The Downsides of Multitasking

by Kara | Jun 20, 2018 | News

We all love the sense of accomplishment that comes with completing a task, but juggling too many items at a time can have some unwanted consequences. Read on to learn about the downsides of multitasking and how you can rid yourself of the bad habit.

Why You Shouldn’t Multitask

Your Brain Wasn’t Made for Multitasking

According to Earl Miller, a neuroscientist at MIT and multitasking expert, our brains are “not wired to multitask well.” Rather than focus on multiple things at a time, our minds are quickly switching from one task to another. And the more you try to multitask, the more you lose focus on each task you’re juggling.

Multitasking Lowers Your IQ

Believe it or not, multitasking actually decreases your intelligence: A study found that distractions caused by phone calls or emails lowered participants’ IQs by as much as 10 points. The cognitive impact of such a decrease is the same as losing an entire night of sleep.

Considering this, it’s no surprise that multitasking reduces efficiency, quality of work, and overall productivity.

Multitasking May Cause Long-Term Damage

The damage might not end when the multitasking does.

A study from the University of Sussex performed MRI scans on people who used multiple devices — such as a cell phone and TV — at once. The study found that those who multitasked more frequently tended to have less brain density in the anterior cingulate cortex (the area of the brain tasked with emotional control and empathy).

Researchers still haven’t determined if multitasking is responsible for this, or if brain damage causes people to multitask. Either way, avoiding multitasking is for the best.

How to Stop Multitasking

Multitasking is so instilled in our daily lives that it may take some conscious effort to stop. Start by trying these methods.

Get Rid of Distractions

As obvious as it may sound, if you don’t expose yourself to distractions, you don’t run the risk of trying to multitask. Turn off your phone, close out of your email, and surround yourself only with whatever is necessary for the task at hand.

Give Yourself Less Time

The more time you have to dedicate to a task, the more likely you are to get distracted and start multitasking. The opposite is also true: When you’re on a tight deadline, you tend to block everything else out to focus on getting your work done as quickly as possible. To make this your norm, limit the time you allot for each task so that multitasking isn’t a possibility.

Reduce Your Tasks

When you have an inordinate amount of things to do, multitasking is always going to be a temptation. The simplest way of solving this problem is to reduce the amount on your plate. Whether you’re a young professional, CEO, or stay-at-home parent, letting a personal assistant handle some of your tasks can help you avoid multitasking — and its negative effects.

How to Avoid Burnout as a Stay-at-Home Parent

by Kara | Jun 11, 2018 | News

Anyone who has done it knows that being a stay-at-home parent isn’t easy. Caring for children and managing a household is a full-time job in itself, and brings with it a unique set of challenges. In addition to the day-to-day difficulties of raising children, stay-at-home parents also experience feelings of loneliness, get too little sleep, and struggle both to find time for themselves and to finish everything on their to-do lists.

While every parent’s situation is distinct, a few best practices are universally helpful to avoid burnout, improve quality of life, and make time at home more enjoyable.

Build a Support System

One of the most jarring aspects of stay-at-home parenting is the sense of complete isolation. Before having kids, you may have enjoyed a robust social life, and at least the water cooler chat typical of most workplaces. As a new parent, you may go all day without any real adult interaction — except, perhaps, at the grocery store. This is especially difficult if you feel that you can no longer relate to those who were previously good friends.

To avoid this alienation, establishing a strong support system at the very beginning is crucial. Support systems can include family, close friends, and anyone else who helps you feel that you’re not in this alone. Parents who lack friends with kids may consider attending parenting events, joining a class, or even finding a group on social media to meet people they identify with.

Find Time for Yourself

Another downside of caring for children 24/7 is that the kids are there when you wake up, they are there when you go to sleep, and you must dedicate all the time in between to kids or kid-related activities. Even during nap times or play dates, you’ll likely have an endless list of chores to address, and may feel guilty about taking time for yourself.

