Vitamin MBA – The Case Against Multi-Tasking
Many applicants face a set of challenges that are very different from GPA, GMAT and resume. I want to help applicants work through road blocks to success that may include self-doubt, anxiety, procrastination and generally feeling overwhelmed by this process. Hopefully with a bit of “Vitamin MBA” I can help you to overcome these challenges so that you can put our other resources to work and truly excel on your applications. I now present you with a dose of “Vitamin MBA”:
I read a blog post on GTD Times that I found fascinating. Many people feel they are more productive when multi-tasking. I know that I am guilty of trying to increase efficiency by completing several things at once. It makes sense – why would you research business schools online and then call your mom, when you can do both at the same time? However, consider the following:
Brain scan tests have been conducted on the subject of Mutli-tasking, with interesting results. Brain activity for a person focusing on one task show around 80% of the brain churning on the task. With focus split between 2 separate tasks, the same brain shows only 20% activity – or 10% on each task!
Wow. After reading this I am truly inspired to focus completely on whatever it is that I am working on. Even if it is just 15 minutes of research or 30 minutes of drafting essays, it is worth putting aside other distractions and really honing in on the work at hand. If you are toggling back and forth between your email inbox and Word as you write essays, you will be less productive. If you peruse school websites while chatting on the phone, you are not going to gain as much from your research. Don’t you think your Harvard application deserves as much of your brain as possible? Good luck single-tasking and let me know how it goes…
