With the introduction of various technologies into our everyday lives, multitasking has become a normal ____ of our busy days. Doing more tasks ought to mean that we ____. But does it really? Take this example from a typical day at my job. Last week, during a meeting, I decided to send a quick email to a client. A minute later, I had to send another email with the ____ I had forgotten. In my third email to him, I had to apologize for sending the wrong attachment. When I eventually focused on the meeting, I realized someone was asking me a question, but because I wasn’t paying attention, I couldn’t answer it and I had to ask him to repeat it. Embarrassing. Sound familiar? Don’t worry – you’re not alone. Research shows that when we multitask, we are actually playing a ____ on ourselves. We think we’re doing more, but actually we’re not. In fact, multitasking can lead to a 40 percent ____ in productivity. Researchers say that we don’t really multitask at all; we “switch-task,” and when we switch from one thing to another, we’re simply interrupting ourselves to do something else. I did some thinking about all of this and decided to do some ____ for myself. For one week, I would make an effort not to multitask. During that week, I discovered two surprising things. First, I made great progress on ____ projects. I stayed with each project when it got hard, and it really made a difference. Now, I no longer avoid tough assignments, I don’t get ____ by other things, and I finish one job before I go on to another – even if the job is driving me crazy! Second, my stress levels dropped ____. Research shows that multitasking isn’t just inefficient, it’s stressful, and I found that was true. It was actually a relief to finish one thing before going on to the next. So how can we change our multi-tasking ways? First, get ____ of interruptions. I now know that when I’m working, I should ____ the temptation to check email, and I make sure my phone is turned off. Second, set yourself a ____ deadline. If you think you have to give a presentation in 30 minutes, you might not want to answer that interrupting phone call! Single-tasking to meet a tight deadline will also reduce your stress levels – ____ you meet it, of course! My experiment ____ me that I don’t have to accept multitasking as a way of life. If you make up your mind to avoid distractions and concentrate on one job at a time, you really can achieve more.

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