Successful Entrepreneurs Don't Multi-Task

  Written by Art Basmajian on Mar 23, 2009 6:05 am

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If you are a fan of multi-tasking, or if you label yourself as a multi-tasker, then this piece of writing might upset you. Yes, there are moments when the need for multi-tasking is paramount. But when things really matter, just like in business, you might want to concentrate on one task at a time.

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A successful entrepreneur doesn't multi-task, and this is a fact!

Multi-tasking, by definition, is said to be the act of simultaneously doing two or more tasks in hopes of doing the most number of tasks in the least amount of time. Simply put, it's the most you can do in the fastest way you can do them.

Here's an example of multitasking. While you're on your computer writing an e-mail, you could be taking a phone call with your headset, sipping coffee, and at the same time signaling a visitor to take a seat. That's a lot of tasks done in one time!

Multi-tasking is okay, if the activities that you are taking care of are fairly simple and somewhat routine in nature. In technical terms, this is called "continuous partial attention" where one does a number of things at a time and that these tasks are not studied in depth. And this is rarely the case for a successful entrepreneur.

A successful entrepreneur needs concentration. For example, dealing with customers, especially face-to-face, requires your full attention. After all, people would not like it if you are taking to them while you are browsing your phone or checking your email.

The Costs in Switching Tasks

Experimental psychologists have long been studying the effect of multi-tasking on productivity. Numerous studies have shown that there is a "switching cost" every time you change from one task to another. This means that you need as much as four minutes to go back to maximum productivity on a task after an interruption. Now, if you're trying to juggle four tasks, you lose as much as sixteen minutes in one cycle of task-switching alone. Such a waste of time, huh?

Given such a piece of information, would you still opt to multi-task? True, a serious entrepreneur like you has a lot of things on your plate. You sometimes wish you have more than 24 hours in a day.

Any serious entrepreneur would agree that they are more productive when they finish a task one at a time. Think of the advantages of doing such. You will surely get less stressed out since you have focused all your thoughts on one thing. As you tick off items from your to-do list one by one, you have lesser things on your mind. You know, this could even be the secret to become the most successful and most serious entrepreneur!

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