Does Multitasking Work For You?

I have been in search of life balance my whole life. It doesn’t occur in my world and now I know why …

When there are only two aspects in one’s life, balance may be fleetingly achievable but when one has many areas of life that are important – relationships with a number of key life people and groups, career, spiritual connection, financial pursuits, hobbies, personal care – and the list goes on – ‘balancing’ all of those aspects of one’s life is a mind game designed to fail.

Instead I have learned that I do the best when I focus on one thing for about 60-90 minutes at a time. I like to do it by priority but it doesn’t even always happen that way. The benefit of ‘not getting to everything’ and not looking for ‘balance’ is that I am able to stay energized and focused on one thing without thinking about the others. The result at the end of the day, week, month is that my life is improved in all the areas that I was able to do focused work and the state of ‘balance’ in my mind makes me feel that I have been much more productive.

Read What Science Says About Multitasking

In a study conducted by Robert Rogers and Stephen Monsell, it was found that, “Multitasking seems like a great way to get a lot done at once. But research has shown that our brains are not nearly as good at handling multiple tasks as we like to think they are. In fact, some researchers suggest that multitasking can actually reduce productivity by as much as 40%. ”

In the long run, I do feel accomplished and I do see progress and results. Do I still have areas of life where I have not made progress? YES, I do and when those areas rise to priority, I will get to them.

There’s a lot to be said for realizing that, in my life, multitasking is not productive and balance is not a goal for me. Focusing on one thing at a time and getting that done is what is working for me in a very satisfying way.

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