Multitasking Is Killing Your Focus & Creativity | Dr. Sahar Yousef | Raj Shamani
Author Name:The Next Folder
Youtube Channel Url:https://www.youtube.com/@thenextfolder
Youtube Video URL:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-8bGwuGWpk
Title: Multitasking Is Killing Your Focus & Creativity | Dr. Sahar Yousef | Raj Shamani
Author Name: The Next Folder
Description: In this video, we explore how multitasking affects the way we think, work, and come up with new ideas. Dr. Sahar Yousef explains why constantly switching between tasks can make it harder to concentrate, slow down our thinking, and negatively affect creativity. We also explore how smartphone notifications can disrupt our attention and distract us from what we’re trying to focus on.
If you often find yourself checking your phone while working, jumping between tasks, or struggling to focus on one thing at a time, this conversation may change the way you think about multitasking and digital distractions.
Chapters
00:12 Is Multitasking a Myth?
01:31 Our Attention Span & Addiction
03:12 The Brain Is a Focusing Machine
06:49 Is It Possible to Be a Multitasker?
08:52 How Does the Brain Work?
Subscribe: / @thenextfolder
Follow on:
• Instagram: / thenextfolder
• Facebook: / thenextfolder
Business inquiries: thenextfolder.info@gmail.com
⚠️ Disclaimer: This video is for educational and informational purposes only. The opinions and statements discussed belong to the respective speakers and represent their personal views. They do not necessarily reflect the views of The Next Folder. This content is not intended to offend, target, or disrespect any individual, group, community, organization, or profession. The information presented should not be considered professional medical or psychological advice, and viewers should conduct their own research before making decisions based on the information presented.
Hashtags:
#Multitasking #Focus #Creativity #Productivity #AttentionSpan #DigitalDistraction #BrainHealth #SelfImprovement #TheNextFolder
Transcript:
(00:00) Brain is literally a focusing machine. Every single [music] time you switch your attention, you pay for it. >> People who are good at multitasking, is there someone like that or it's just a myth? >> Do you want to know something really funny? >> Mhm. >> There was a study done at Stanford that I'll send you.
(00:25) So, they're they're [music] smart smart kids. Young healthy brains, do you know what I mean? Sharp. >> Okay. >> [music] >> This study on multitasking asked people up front, "Are you a good multitasker?" The people who said yes confidently, "Oh, yeah. I'm great at it." They were actually worse when they tested them. That's crazy. It's like a joke.
(00:51) It's like science jokes, right? It's absolutely mind-boggling, but it's so fascinating. >> Why? >> Well, unknown to be You know what it is? >> belief they've built about themselves. >> It could be because if you multitask so much, by the way, you try because again, we talked about it. You're just context switching all the time. Your brain is just foggy.
(01:12) I don't think you see straight. >> [music] >> I think this is the problem with most companies right now. Most people are just bouncing back and forth and they think this is normal. And they just go like, "Oh, it's hard for me to focus. Maybe I have ADHD." Come on. Every 80% of the population, all of us has ADHD.
(01:31) >> Why everybody started saying this? >> Because our attention spans are shot. This is actually some of the recent research I've started doing. Truly, attention spans have just gotten worse and worse [music] and worse. And the more you scroll, and it's by the way, it's not all scrolling. There is a massive difference between long-form and short-form media.
(01:52) The short-form media is truly like >> [music] >> garbage and candy for the brain. It is It's like junk food. That's what I mean. So, the How would your body feel if you fill it with junk food? Not so good. Listen, am I saying sometimes we don't have some junk food? Oh, for sure. No problem.
(02:11) You know, you got to live a balanced life. You know what I mean? Life is short. Enjoy it a little bit. You know, do It's okay. But, if your whole diet is junk food, if you eat junk food every day, what's going to happen in 1 year? Not so good. Bad things. >> [music] >> So, this is this this relationship that we have with our phones, our devices, our email.
