Tax Season Management: Multi-Tasking Is a Myth

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Here’s how to apply neuroscience insights to tax season.  NEXT QUESTION: What are the best time-management tips and strategies for busy season? Join the survey. Get the answers.

By Hitendra Patil

It’s October 14th. You are preparing a complex tax return. The cell phone rings. You look at the phone. It’s your wife calling. You answer the call. While on the call, you look at the third screen of your computer. There is an email from your largest client, with subject line “Emergency; please help.” In walks your receptionist, frantically gesturing that there is an irritated client at the front desk.

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Yes. You may recognize the multiple demands on your time and your brain. But multi-tasking is just a myth. The science is in: No one performs as well multi-tasking as they do when focused on a single task at a time.