The Effects of Multitasking

For decades, academic research on multitasking has demonstrated that human beings work much more effectively when concentrating on a single task at any given time, and that switching between multiple tasks leads to a host of negative effects. Mobile phone usage while driving, for example, has been one of the most extensively studied instances of multitasking, and multiple studies show that drivers are seriously impaired while using cell phones. Initially, researchers thought that the physical device manipulation was responsible for the impairment, but later studies demonstrated that even hands-free devices can cause driving impairment equal to or worse than a .08 percent blood-alcohol level – the legal threshold for impairment in most states in the U.S.4 Simply trying to do two different tasks simultaneously is enough to reduce one’s effectiveness severely. Studies that look beyond the specific use case of mobile devices and driving generally show that multitasking causes serious productivity declines. Switching between tasks can cause a loss of productivity as high as 40 percent when compared to single-tasking5 and workers who multitask are much less likely to engage in creative thinking than those whose work is not fragmented6 . Long-term, habitual multitasking appears to have long-term negative effects as well. Habitual, heavy multitaskers are more susceptible to distraction by irrelevant stimuli at work than are habitual single-taskers , and multitasking makes individuals less capable of appropriately regulating their work habits8 . In sum, multitasking makes people less productive, less creative and more likely to get thrown off task by distractions.

While the negative effects of multitasking on individuals are well documented, little research has been conducted to examine the impact of multitasking on organizations as a whole. This study from Realization aims to provide original and vital research-based information and insight about the large scale impact of multitasking on organizations.

Source:

 Strayer, D. L., Drews, F. A., and Crouch, D. J. Fatal distraction? A comparison of the cell-phone driver and the drunk driver. In 

D. V. McGehee, J. D. Lee, & M. Rizzo (Eds.) Driving Assessment 2003: International Symposium on Human Factors in Driver Assessment, Training, and Vehicle Design. Published by the Public Policy 

Center, University of Iowa (pp. 25- 30). 2003. 5 Rubinstein, Joshua S., Meyer, David E., and Evans, Jeffrey E. Executive control of cognitive processes in task switching. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, Vol. 27(4), 2001, 763-797. 6 

Amabile, Teresa M., Mueller, Jennifer S., Simpson, William B., Hadley, Constance N., Krame