(02:34) This is It's not I don't want people to think I'm just talking about just TikTok, either. People are addicted to email. They're addicted to WhatsApp. They're addicted to messaging and communicating constantly, all the time, 24/7. And that uh never allows them to come up with ideas. Hear what's going on inside of them.
(02:54) All of the stuff we talked about before, the self-awareness. You want to train your brain? That takes efforts. That takes awareness. That takes focus. You want to build an empire? You want to build a business? You want to do all these things? That takes focus. And when we removed the ability to focus, this is why everybody thinks they have ADHD.
(03:14) But, the brain is literally a focusing machine. Every single time you switch your attention, you pay for it. It's not free. >> What do you pay for? How do you pay? What's the price? >> I'm glad you asked. You pay for it in time, and you pay for it in energy. And if you don't believe me, we can test it out. >> Go ahead. >> Yeah? >> Tell me, yeah.
(03:35) >> Okay, grab a piece of paper. You have some paper and a pen? If so, on this piece of paper, we're just going to draw two lines. There you go. Okay. Now, on the top line, I want you to write >> [music] >> I am a great multitasker. But, don't start yet. Okay? >> And then on the bottom line, I want you to write the numbers 1 through 20.
(03:55) >> 1 through 20. >> 1 through 20. I want you to go as fast as you can, okay? And then I'm going to time you. I'll hide the phone so that you're smart as possible. No excuses, okay? Right? >> I'm a great multitasker and 1 through 20. >> Exactly. >> Okay. >> And I want you to go as fast as you can. I'll read the times out out loud and then and then you can go for it.
(04:14) >> Okay. >> I'll watch you and I'll stop the time when you finish, okay? >> [music] >> Get ready. Get set. Go. >> [music] >> 17.72 >> Listen. >> Super fast. Cool. Now turn this paper around. Awesome. Draw two more lines. You're going to do this one more time, okay? You're going to end with the same outcome. [music] So the output at the
(04:59) end is going to be I'm a great multitasker 1 through 20. But the way in which you will arrive will be very different. >> Okay. >> You're going to alternate. >> Okay. >> You're going to start at one at the at the top line. You're going to write You're going to write the letter I. You're going to drop down to the bottom line, write the number one, back up to the top line, letter A, and then down to the bottom line, number two, back up to the top line.
(05:21) >> After every letter. >> Mhm. >> Okay. >> You can go back and forth until you finish both lines. >> Okay. >> Okay. Now, listen, [music] listen. If you think, "Hold on, I'm going to lose time, right, going back and forth?" Like meaning I just my hand moving, right? >> You can, if you want, you can draw one extra long line, but you have to still alternate.
(05:42) >> [music] >> So that means you still have to write it it in in between I 1 >> No, I'll do this. >> Okay. All right. But I just want to give you options. >> Get ready. Get set. >> Yeah. >> Go. >> This is where you guys need to overlay some fun music. >> Done. >> Done? 40 seconds. >> [snorts] >> Cuz you went from 17.
(06:20) 72 to 41.35. >> More than double. >> More than double. So, and I have a question. >> Mhm. >> We all saw, but did you ever make any mistakes? >> Oh, yeah. A lot. >> [laughter] >> Okay. [gasps] >> A lot. Mhm. >> So, this goes >> Because this time I was focused on like just Yeah, like my brain was not able to comprehend like two things at the same time.
(06:44) >> Yeah. Well, really your brain can't. This is the point I want to make. >> Do you have saying nobody can be a good multitasker? >> No. No. Listen, what you There's Let me And let me Let's be clear. Let's define what we're talking about here. >> Mhm. >> When people talk about multitasking, the way they talk about it is as if they're doing two different things with full fidelity at the same time.
(07:11) >> Mhm. >> That's how they talk about it. >> Yeah. >> When they talk about multitasking, they're like Yeah. I'm doing this and [music] I'm doing this. >> Yeah. >> Okay. How many brains do you have? >> One. >> [music] >> Yeah. Okay. That How many attention systems do you have? Like you have one of everything. >> Yeah.
