Henry Ford founded the Ford Motor Company and figured out how to make automobiles affordable. He once stated, “A weakness of all human beings is trying to do too many things at once. That scatters effort and destroys direction. It makes for haste, and haste makes waste. So we do things all the wrong ways possible before we come to the right one.”
To put it another way, Ford was saying watch out for multitasking. As a confirmed member of Multitaskers Anonymous, let me say I see the wisdom in what Ford is trying to communicate to us. There are only so many ways a mind can multiply before it divides. And that division costs us. Now, there are times when multitasking is helpful. Multitasking comes in handy for the young mother simultaneously caring for her toddler, washing clothes, and cooking breakfast. However, research confirms Henry Ford’s wise words. According to the Journal of Experimental Psychology, “Multitasking may actually be less efficient because it takes extra time to shift mental gears every time a person switches between the two tasks.” This is one reason “multitasking can reduce productivity by as much as 40%.”
We do well to rank our tasks each day and then to set to work on the most important one. When we get that one knocked out, we go to number two. Each task receives our maximum focus. I love what the book of wisdom, Ecclesiastes, says about this: “Better is a handful of quietness than two hands full of toil and a striving after wind” (4:6—ESV).
Whenever possible, let’s prioritask instead of multitask.
Mark
Author of Holy Chaos How To Walk with God in a Frenzied World