only makes you dumber and less efficient, it also makes you more stressed out.

Starting point is 00:06:39 So having our brain constantly shift gears between all of these things pumps out stress, it tires us out, and leaves us more mentally exhausted as well. Multitasking is actually 50% worse for men than it is for women. So going back to what I said before, I guess, yes, women are better multitasking than men, but it's still not good for women to do. For men, multitasking, believe it or not, can drop a man's IQ as much as 15 points in the time he's multitasking. I'm reading this word forward just so you have an idea. Essentially, turning men into the cognitive equivalent of an eight-year-old.

Starting point is 00:07:20 So if you were to take your important tasks and multitask between the two of them, you're basically like your eight year old self working on those tasks. If that's not the stupidest thing you've ever heard of what the main reason why you should never multitask. I don't know if there is any other reason that's ridiculous to me. So don't be surprised. It says, so don't be surprised if you find yourself stocking up. I'm like crying when I'm reading this. Um, if you saw the video, you can see, don't be surprised when you find yourself stocking up. I'm like crying when I'm reading this. If you saw the video, you can see. Don't be surprised when you find yourself stocking up on pop rocks. Sorry about that. So a man could drop his IQ 15 points and basically turn himself to the equivalent, cognitive equivalent of an eight-year-old. So good job, guys. Stop multitasking

Starting point is 00:08:00 if there's anything that you need to know. That's 15 points as it'll drop you. Women, it still drops you 10 points in your IQ level when you're working on it. So it's not any better for you. In reality, it's not good for any of us. So a university in the UK ran an MRI on the brains of individuals who spent more time multitasking and on multiple devices at once. And this is something that I honestly need to work on. And what it means on multiple devices at once. And this is something that I honestly need to work on. And what it means by multiple devices works. It means texting or being on Facebook or any of those things while you're watching TV. That's what it means by multiple devices. The MRI scan shows that the subjects who multitask and use multiple devices at the same time

Starting point is 00:08:40 often had less brain density in their... Ohingulate cortex. I don't know, whatever that is. They have less brain density in this specific spot. So that's the area that's responsible in your brain for empathy and emotion control. So let's do a quick recap of what multitasking does. It makes you dumber. It makes you less efficient. It makes you the equivalent of an eight-year-old working on all your important projects. It lowers your IQ by 15 points. It makes you 50% less efficient on doing all the things. And it also messes with the brain density and have found permanent problems with people that are multitasking more. So all in all, this is what I can tell you. Researchers found that it causes

Starting point is 00:09:34 a 40% drop in productivity. That's the main thing of what you need to know. When you're going, you know what, I'm going to multitask. I'm going to go and do all of these different things. when you're going, you know what, I'm going to multitask. I'm going to go and do all of these different things. You're getting 40% less done. Your drop in productivity is 40%. So if I could tell you anything, if we're talking about focus in the last episode, this episode, we're also talking about focus as well. What you focus on, you need to take time and focus on that one thing. You need to figure out a way to turn your email off so nothing pops up. You need to figure out a way to flip your phone upside down and put it on silent or completely turn it off for the important tasks that you need to do.

Starting point is 00:10:10 And you've heard me talk about it if you've listened to me in other episodes, the Pomodoro technique, which is this. You figure out one task that you need to work on for the next 25 minutes. One task, one task only. And you go at it as hard as you possibly can for 25 minutes. You set your alarm clock for 25 minutes and you go as hard as you possibly can at this one thing with absolutely no, absolutely no, no distractions at all. And it's hard to do this day and age when you just want to jump around. And here's what you'll find too. This is something that I've found

Starting point is 00:10:41 is when I'm doing this, when I'm taking those 25 minutes, my brain at first, it started to jump around and want me to do other things. It felt like I was ADD. I want to do all of these different things. But the more you get used to sitting down and putting 25 minutes into something of just absolute concentration, the better that you're going to get it, the more you're going to be able to turn your brain off as well. So the technique is to go 25 minutes, set an alarm as hard as you possibly can. Just go at this one thing that you need to get accomplished. After those 25 minutes, you take five minutes off, you give your brain a technique and you go back into that exact same thing that you were working on before if it's not done or you switch to another one. So that's what I want you guys to work on is to look at your day

Starting point is 00:11:22 today and go, how can I try not to multitask as much as possible? And see how efficient you become when you try not to multitask and you give yourself 25 minutes to work on something and then five minutes off. Absolutely no distractions in what you should work on. So that's my challenge for you today is can you try to stop multitasking in order to become more efficient? Because if we're trying to become the best version of ourselves, part of that is getting the most amount that we can get done in the hours that we are awake. So stop multitasking. It is making you 40% less productive by multitasking. So you think you're doing more, you're actually doing 40% less. With that, I'm going to leave you the same way I leave

Starting point is 00:12:00 you every single episode. Make it your mission today to make somebody else's day better. I appreciate you. If you like this episode, we are growing like crazy. So if you like this episode, please share it with someone that you know. I appreciate you. And I hope that you guys all have an absolutely beautiful and amazing day as well. Well, that's it for today's podcast. If you want the show notes for this episode, they can be found at mwfmotivation.com. Also, if you liked this episode, please spread the love and share it with a friend because it's our mission to help as many people as we can. And to keep in touch, you can follow us on Instagram and Facebook. Both handles are at MWFmotivation with no spaces. Now you know what time it is.

Starting point is 00:12:44 So go out and make your dreams a reality.

The Mindset Mentor - How to Multitask

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