During the recent decades, there’s been a severe competition between the two ways of working: multitasking and monotasking. Both are suggested as the means of getting more done during the same amount of time, or in other words, for the sake of productivity increase. However, the notions are totally opposite, and therefore many people are bewildered as to which strategy is really effective?
First of all, let’s clear up what the notions above mean.
Multitasking, as the words implies, means doing several tasks at the same time.
Monotasking, on the contrary, can be defined as focusing on one task till its completion and avoiding distractions as much as possible.
Why Multitasking Effect is Ambiguous?
At the first sight, it seems logical that by doing a couple of tasks simultaneously one will manage more work done, and consequently, multitasking facilitates efficiency. And it is totally understandable why multitasking was a major trend at the end of the XX-th century, and a frequent requirement for the new hires. Till this day obsession with this method is prevalent – we talk on the phone when jogging, check emails during meetings and read in transport, listening to music at the same time.
The time and studies, however, have proved that multitasking isn’t as beneficial as it was considered before, to say the least. First of all, human brain isn’t capable of focusing on several things simultaneously. So, multitasking is actually quick switching between tasks, which doesn’t let focus properly on either of them.
While seemingly the productivity increases when you manage multiple tasks at once, the effectiveness and quality of work deteriorates. This is why frequently there is the need to edit or redo the work.
Positive Impact of Monotasking on Employee Productivity
In view of the findings, monotasking is viewed as alternative and much more effective way of boosting productivity, due to its multiple benefits:
- focusing on one activity reduces the number of errors by 50%;
- working in a distraction-free mode lowers the level of stress hormones and thus helps the brain to process information faster;
- concentration on one task till it is complete. Let’s come over to the next point of the daily agenda with a clear mind, unlike multitasking, when the mind keeps working on the previous activity while the person is already doing something else;
- monotasking facilitates creativity, since all mental resources are directed on one task instead of spending them on switching between different activities.
Time Tracker App as a Metrics of the Effectiveness of Monotasking
In spite of the research findings, there are different types of people and a wide range of tasks, therefore you can decide what approach is better for you and your company based on the objective data. For example, you can use a time tracker service to measure employee productivity when using mono-and multitasking method, and compare the results to make the final conclusion.
The time tracker gathers information about employees’ activity on their computers, which includes all software programs, applications and websites they use. It also shows the duration of working with each resource, and builds a graphic scale visualizing this data. All productive resources on the scale are coloured green, while unproductive and neutral are red and grey correspondingly, breaks leaving spaces inside the scale. This scale is very convenient for analyzing how many tasks an employee usually handles at once and see what the productivity of work is.
However, it is not so hard to forecast what the conclusions will be. For instance, the scale broken with frequent breaks (no matter whether personal or on business), and with short periods of using a messenger or checking inbox will in all probability mean that an employee’s efficiency leaves much to be desired. On the contrary, lengthy “green” periods (meaning productive resources) with long breaks are often indicative of tasks done in turn and few distractions, resulting in high productivity.
Wrapping up
No matter what the predictions may be, it is always to check for yourself, so catch your chance by implementing Yaware.TimeTracker and finding your way of increasing productivity. This webservice has a 14-days trial, free of charge and packed with all possible features, no strings attached (and no credit card required) – simply sign up (it is very quick) and you’re good to go.
