Buddy Schum of Bucks County is an entrepreneur and former committee leader in Philadelphia. In the following article, Buddy Schum discusses multi-tasking and its effects on productivity, creativity, and well-being.
Multi-tasking can truly sound like a win-win strategy. After all, time is a valuable commodity, and the better use we make of it, the more we’ll be able to enjoy it. However, there are several considerations to be aware of when it comes to the challenge of performing several tasks or responsibilities at once.
Focusing on multiple projects can cause difficulties in other areas of life, such as productivity, which can decrease by 40% when multi-tasking becomes a regular strategy in business. Creativity also suffers when the brain is trained to switch focus regularly, while overall well-being is negatively impacted by anxiety and stress.
In this article, Buddy Schum of Bucks County reviews the three main areas of life that can potentially suffer from this fast-paced lifestyle. Buddy Schum also looks at the effects that multi-tasking can have on these all-important areas of life, and by the conclusion, have a better idea of why dealing with more than one important job at a time may be so challenging.
The Effects of Too Many Responsibilities and Tasks at Once
As previously mentioned, it is easy to get excited about our ability to multi-task. Doing more than one job at a time to the best of our ability is a way to try and maximize efficiency. Ideally, it leaves us with more hours in the day and more time to enjoy when our duties are complete.
However, Buddy Schum of Bucks County asks, is multi-tasking truly all it is cracked up to be? Is it worth the challenges that come with using this lifestyle strategy, either in work or in daily errands? The three categories below will give us some insight on what might suffer from the effects of multi-tasking.
Productivity
Buddy Schum of Bucks County explains that productivity is usually one of those things a person expects to see improvement in thanks to their ability to switch between multiple jobs or accomplish them at the same time. However, the reverse is actually true.
For example, many employers find that employees who try to switch focus from one task to another actually can’t keep up with their own goals or job duties. Instead, they tend to make mistakes and fumble assigned duties far more often.
In fact, it can actually weaken overall productivity by a whopping forty percent!
Creativity
Being able to perform several tasks at once is supposed to free up time and energy to be spent in various areas of life; after all, this is one of the most often driving reasons behind multi-tasking.
Unfortunately, Buddy Schum of Bucks County says that just like productivity, our creativity is affected negatively by attempts at doing more than we can effectively handle.
Truthfully, creativity takes focus all on it’s own. Creativity is asking the brain to think outside of the box, or in new patterns. When the human brain has, instead, been accustomed to only half-focusing on numerous tasks at a time, or switching from job to job, it will not be easy to re-train it to generate creative thoughts.
Well-Being
According to studies performed by the experts consulting at BestLifeChanges.com, the overall well-being of a person concerned with multitasking and making that lifestyle strategy a priority every day can suffer.
Buddy Schum of Bucks County says that this is one of the main causes of relationship strife. When one’s focus is divided between tasks, it can lead to elevated levels of social anxiety as a kind of leftover reaction, even after the time to complete the required job has passed.
Additionally, it has been studied that performing various roles at once directly impacts the brain. The unfortunate way that this has manifested itself is in the area of memory. Long-term memory can begin to suffer from the strain of trying to focus on several functions at once, causing us to lose precious memories.
This, in turn, is linked to the symptoms of depression that can arise from performing multiple jobs too often. Ultimately, the brain is designed for some level of multi-tasking. That being said, when it is pushed past the threshold, the brain’s frontal lobe suffers, causing chronic stress levels to rise while alertness and attentiveness fall.
Buddy Schum of Bucks County explains that this can have run-off effects on our overall wellbeing. From anxiety, to loss of long-term memory, to stress, to a drop in awareness of our surroundings, to a decrease in beneficial relationships, we are not necessarily better off when we multi-task.
In Conclusion
The challenges of multi-tasking come about when we realize how other faculties suffer because of the way performing many jobs at once trains the brain. Productivity is lowered when mistakes abound, and creativity is crippled because focus is lessened. Finally, overall well-being suffers thanks to heightened stress and anxiety.