(07:28) >> Okay. So, [snorts] you don't have two brains. You cannot say with my full Raj brain, 100% performance, I am 100% doing this and [music] at the same time, I'm 100% doing this. You don't have two 100s. You have one 100. So, if you want, you can take your 100% like a pie chart. You can dice it up. You could say 50/50.
(07:51) 50% of my attention is on this, 50% on this. >> [music] >> 80/20, 70/30, 60/40. No matter what your split is, you're splitting your attention. It's split. So, when we talk about multitasking, the way people talk about it, they go, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I have my phone here, but I'm not looking. I have my email open, but I'm focused here.
(08:10) " When the note if comes up, no, you I see you go and you look. >> Yeah. >> Even when you're on a calls with people. You're like on a Zoom call with somebody, and you're look they're looking at you, and then all of a sudden you see their eyes go down and up again. >> Come we can all see you, right? Nobody's that slick.
(08:28) The people think like nobody's going to notice, you know, [music] you said yeah because you've seen other people do it. I've seen other people do it. Everyone's doing it, and [music] they think that I can see when other people are doing it, but nobody can tell when I do it cuz I'm fast. No, we can all see. My point here [music] is that it's not your choice.
(08:46) It's not your choice >> [music] >> to pay attention or not pay attention to distractions when they come up. The way that the brain works is [music] it's a monotasking machine, not a multitasking machine. It is designed to focus on one thing. >> [music] >> Now, does that mean you can never do two things at once? No, of course not.
(09:09) Listen, in my car, um I listen to podcasts, I sometimes make calls, I call my mother. You know, I call my mom on on the on the my way somewhere. I have her on speaker, you know, I'm driving. But listen, in that moment, I'm going to be honest with you because this is just as a neuroscientist, I can just tell you this is how the brain works.
(09:30) I am not 100% focused on the road. >> Yeah. >> Otherwise, it's I'm not going to hear my mom. I don't I'm not going to listen to anything she's saying. Which listen, that's a whole 'nother conversation about moms. She's like complaining on my knee, my back, my this, my that. You didn't You need to come home, blah blah blah, all these things, okay? That's a different story, cuz it's always the same stories.
(09:50) But, the point here is that for sure it's not possible for me to 100% focus on the conversation and 100% focus on the road. Because I know where I'm going in my hometown, honestly, it's like >> [music] >> Yeah. It's like an autopilot. You're just going there. >> Bingo. So, my point is, listen, it's nuanced. I'm not saying, "Raj, you can never do two Yeah, yeah, sure, you can, but you just have to know the math.
(10:15) You have to understand the biological laws. You have to know what you're doing. Be strategic about it. Be strategic about it. Now you know what you did here, this is not multitasking, because that's impossible. Again, remember, multitasking the way it's defined, I you did 100% one thing and 100% another thing.
(10:31) That's not possible. Here [snorts] what you're doing and what is possible, what happens in everybody's brains, yours, mine, everyone's, is something called task switching. >> [music] >> Context switching, essentially. >> Yeah. >> This we do all the time. But, every single time you switch your attention from A to B, B to C, C to all of the different one thing to another, to the Apple Watch, to the phone, to the back to the document, and back to the thing, and then what Oh, who Somebody came in my office.
(10:56) What did you want? Oh, every single time you switch your attention, there's a payment, a biological payment. So, the brain pays for it in time, as you notice, more than double. It's not for free. Takes more time. And time is limited. Time is money. >> [snorts] >> And the second thing that it takes is energy.
(11:16) You're going to exhaust yourself more. And every single time And listen, this was easy. Whose job is this easy? You want to build an empire? You want to build a company? You want to cure cancer? Nothing is this easy. So, when you're doing something hard, and you really want to do good, you have to respect yourself enough to put the distractions out of sight, out of mind, notifications off, no email open, no phone next to you, no notice available, and actually focus on the thing in front of you.
