Flipping the Switch

Task switching is the art of transitioning from one task to another. We expect ourselves to be able to perform this activity seamlessly throughout the day. Task switching is the act of moving through daily activities such as waking up, showering, getting dressed, eating breakfast, and getting to work (on time). In the office is might look like this: check email, answer a phone call, start a report, attend a meeting, return voicemails, speak to a co-worker, and complete that report you started. In school, students task switch each day, often with prompts from school bell systems and teacher instructions - moving from class to class for different subjects, pulling out or putting away supplies, homework or devices, and capturing information for study or homework.

ADHD brains can become cognitively taxed when task-switching exceeds an individual’s available cognitive stores. When you lack awareness of this phenomenon, it might look something like this: lower productivity, increased fidgeting, a wave of exhaustion, inability to focus, increased frustration, emotional outbursts, loss of filter (blurting or increase in impulsive behaviors), or difficulty sustaining effort on a task. These are all signs of a brain in distress. Your tank is near empty.

What can you do to prevent or manage overwhelm in the area of task switching? Here are some tried and true strategies to restore your cognitive function and better manage your individual needs for the demands created by task switching.

1. Create Awareness: Understanding how certain tasks or demands may impact your productivity and efficiency in a task or throughout the day provides a foundation for how you plan and accommodate your cognitive needs such as tempo, time to transition, breaks to recharge. Get curious about where you are struggling when moving from one task to another:

   1. Time of Day - Are you struggling at the end of the day? Mid-day? End of the week? When you are hungry?

   2. Length of Tasks - Does the duration of a task matter?

   3. Frequency - How often do you notice challenges?

   4. Interest - Is it harder to switch from favorable tasks/activity?

   5. The difficulty of the task (mathematical calculations vs washing dishes)

   6. How do you know when you are impacted? For example, do you feel it in your body? Do you seek certain activities when you have reached your limit?

2. Plan for Failure: Knowing when you are at your best and what saps your capacity for the transition between tasks enables you to plan for accommodations that address your capacity for meeting those cognitive demands with greater ease.

   1. Planning for Transitions - when possible, accounting for time between tasks can help you stay on track and prevent brain drain.

   2. Scheduling the Harder Tasks First - Most brains are optimal in the morning, after a good night’s sleep. Planning, when possible, to tackle the tasks/activities that demand the most cognitive attention from you earlier in the day can increase productivity around these tasks.

   3. Pomodoros - The Pomodoro technique can help you schedule regular breaks or opportunities to transition from one task to another or provide your brain a bit of a break from cognitive tasks. This can also aide in setting aside time blocks necessary for specific tasks. This can work to limit rabbit holes as well as create space for a cognitive sprint in focused attention.

   4. Gather Resources - accountability partners, body doubles, calendar reminders, alarms, and timers. are all great tools for helping you sustain attention AND plan time for a big switch.

   5. Hyperfocus On Purpose - this is a big one. Has all this back and forth got you frazzled? Hyperfocus on a task or project can be used to your advantage. Creating space in your calendar or day for a longer run of effort can lower the demands for task switching and increase productivity on the specific tasks at hand. Putting off that big report? Need to clean out your closet? Blocking it out and removing all distractions or alternative activity can make space for a single focus task.

3. Find Your Fuel: What fills your tank? Understanding how your energy is depleted and what you need to refill the tanks can keep you on tempo longer. Create a list of these to refer to when your stores are low. Having a list on hand removes that step in brainstorming solutions and enables you to make a speedy choice. The Rocketfuel Worksheet might be a helpful tool in this exercise.

   1. What are the ways in which you can refill your cognitive tank?

   2. What burns your fuel faster than normal?

   3. Challenge yourself to extend that timeline each week. Can you sustain 5 more minutes? What tasks might be easier to switch to/from?

   4. What will you do to reward your efforts each day? It could be as simple as extra minutes in your day or permission to play (time with friends, games, a new book, etc.)

While flipping the switch and moving from one task to another is unavoidable throughout the day, understanding how to accommodate for these transitions can empower you to choose how you approach your tasks and accomplish daily goals. The next time you feel incredibly stuck or exhausted on a “busy day,” I invite you to step back a consider the elements of the day that were challenging, rewarding, energizing, and tiring. It may not be the tasks themselves, but the demands of moving back and forth between them that need your focus and attention. You can go, go, go farther when you have an awareness of these patterns, an understanding of the obstacles, and a plan to navigate through the demands of your day.