[ Switch ]

Multi-tasking is not effective in the knowledge work world.  The effort needed to concentrate on one thing requires significant cognitive load.  Concentrating on more than one thing is just about impossible.  Both things suffer.

The other hidden cost is the time needed to switch between tasks.  It is underestimated in the time management and productivity hacks.  There is little recognition of the time needed between tasks. 

The effort to switch banks, or to switch health insurance funds, perhaps doesn’t directly compare to switching between responding to emails, to knuckling down and writing a technical report.  Not really, but maybe almost.