On the physical level, it is easier to be aware of your exhaustion. When it comes to mental and emotional energy, things get a bit more complicated. You may have developed negative mental habits that waste your energy, which, in the end, steals your motivation and desire to move on.
You’re analyzing data for an important project while responding to emails, scrolling through social media feeds and listening to a podcast. You’re killing your brain! Neuroscientists say the human brain is not built to do more than one thing at a time. Switching between tasks requires a series of small shifts. And each has a cognitive cost which drains your mental energy and brain resources.
The Cost of Only One Interruption Is 23 minutes and 15 seconds
Let’s assume you were writing a section for your PhD dissertation when you suddenly heard a beep from your mobile phone. You left writing, stood up from your desk, read the message just to realize that it was not important at all. You again sat at the computer to resume writing. Bad news: it may take an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to refocus on your task after this interruption. And bear in mind that this is just the cost of one single interruption! Multi-tasking causes poor concentration and focus, which negatively affects your performance at work. What does this mean to professionals who make a living on content creation and localization?
Keep calm and Single-task
Today, we have endless options to produce captivating content and make it accessible to the world with subtitles and dubbing in multiple languages. Creativity is indispensable to writers and translators. It’s so easy to miss out on something original while trying to focus on various things at the same time.
Don’t let your brain be exposed to a huge barrage of information and try to stop switching between different tasks to maximize your mental energy. Replace “multi-tasking” with “single-tasking” and motivate yourself by thinking that you can achieve “enough” with a more focused and concentrated brain. It is likely that you may be prolonging the time to complete your daily tasks while you believe you’ll catch up with ‘everything’ by multitasking.
Work in a distraction free space, turn off or at least limit notifications from your mobile devices and check emails between set slots. Of course, don’t forget to take regular breaks.
These 3 TED Speakers Ditch the Myth of Multi-tasking
Paolo Cardini: Forget multitasking, try monotasking
Mfon Akpan: Multitasking is not your friend
Chris Bailey: A more human approach to productivity
Ollangers Are Sharing Their Experiences
Giovanna Fazio: Single-tasking is definitely superior for me as a translator. Despite the fact I can handle many activities at once, single-tasking increases my performance and positively impacts my mental health. I can use my time more productively and dedicate the right amount of time to each task. Less stress, less rush!
However, multitasking is a gift for most translators - especially if it is ideally incorporated during their education. A translator may need to deal with a CAT tool, search for terminology, do specific research, edit and proofread their work all at the same time. But be sure that this does not lead to comprehension mistakes that mislead the audience.
I strongly believe that reasonable deadlines are the most relevant part of the job and they have to be addressed with the corresponding respect. After all, there is a human being on the other side of the screen. This is a fact we tend to forget due to the huge virtuality we are involved in.
Emre Demirci: He says he suffers from multi-tasking but does his best to set a balance. Here’s some actions he takes when he feels multi-tasking reduces his productivity.
“I go to my room and stop any interaction with the outer world to focus.”
“If this does not work, I give myself little goals, such as, I will translate non-stop for the next one hour or I will translate 200 boxes non-stop, no matter how much time it takes.”
“I give little gifts to myself. They vary from listening to a song that I love to having lunch or dinner. I say to myself, "Complete, say, 500 boxes of this translation or 10 minutes of this AI dubbing, and get your prize."