MULTITASKING

Intro: It’s time to nail this myth once and for all – the scientific fact is that your brain is simply not wired for multitasking

WE make the mistake of thinking that our grey matter is like a computer – but try as we may, our conscious thinking powers cannot be split along separate paths in the way that a computer can run multiple programs simultaneously.

It takes between a few milliseconds to several minutes for the brain to fully orientate to a new task, depending on the task’s complexity. When we dart like a butterfly beween tasks, the vast majority of us end up not doing any of them well: we make more mistakes, and become less able to remember new things. By continually switching focus – and maybe buzzing on stress-induced adrenaline – we can be blind to how unproductive we’re being. Those who think they’re experts at multitasking are actually the worst at it, thanks to the Dunning-Kruger effect. This is the human curse of exaggerarting our own abilities and no one is immune. The only way to gain a realistic insight into your skills is to be independently assessed.

To work with, not against, your brain, prioritise tasks so you know what needs to get done first, cut those email notifications, and avoid starting a job until you’ve prepared what you need to complete it.

SUPERTASKERS

A plucky 2.5% of us take multitasking to the next level: these supertaskers are, for example, able to take charge of a hospital Accident & Emergency Department, and not be fazed by a ward full of patients in pain, a crowd of relatives clamouring for attention, and another ambulance due to arrive in the next five minutes.

Somehow, the decision-making cabling in the supertasker’s brain is able to fire with great efficiency – doing more work with less effort. Supertasker’s can filter out unwanted distractions, remember details easily, and stay as cool as a cucumber when under extreme pressure.

You might wish you were one of this elite breed, but it seems to be impossible to learn these skills – being a supertasker may simply be down to your genetic “dice” rolling a double six.

CONCENTRATION

Complimentary to this topic is the issue of concentration and scientists have been thorough in their research in addressing the oft quoted question, ‘Will listening to music improve my concentration?’

Listening to music certainly nudges the brain during tedious work, but it remains a myth that listening to classical music will make you smarter.

First coined in 1991, the “Mozart Effect” became a craze among parents and students after a series of short experiments showed that some students performed slightly better in certain types of tests when taken shortly after a music lesson or listening to classical music. Newspapers and the media loved the story, whipping up these findings into “listening to Mozart makes you smarter” – which was a bold stretch of the imagination.

Since then, further research has shown that while background music does give a slight boost to spatial reasoning (the ability to imagine and answer questions about 2D and 3D objects), it doesn’t improve your score in IQ or academic tests. Even then, the improvement doesn’t last long, and the music doesn’t even need to be classical – any pleasant background sound helps you stay focused, and lively pop and rock tunes tend to come out best of all. So if you are undertaking spatial reasoning tasks such as repairing a gadget, map-reading, or video gaming, put on your favourite upbeat track.