Yesterday I read two interesting blog posts about the dangers of multitasking. They seem in line with what I’ve written before about the Myths of Multitasking.

One, written by my Accountability Partner, Jan Wencel, of Spark Productivity, references a statistic that equates the effects of multitasking while driving to that of driving under the influence with a blood alcohol level of .08 (the legal limit in my state).

The other, written by leadership and teamwork consultant and trainer, Mike Rogers, of SecondG.net references a British study that showed we lose the equivalent of 10 IQ points when multitasking. He shares that 10 points is more than you would lose if you were working during the day after a sleepless night, and more than double the points lost for smoking marijuana. Interesting!

So if you’re now convinced that multitasking may not be the solution you’re looking for to get it all done, try focusing instead. Do one thing and think about that one thing at the same time. Minimize or eliminate distraction. Avoid the “shiny objects”. Turn off your phone, your email notification, and anything else that buzzes, rings, rattles or calls for your attention while you’re working on a high priority task.

Let us know how that works out for you. We bet you’ll be more productive (and safer) as a result!