Men can’t do it, women are supposed to shine at it. Multitasking is often encouraged as it’s believed to be efficient. But studies on multitasking have had mixed results. In some cases, it’s effective if the tasks are familiar and easily interchangeable. In other instances, work suffers as the response and adaptability time to switch between tasks becomes longer and causes inefficiencies. Here’s how to make it work for you:

1 Establish whether the tasks at hand are familiar. If they are, you’re more likely to be efficient while juggling. If they’re not, break them up; set boundaries for yourself and others to enable you to focus.

2 Determine how urgent a task is. If you need to multitask, do so with non-urgent tasks. Tackling two urgent projects simultaneously will not give them the focused attention they deserve.

3 Use your voice to effectively communicate to others that you require ‘uninterrupted, focused time’.

4 Observe how many tech devices are around you to distract you, like a cellphone. Switch one off for a few hours to help you be more efficient.