Why Your Brain likes it when you multi-task

In psychology the monochronic assumption is the idea that it’s always better to complete one task before you start on the next. In research conducted over several decades, Allen Bluedorn has found that, unsurprisingly, it’s a matter of personal preference. Some people favour monochronicity and feel happier completing one task before they start the next. Others are polychronic and perform better when they are doing lots of things at once, and can excel in jobs which require them to do just that.

Running a busy cafe would be a good example – though this doesn’t mean they necessarily get the jobs done faster. In a cafe there’s no option but to jump from task to task.

The research on compulsory multi-tasking is at first sight discouraging. Multi-tasking has a bad name. Some studies give people two tasks to complete simultaneously. In others multi-tasking means switching backwards and forwards between different tasks until they’re done. So you’re not actually doing them at the same time, but within the same block of time, something that often happens at work.