BEWARE OF THE SWITCHTASK THIEF
ISSUE 100 | VOLUME 5 | MAY 2021
Have you heard of switchtasking? Whether or not you have, you’ve likely done it. In fact, you’re probably doing it right now. You’re reading this article, and an alert from Outlook, Slack or Microsoft Teams appeared on your screen, or a text message appeared on your phone. Do you read it? If you read it, you are switchtasking. Simultaneously talking on the phone, writing an email and answering a text from a family member all while working on a deadline-driven project is often referred to as multitasking. However, according to American author Dave Crenshaw, it is actually switchtasking, and it can be detrimental to work and productivity levels.
“We are confused about whether or not we’re being productive. And the reality is, your brain cannot handle multiple active tasks at the same time.”
Crenshaw introduced the term switchtasking in his book, “The Myth of Multitasking: How Doing It All Gets Nothing Done,” and said it’s a better way to describe what is occurring when people attempt to multitask, or rather when they attempt to concentrate on more than one thing.
“We are confused about whether or not we’re being productive. And the reality is, your brain cannot handle multiple active tasks at the same time. You have to switch back and forth … and every time you switch, you pay a cost,” said Crenshaw, who is a public speaker and time management expert.
During a recent webinar by Lucid Software on how to avoid remote working fatigue, Crenshaw listed increased time, lower quality and higher stress as the costs, and shared tips on improving productivity levels during the workday by avoiding switchtasking.
To prove how negatively impactful switchtasking is, Crenshaw gave the audience a task. The audience had to write on a piece of paper, “switchtasking is a thief” on one line as one task and the numbers 1-21 on a second line as another task.
When doing these two tasks separately, the audience could do each faster than they did when they attempted to switch between the two tasks. For example, when writing “s, 1, w, 2, i, 3, t, 4, c, 5, h, 6, etc.,” on the separate lines, switching back and forth between the phrase and numbers, many in the audience claimed it took longer, and they made mistakes and were more stressed in completing the two tasks.
“If [you] can reduce the number of switches, you’re going to get more time, you’re going to improve the quality of your work and you’re going to reduce your stress levels,” Crenshaw said.
In its newly-released, “The Title Agent’s Guide to Working Remote,” NATIC offers the title agent community a full-service, how-to-guide to working remote, including: Tips from Crenshaw on how to reduce switchtasking and increase productivity levels; professional insight from NATIC’s senior vice president of agency, Rich Griffin, on time management; and dispelling the myths of remote work, overcoming the remote struggles, managing a remote workforce, collaboration tools, beneets to working remote, workspace considerations, remote security, company policy and remote training.