Multitasking does not make you more productive

While people who self-assess as being good at multitasking might feel more productive, research studies show the opposite to be true. Multitasking reduces productivity across the board:

And studies show that those who claim to multitask a lot also claim to be very good at it. Those interviewed in these studies do not see their productivity impaired by it. On the contrary, they think it’s improved. But they usually don’t test themselves in comparison with a control group. Psychologists who interviewed the multitaskers did test them instead of just asking. They gave them different tasks to accomplish and compared their results with another that was instructed to do only one thing at a time.

The outcome is unambiguous: While those who multitasked felt more productive, their productivity actually decreased a lot (Wang and Tchernev 2012; Rosen 2008; Ophir, Nass, and Wagner 2009). Not only the quantity but also the quality of their accomplishments lagged significantly behind that of the control group.

– How to Take Smart Notes, Page 58