But putting yourself first isn’t something to feel bad about. In fact, it’s completely necessary to maintain your mental health and keep you going strong. Remember that you’re still your own person, with your own interests. Set aside time to spend on a favorite hobby, treat yourself to something nice, or even just take a walk by yourself. Making this a regular part of your schedule can help ensure that you don’t overlook your “me time” and become burned out.   

Get More Sleep

Sleep deprivation is an unavoidable downside of having a baby, and can be a risk even as your children grow older. Because your job never really ends, knowing when to call it a day and get some rest can be difficult.

Lack of sleep shouldn’t become a constant in your life, though: Sleep deprivation can affect both mood and cognitive function. So, if you’re not sure why you’re in a bad mood and can’t think straight, you might not be getting enough sleep! To get back on track, make sleep a priority (the unfolded laundry can wait) and enforce a bedtime for yourself. Establishing a regular schedule can improve the quality of your sleep.

Outsource

Although many stay-at-home parents think they should be able to handle everything on their own, the truth is that it does “take a village” to raise a child. If you don’t have a village at your disposal, bringing in some outside help can work wonders. In fact, outsourcing is doubly beneficial: It not only helps you relieve stress on its own, but also gives you more time to invest in building a support system, self-care, and sleep.

So, before you get burned out, accept that being a stay-at-home parent is a tough job, and just as deserving of a personal assistant as any other profession.

Young Professionals: Here’s How a Personal Assistant Can Simplify Your Busy Life

by Kara | Dec 19, 2016 | News

We live in a high-demand and fast-paced world. Thanks to interconnectivity and mobile access, young professionals are able to achieve more than ever before. However, there is also a trade-off: more is expected from them, and more must be monitored and remembered on a daily basis. To be successful, young professionals sometimes must work longer hours and be available to their customers, clients, and employers on evenings, over the weekends, and even on holidays. Developing your professional career is rewarding, but it can often leave little time for the demands of daily life that aren’t directly related to your job. Life keeps demanding more, even outside of work. Here’s how a personal assistant can simplify your life.

Tedious Phone Calls and Service Visits

Taking care of basic life tasks can be surprisingly time-consuming. For example, when you need to call your cable or internet provider to change your plan, contest a charge, or schedule an upgrade or installment, you could spend thirty minutes or more on hold or navigating an automated phone system… and if a service visit is necessary, then you may need to be home during a valuable business day.

Paying Bills

Paying bills, particularly those that don’t accept online payment, can also be time-consuming. Sometimes it can seem like the farther you climb up the career ladder, the more effort and time life demands from you. Your personal needs all too often take a back seat to your work, household, and daily task management demands.

Your personal assistant: Convenient as a mobile app, but with a personal touch

We put the “personal” in personal assistant.

Mobile apps may rule the service world — and admittedly, they do offer extreme convenience. After all, when you need a meal but have no time to cook, you can log onto a food delivery service app and have the exact meal you want prepared and delivered to you. If you have somewhere to go but either don’t have your vehicle or can’t currently drive, you can launch Uber or Lyft and have a ride pick you up from any location in a few minutes.

But why not enjoy a similar level of convenience without compromising quality human relationships and superior customer service? Working with Pepper’s Personal Assistants allows you to enjoy the best of both worlds. Don’t entrust a stranger with your important personal duties. Instead of one-off tasks, an ongoing partnership with your assistant offers long-term reliability to help you automate your daily life while maintaining a personal touch. The value of maintaining a set weekly schedule is that our personal assistants often know what needs to be done even before their clients do. When you don’t need to worry about making detailed daily lists, you save yourself even more time and headspace.

Let Pepper’s Personal Assistants handle your personal projects

From coordinating appointments and services with utility companies to wrapping your holiday gifts, an hourly personal assistant can help take care of the demands of your personal life that you just can’t squeeze in at the end of a busy day. At Pepper’s Personal Assistants, we pride ourselves on handling your personal tasks with professional attention to detail and timeliness. We understand how busy life can get — it’s time to take some pressure off yourself. Start today: Search for your future personal assistant package online. Find out how a personal assistant can simplify your life.

This New Year, treat yourself to any young professional’s life management trifecta: unprecedented convenience, customized attention, and valuable peace of mind.