There are countless resources out there that outline how multitasking is ineffective and turns your brain into mush. I agree, to an extent. The part of me that agrees uses the pomodoro technique for focusing. The part that disagrees are tried and true life examples of creating 2-in-1 deals for myself. How-To be a productive multi-tasker, mix your activities together.
Pair a cognitive activity with a physical activity. It seems like common sense, but sometimes folks need a reminder. Here are some examples of my favourite multitasking activities:
Washing the dishes while microwaving food (got this from my momma)
Listening to a podcast while cleaning my room or while riding the bus
Curate my twitter and instagram feeds into one area with hootsuite
Make a phone call while brewing a cup of coffee
Outline my upcoming blog post while taking a shower (I even explain the content aloud if necessary)
If you are going to multitask two cognitive activities together such as watching TV and studying , please be wary of the truth:
The human brain doesn’t multi-task like an expert juggler; it switches frantically between tasks like a bad amateur plate-spinner...
Such changes - including chronically raised levels of the stress hormone cortisol - can make us more disposed to being aggressive and impulsive, as well as raising our risk of cardiovascular disease.
In the longer term, it is the psychological and intellectual toll of multi-tasking which may cause the most widespread harm. And it’s the younger generations who are at greatest risk.
The more time young people spend multi-tasking, the harder they find concentrating on single intellectual tasks, such as reading a textbook, according to a report by American scientists in the journal Cyberpsychology and Behaviour. - via daily mail
How are you saving minutes in your day by multitasking? What are your favourite multitasking collabos?