Multitasking means to perform more than one task simultaneously

Although the name suggests doing multiple tasks at the same time, what is actually happening is that the brain quickly switches between tasks.

Daniel J. Levitin, a psychology professor at McGill University and author of the book,

‘The Organized Mind’,

explains we can’t really multitask because the brain can only do one thing at once.

Instead of doing four things simultaneously, the brain quickly shifts from one activity to the next. The problem with this is that every time we shift focus, we burn glucose, which is the food our neurons use. After a couple of hours of speedy shifting, we feel drained.
In addition to using up our glucose store, cortisol (the stress hormone) has also been released, causing us to feel edgy and warping our self-perception.
This bit is key!

When we are in this tired, edgy state, we think we are good at multitasking, but we aren’t; we just think we are. Levitin likens it to thinking we can drive safely after drinking a lot of alcohol.

Why multitasking is compelling to the ADHD brain?

When you have ADHD, multitasking can be part of your life for a few reasons:

1. You are worried you’ll forget to do something. You act on the thought right away, regardless of what you are working on when it popped into your mind.

2) You have a low threshold for boredom; uni-tasking feels boring.

3) You crave stimulation, so task switching and rapidly moving your attention between tasks makes life seem more exciting.

Why is multitasking difficult for the ADHD brain?

The brain’s ability to task switch (giving the illusion of multitasking) relies heavily on executive functions.
For people living with ADHD, the executive functions are already working hard, and the constant switching can exacerbate difficulties with focus and organization.
Working memory is an important part of executive functions. The working memory allows you to hold information and maneuver it for a short period of time.

For example, if you are cooking a new recipe that requires six spices, your working memory holds the names of those spices in your mind while you search your cabinet.

As you find each spice, your working memory helps you keep track of which ones you’ve already located and which you still need to find.

Many adults with ADHD have challenges with their working memory, so if you are doing more than one task, you need to hold multiple pieces of information at the same time.

This can lead you to feel overwhelmed or bad about yourself if you forget something or make a mistake.

Now you know that no one is good at multitasking (even you), experiment with single-tasking.

Here are three suggestions to help you get started.

1. Gamify Single Tasking

If working on one task feels dull or boring, break your tasks into ‘do-able‘ chunks and guess how long each one will take you to do.

Then, using your timer, time yourself and see if your estimation was right or if you did it faster (without compromising standards). This can gamify single-tasking while still lightening the cognitive load and helping out your executive functions.

2. Jot it down.

If you remember something you need to do while in the middle of another task, jot it down on a notepad so you don’t forget. Then, bring your focus back to the original task. This simple habit will help you feel calmer, more energized, and ultimately more productive!

3 Compare Task Performance

People with ADHD love to be productive and get things done. But because multitasking feels so rewarding, you might not be totally convinced that by single-tasking, you’ll get more done, not less.

So try a little experiment. Compare your performance on a task—both in terms of accuracy and speed—when you complete it alone versus when you attempt it while multitasking.

Are you a multi-tasker or a single tasker? Let me know in the comments section below!

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