What’s more harmful to your IQ: Losing a night’s sleep, smoking marijuana, or trying to multitask? Believe it or not, according to research out of the UK, multitasking with electronic media caused a greater short-term drop in IQ than either pot or a lack of sleep.
Although we may think we’re the exception, we’re simply not able to give our full attention to multiple things simultaneously. Yes, we can become quite skilled at switching back and forth extremely rapidly, but research shows that even that comes at a cost.
Even if we’re not trying to do multiple tasks simultaneously, there’s also research showing that even quick changes in attention — like “just checking” our email or social media accounts — can have a profound effect on our work. It may seem like it’s just a minute here and a minute there, but the constant change in focus has a huge effect that many don’t realize.
If we’re regularly changing our focus in the middle of a task, not only does it takes longer to get it done, but the quality also doesn’t improve. We spend more time on more things, but don’t have more to show for it.
And this principle encompasses more than just what we do at work. Just as there’s a difference between simply spending time on a task, and actually giving it our complete attention, there’s also a difference between being in physical proximity to someone, and actually being present with them in the moment.
Sure, I may be able to send an email, check social media, glance at a blog, and all the while carry on a conversation with my wife or kids. But the reality is the quality of the conversations are going to be impacted.
This doesn’t mean that multi-tasking is wrong, or should never happen. In some situations, it may not be that big of deal. The important thing is to be aware of the effect that failing to fully focus on the task, or person, in front of us can have. And whether we’re willing to pay the cost that multitasking entails.