Raise your hand if you think you’re an above-average multitasker.

Okay, so obviously I can’t see you through the computer, so I have no idea how many of you actually raised your hands (hopefully it was more of a mental hand raise than a physical thing.

Lucky for us, I’m not the first person to ask this question.

Also lucky for us, the other people to ask this question could actually see the respondents to collect their answers.

The scientific process is a beautiful thing.

Here’s the results of that study:

Of 310 undergraduates from the University of Utah, over 70% thought they were an above-average multitasker.

Chew on that for a second. Tastes a little funky, huh?

Yeah, it doesn’t take a math wiz to see the problem with a number like that, but just in case it’s super early in the morning and you haven’t had your coffee yet, I’ll break it down.

It’s statistically impossible for 70% of people to be above-average at a thing.

You’re a smart cookie and most definitely already knew that, but here’s the two truly important nuggets unearthed in that study.

The people who multiask the most are typically the ones least capable of doing so. The people most capable of multitasking, are the least likley to actually engage in multiple tasks simultaneously.

To break that down: If you think you’re good at multitasking, you’re probably not. Also, the people most capable of multitasking, don’t. They focus on one task at a time.

Additionally, other studies have shown that people who are interrupted during the execution of a task require 50% more time to accomplish said task AND they make up to 50% more errors.

No matter how you slice it, if you want to be more than just busy, if you want to be actually effective, then multitasking is not the way to go.