*Welcometo
Multi-Tasking:Myth or Reality?
2 Management Consulting
*Agenda
*What is it?
*Paying Attention
*Your Brain on Multi-tasking
*Delusions – Fooling Ourselves
*In the Real World
*Summary and Conclusion
*???
Management Consulting
33 Management Consulting
*What is it?
Management Consulting
* The ability to perform multiple tasks at one time
* or it can also involve switching back and forth from one thing to another
* or involve performing a number of tasks in rapid succession
44 Management Consulting
*New Expectations
*Texting
*Phone
*Web
55 Management Consulting
*An Example
*Posting on Facebook, Twitter, Linked-in, Instagram, etc.
*Answering e-mail
*Texting
*Writing a report
*Completing a spreadsheet
*Listening to music/podcast
66 Management Consulting
*Fact
*The human brain can only perform
1
task at a time.
77 Management Consulting
*Paying Attention
* Mind Wandering (Default Mode Network)
* Mind wandering or day dreaming
* Natural and restful brain state
* Brain not engaged in a purposeful task
* Thoughts directed inward – goals, feelings, plans and relationship with others (feeling empathy)
* Central Executive
* Demanding task
* Prevent distraction
* Limiting thoughts
* Thoughts directed outward and inward – task focus
* Attentional Filter – constant monitor of environment for what is important
* Attentional Switch – enables us to
* Shift from one task to another
* Organize information
88 Management Consulting
*The Illusion
*Multitasking
isa
powerful
and
diabolical
Illusion!
9
*Your Brain on Multi-tasking
Frequent multitaskers:
*Cannot pay attention
*Recall information, or
*Switch from one job to another as well as those who complete one task at a time
*Are actually worse at multitasking
*Slowed down on task performance
*Have reduced work quality by 40%
~~ Results of research conducted at Stanford University
1010 Management Consulting
*The Brain Chemistry
* Stress hormone cortisol
* Fight or flight hormone adrenaline
*Causing mental fog or scrambled thinking
*Creates a dopamine-addiction feedback loop by rewarding the brain for losing focus and constantly searching for external stimulation
*Pre-frontal cortex novelty bias – easily hijacked by something new and shiny
*Pattern – phone, internet, email, SMS, texting tweaks the novelty-seeking, reward-seeking brain centers causing a burst of endogenous opioids
*Result –> lose focus and get off task
Management Consulting
1111 Management Consulting
*MT Crack
*Nucleus accumbens a small structure of the limbic system
*Regulates dopamine production and is the region that “lights up” when gamblerswin a bet, drug addicts take cocaine, or people have orgasms
*Email-, Facebook- and Twitter-checking reward the dumb, novelty-seeking portion of the brain driving the limbic system that induces this feeling of pleasure,
*Not the planning, scheduling, higher-level thought centers in the prefrontal cortex
1212 Management Consulting
*Outcome
*Reduces efficiency and performance
*Lowers IQ by 15 points – similar to smoking marijuana or staying up all night
*Lowers brain density in the anterior cingulate cortex (responsible for empathy and cognitive and emotional control)
~~ Results of research conducted at the Glenn Wilson, Gresham College, London
1313 Management Consulting
*Impact on Learning
*Learning information while multitasking causes new information to go to wrong part of the brain – striatum (brain region specialized for storing new procedures and skills) rather than hippocampus (brain region specialized for organizing and categorizing facts easier to retrieve)
14 Management Consulting14
*Delusion
An erroneous belief held in the face of contrary evidence.
15 Management Consulting15
*Levels of Delusion
*Inattention – autopilot, multitasking
*Denial – not believe what is right before our eyes
*Misperception of Reality – threatens our most cherished assumptions/beliefs
1616 Management Consulting
*Out of Gas
MT causes:
*The prefrontal cortex and striatum to burn up oxygenated glucose, the same fuel they need to stay on task
*The brain to burn through fuel so quickly that we feel exhausted and disoriented after even a short time
*Anxiety, which raises levels of the stress hormone cortisol in the brain, which in turn can lead to aggressive and impulsive behavior
1717 Management Consulting
1818 Management Consulting
*In the Real World
Distracted Drivers
*Chances of having an accident:
* 4 times more likely while talking on cell
*23 times more likely while texting on cell
1919 Management Consulting
*Decision Fatigue
MT requires lots of decision-making resulting in:
*Loss of impulse control
*Making truly bad decisions about something important
*Decision avoidance
*Reduced ability to make trade-offs
2020 Management Consulting
*Summary
*Human brain cannot multi-task
*So called multi-taskers are justrapidly switching from one activityto another
*Psychological Harms
*Inability to concentrate/focus
*40% reduction in productivity
*Decision fatigue
2121 Management Consulting
*Conclusion
*Multi-tasking is a Myth
22 Management Consulting