(11:45) And in the beginning, if you're not used to it, it's going to be difficult. [music] It's going to be painful.
Author Name:The Next Folder
Youtube Channel Url:https://www.youtube.com/@thenextfolder
Youtube Video URL:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-8bGwuGWpk
Title: Multitasking Is Killing Your Focus & Creativity | Dr. Sahar Yousef | Raj Shamani
Author Name: The Next Folder
Description: In this video, we explore how multitasking affects the way we think, work, and come up with new ideas. Dr. Sahar Yousef explains why constantly switching between tasks can make it harder to concentrate, slow down our thinking, and negatively affect creativity. We also explore how smartphone notifications can disrupt our attention and distract us from what we’re trying to focus on.
If you often find yourself checking your phone while working, jumping between tasks, or struggling to focus on one thing at a time, this conversation may change the way you think about multitasking and digital distractions.
Chapters
00:12 Is Multitasking a Myth?
01:31 Our Attention Span & Addiction
03:12 The Brain Is a Focusing Machine
06:49 Is It Possible to Be a Multitasker?
08:52 How Does the Brain Work?
Subscribe: / @thenextfolder
Follow on:
• Instagram: / thenextfolder
• Facebook: / thenextfolder
Business inquiries: thenextfolder.info@gmail.com
⚠️ Disclaimer: This video is for educational and informational purposes only. The opinions and statements discussed belong to the respective speakers and represent their personal views. They do not necessarily reflect the views of The Next Folder. This content is not intended to offend, target, or disrespect any individual, group, community, organization, or profession. The information presented should not be considered professional medical or psychological advice, and viewers should conduct their own research before making decisions based on the information presented.
Hashtags:
#Multitasking #Focus #Creativity #Productivity #AttentionSpan #DigitalDistraction #BrainHealth #SelfImprovement #TheNextFolder
Transcript:
(00:00) Brain is literally a focusing machine. Every single [music] time you switch your attention, you pay for it. >> People who are good at multitasking, is there someone like that or it's just a myth? >> Do you want to know something really funny? >> Mhm. >> There was a study done at Stanford that I'll send you.
(00:25) So, they're they're [music] smart smart kids. Young healthy brains, do you know what I mean? Sharp. >> Okay. >> [music] >> This study on multitasking asked people up front, "Are you a good multitasker?" The people who said yes confidently, "Oh, yeah. I'm great at it." They were actually worse when they tested them. That's crazy. It's like a joke.
(00:51) It's like science jokes, right? It's absolutely mind-boggling, but it's so fascinating. >> Why? >> Well, unknown to be You know what it is? >> belief they've built about themselves. >> It could be because if you multitask so much, by the way, you try because again, we talked about it. You're just context switching all the time. Your brain is just foggy.
(01:12) I don't think you see straight. >> [music] >> I think this is the problem with most companies right now. Most people are just bouncing back and forth and they think this is normal. And they just go like, "Oh, it's hard for me to focus. Maybe I have ADHD." Come on. Every 80% of the population, all of us has ADHD.
(01:31) >> Why everybody started saying this? >> Because our attention spans are shot. This is actually some of the recent research I've started doing. Truly, attention spans have just gotten worse and worse [music] and worse. And the more you scroll, and it's by the way, it's not all scrolling. There is a massive difference between long-form and short-form media.
(01:52) The short-form media is truly like >> [music] >> garbage and candy for the brain. It is It's like junk food. That's what I mean. So, the How would your body feel if you fill it with junk food? Not so good. Listen, am I saying sometimes we don't have some junk food? Oh, for sure. No problem.
(02:11) You know, you got to live a balanced life. You know what I mean? Life is short. Enjoy it a little bit. You know, do It's okay. But, if your whole diet is junk food, if you eat junk food every day, what's going to happen in 1 year? Not so good. Bad things. >> [music] >> So, this is this this relationship that we have with our phones, our devices, our email.
