You aren’t good at multitasking.

No one actually is. 

But we tell ourselves that we are. 

And if you’re a woman, you’ve been taught the myth that you are better at it or at least that you should be. A myth that has you constantly taking on more and more.

Multitasking is often a product of anxiety. And one that just creates more anxiety.

First, you overfill your plate because you are anxious that you aren’t doing enough or you are too anxious to say “no.”

Then you get anxious about how full your plate is and how behind you are, so you try to juggle multiple tasks to act yourself out of that anxiety. 

And trying to juggle multiple tasks (usually unsuccessfully and all while adding even more to your plate) creates even more anxiety. And reinforces the overwhelm of having too much to do.

If your attention is constantly divided, of course you feel anxious that you’re going to miss something or mess something up. 

Let’s be honest. You probably are. Or you already have. Or haven’t put out the kind of work product that you like or know you are capable of. 

Multitasking actually harms productivity. It lowers your cognitive function. It reduces efficiency. It leads to mistakes. 

Yet we still pretend we are good at it. Or chastise ourselves because we aren’t. Because we think it means something about us to be a good multitasker. 

And because we can’t let go of the idea that if we were just better at it, we would get more done, and we would be a better person.

Multitasking has no moral value.

And there’s nothing wrong with you because you can’t multitask well. No one can.

You’ve just bought into the false narrative that you can and should multitask. 

And of course you did. We’ve been taught our entire lives that our value as human beings lies in how much we do. How productive we are. How much we achieve. 

But the human brain does not multitask well. 

So the first step is to stop telling yourself that you do. (Research shows that it can take anywhere from 9.5 minutes to 23 minutes to effectively context switch. Think about how much more time you’re wasting solely because you think multitasking is actually effective or that you would be more efficient if you were better at it.)

Then start getting curious about why you feel the urge to multitask AND why you have so much on your plate that you think you have to. 

A love note to you: If you find yourself always trying to multitask or you feel anxious or overwhelmed all or most of the time - let’s solve that problem. I can help you take control back over your schedule and be more efficient and productive in less time. Just send me an email or sign up for a consult at jenndealcoaching.as.me/consult.