It seems that we are all in a race to do more, do it better, and do it faster, and in this rush, we try multi-tasking, doing more than one thing at a time. In an effort to gain time, we take multiple tasks into other activities, such as driving while: eating, talking on the phone, putting on make-up. Or what about talking on the phone while sorting through emails?

We feel busier when we multi-task, but are we more efficient? The answer is no!

Hurling through the workday with business on the mind, we try to find ways to cut corners. In an article published by the Journal of Experimental Psychology – Human Perception and Performance, psychology researchers found that multi-tasking causes us to lose time, rather than save it. Researchers identified that the brain has to “switch gears” between different tasks, and so the measured responses actually took more time. Plus, with each activity we do, there is a certain amount of set up time.

What is the solution to the onslaught of more things to do? There are a lot of ways to be more efficient with your time. Rather than trying to manage several tasks at once, take a little extra time to plan, identify your priorities, and then take one task at a time. Another way to increase efficiency is to group like tasks together. Set a slot of time aside for answering emails and another time slot for making phone calls.

Here are the top 5 ways to save time:

  1. Set your priorities and schedule time for them first
  2. Group similar activities together
  3. Leave some lag time in your day for unexpected “fix-its”
  4. Set a timer for activities that suck up time such as surfing the web, facebook, even answering emails.
  5. At the end of your workday, write your next day’s to do list. This keeps you in the flow of what needs to be done allowing you to have a clear focus the next day.

When we multi-task, it might feel like we are really busy, but the reality of it is, we are not as efficient as if we stay focused with one task at a time. Rather than multi-tasking, the answer to getting things done is to prioritize the tasks that are most important and simple take them one at a time.

Joshua S. Rubinstein, U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, Atlantic City, N.J.; David E. Meyer and Jeffrey E. Evans, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich., “Executive Control of Cognitive Processes in Task Switching,” Journal of Experimental Psychology – Human Perception and Performance.

What ways have you found to get more done in your day?