(02:34) This is It's not I don't want people to think I'm just talking about just TikTok, either. People are addicted to email. They're addicted to WhatsApp. They're addicted to messaging and communicating constantly, all the time, 24/7. And that uh never allows them to come up with ideas. Hear what's going on inside of them.
(02:54) All of the stuff we talked about before, the self-awareness. You want to train your brain? That takes efforts. That takes awareness. That takes focus. You want to build an empire? You want to build a business? You want to do all these things? That takes focus. And when we removed the ability to focus, this is why everybody thinks they have ADHD.
(03:14) But, the brain is literally a focusing machine. Every single time you switch your attention, you pay for it. It's not free. >> What do you pay for? How do you pay? What's the price? >> I'm glad you asked. You pay for it in time, and you pay for it in energy. And if you don't believe me, we can test it out. >> Go ahead. >> Yeah? >> Tell me, yeah.
(03:35) >> Okay, grab a piece of paper. You have some paper and a pen? If so, on this piece of paper, we're just going to draw two lines. There you go. Okay. Now, on the top line, I want you to write >> [music] >> I am a great multitasker. But, don't start yet. Okay? >> And then on the bottom line, I want you to write the numbers 1 through 20.
(03:55) >> 1 through 20. >> 1 through 20. I want you to go as fast as you can, okay? And then I'm going to time you. I'll hide the phone so that you're smart as possible. No excuses, okay? Right? >> I'm a great multitasker and 1 through 20. >> Exactly. >> Okay. >> And I want you to go as fast as you can. I'll read the times out out loud and then and then you can go for it.
(04:14) >> Okay. >> I'll watch you and I'll stop the time when you finish, okay? >> [music] >> Get ready. Get set. Go. >> [music] >> 17.72 >> Listen. >> Super fast. Cool. Now turn this paper around. Awesome. Draw two more lines. You're going to do this one more time, okay? You're going to end with the same outcome. [music] So the output at the
(04:59) end is going to be I'm a great multitasker 1 through 20. But the way in which you will arrive will be very different. >> Okay. >> You're going to alternate. >> Okay. >> You're going to start at one at the at the top line. You're going to write You're going to write the letter I. You're going to drop down to the bottom line, write the number one, back up to the top line, letter A, and then down to the bottom line, number two, back up to the top line.
(05:21) >> After every letter. >> Mhm. >> Okay. >> You can go back and forth until you finish both lines. >> Okay. >> Okay. Now, listen, [music] listen. If you think, "Hold on, I'm going to lose time, right, going back and forth?" Like meaning I just my hand moving, right? >> You can, if you want, you can draw one extra long line, but you have to still alternate.
(05:42) >> [music] >> So that means you still have to write it it in in between I 1 >> No, I'll do this. >> Okay. All right. But I just want to give you options. >> Get ready. Get set. >> Yeah. >> Go. >> This is where you guys need to overlay some fun music. >> Done. >> Done? 40 seconds. >> [snorts] >> Cuz you went from 17.
(06:20) 72 to 41.35. >> More than double. >> More than double. So, and I have a question. >> Mhm. >> We all saw, but did you ever make any mistakes? >> Oh, yeah. A lot. >> [laughter] >> Okay. [gasps] >> A lot. Mhm. >> So, this goes >> Because this time I was focused on like just Yeah, like my brain was not able to comprehend like two things at the same time.
(06:44) >> Yeah. Well, really your brain can't. This is the point I want to make. >> Do you have saying nobody can be a good multitasker? >> No. No. Listen, what you There's Let me And let me Let's be clear. Let's define what we're talking about here. >> Mhm. >> When people talk about multitasking, the way they talk about it is as if they're doing two different things with full fidelity at the same time.
(07:11) >> Mhm. >> That's how they talk about it. >> Yeah. >> When they talk about multitasking, they're like Yeah. I'm doing this and [music] I'm doing this. >> Yeah. >> Okay. How many brains do you have? >> One. >> [music] >> Yeah. Okay. That How many attention systems do you have? Like you have one of everything. >> Yeah.
