by Art Basmajian

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.

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

So what is “multi-tasking”? Simply put, it is doing a number of tasks simultaneously at a given time. This is usually done so that plenty of work can be done over a short amount of time.

A classic example involves writing an e-mail, answering a phone call, sipping your coffee, and “mouth-signaling” your incoming visitor to stay on the couch while you finish the call. That’s four tasks all at once. Amazing, right?

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

The “switching cost” has been discovered by experimental psychologists in their research. This means that every time you change tasks, you will expend four minutes each time to be able to reach your maximum productivity. Just think: doing four tasks a time would cost you an extra 16 minutes!

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.

However, any serious entrepreneur should not sacrifice quality for quantity and should finish one task at a time. In the long-run, what you’ll spend in time you’ll more than make up for in productivity. What’s more, you’ll feel less stress, as your mind is only occupied with one thing at a time. If you keep on taking things one at a time, you’ll see that, sooner or later, your workload has been significantly reduced and your end results have superb quality. Truly, this is what every successful entrepreneur wants in the end!

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