(07:28) >> Okay. So, [snorts] you don't have two brains. You cannot say with my full Raj brain, 100% performance, I am 100% doing this and [music] at the same time, I'm 100% doing this. You don't have two 100s. You have one 100. So, if you want, you can take your 100% like a pie chart. You can dice it up. You could say 50/50.
(07:51) 50% of my attention is on this, 50% on this. >> [music] >> 80/20, 70/30, 60/40. No matter what your split is, you're splitting your attention. It's split. So, when we talk about multitasking, the way people talk about it, they go, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I have my phone here, but I'm not looking. I have my email open, but I'm focused here.
(08:10) " When the note if comes up, no, you I see you go and you look. >> Yeah. >> Even when you're on a calls with people. You're like on a Zoom call with somebody, and you're look they're looking at you, and then all of a sudden you see their eyes go down and up again. >> Come we can all see you, right? Nobody's that slick.
(08:28) The people think like nobody's going to notice, you know, [music] you said yeah because you've seen other people do it. I've seen other people do it. Everyone's doing it, and [music] they think that I can see when other people are doing it, but nobody can tell when I do it cuz I'm fast. No, we can all see. My point here [music] is that it's not your choice.
(08:46) It's not your choice >> [music] >> to pay attention or not pay attention to distractions when they come up. The way that the brain works is [music] it's a monotasking machine, not a multitasking machine. It is designed to focus on one thing. >> [music] >> Now, does that mean you can never do two things at once? No, of course not.
(09:09) Listen, in my car, um I listen to podcasts, I sometimes make calls, I call my mother. You know, I call my mom on on the on the my way somewhere. I have her on speaker, you know, I'm driving. But listen, in that moment, I'm going to be honest with you because this is just as a neuroscientist, I can just tell you this is how the brain works.
(09:30) I am not 100% focused on the road. >> Yeah. >> Otherwise, it's I'm not going to hear my mom. I don't I'm not going to listen to anything she's saying. Which listen, that's a whole 'nother conversation about moms. She's like complaining on my knee, my back, my this, my that. You didn't You need to come home, blah blah blah, all these things, okay? That's a different story, cuz it's always the same stories.
(09:50) But, the point here is that for sure it's not possible for me to 100% focus on the conversation and 100% focus on the road. Because I know where I'm going in my hometown, honestly, it's like >> [music] >> Yeah. It's like an autopilot. You're just going there. >> Bingo. So, my point is, listen, it's nuanced. I'm not saying, "Raj, you can never do two Yeah, yeah, sure, you can, but you just have to know the math.
(10:15) You have to understand the biological laws. You have to know what you're doing. Be strategic about it. Be strategic about it. Now you know what you did here, this is not multitasking, because that's impossible. Again, remember, multitasking the way it's defined, I you did 100% one thing and 100% another thing.
(10:31) That's not possible. Here [snorts] what you're doing and what is possible, what happens in everybody's brains, yours, mine, everyone's, is something called task switching. >> [music] >> Context switching, essentially. >> Yeah. >> This we do all the time. But, every single time you switch your attention from A to B, B to C, C to all of the different one thing to another, to the Apple Watch, to the phone, to the back to the document, and back to the thing, and then what Oh, who Somebody came in my office.
(10:56) What did you want? Oh, every single time you switch your attention, there's a payment, a biological payment. So, the brain pays for it in time, as you notice, more than double. It's not for free. Takes more time. And time is limited. Time is money. >> [snorts] >> And the second thing that it takes is energy.
(11:16) You're going to exhaust yourself more. And every single time And listen, this was easy. Whose job is this easy? You want to build an empire? You want to build a company? You want to cure cancer? Nothing is this easy. So, when you're doing something hard, and you really want to do good, you have to respect yourself enough to put the distractions out of sight, out of mind, notifications off, no email open, no phone next to you, no notice available, and actually focus on the thing in front of you.
(11:45) And in the beginning, if you're not used to it, it's going to be difficult. [music] It's going to be painful.
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