Ewa Szumowska, PhD, from the Institute of Psychology of the Jagiellonian University is this year's winner of the USERN (Universal Scientific Education and Research Network) award for researchers under the age of 40. In this international competition, she won in the area of social sciences, beating over 90,000 candidates from around the world.

In her scientific work, Szumowska deals with issues such as motivation, knowledge formation, and multitasking. In her current project, financed by the Polish National Science Centre, she os looking for the optimal frequency of 'switching' attention between individual tasks that we do every day. These include the tasks we perform at work, balancing professional work with family and home life, taking care of our needs, health, and interests.

According to the researcher, switching between goals too often or too rarely can be harmful to us because it leads to a state of motivational imbalance. When attention is focused on one main goal, 'tunnel thinking' often occurs, in which, by focusing on one aspect of the task, we lose the ability to think reflectively and critically. In excessive multitasking, attention is dispersed and we have trouble maintaining it. Both situations can lead to neglecting our own needs, overload, and burnout.

Evolutionary advantage and corporate necessity

'If we analyse various previous cognitive studies, conducted in controlled laboratory conditions, in which subjects had to perform several tasks simultaneously or quickly switch between these tasks, the results are consistent. In general, we perform tasks requiring switching or divided attention with worse results than if we were performing a single task. We react more slowly, we make more mistakes', Ewa Szumowska describes.

However, we often have no choice, we cannot allow ourselves to perform tasks one after another, devote ourselves to deep work, focus on one thing. We have to submit to various demands of the environment, because, for example, we work in an office where we have to prepare a report, answer the phone, possibly serve customers, and react as needed.

'When multitasking is a necessity, then cognitive flexibility is key for us. It is an important component of intelligence, enabling adaptation to the requirements of the environment. It is indispensable because it allows us to effectively meet all the requirements', the psychologist points out. 'Also from an evolutionary point of view, flexibility consisting in the fact that I have to and can react to something that suddenly comes from the environment; it is adaptive and has given us many advantages over other species'.

In the aforementioned project, which is to be completed in early 2026, however, researchers take into account the total value of our daily tasks. Not only those that result from professional duties, but also tasks that concern family life or the need for self-fulfilment.

'While at work, we often also have to react to something that requires our attention. For example, I get a message from my daughter's kindergarten and I have to take care of something in connection with it. Of course, it distracts me a bit from my professional work, but overall I have achieved two goals that I would not have done without engaging in multitasking. In the project, we show that we need to look at the total benefits of performing these many tasks', Szumowska describes.

Emotions or photos

Despite the clear benefits of using divided attention, many studies show that functioning in this mode for too long and too often is detrimental. It triggers in us the need to constantly switch between tasks and increases the tendency to get easily distracted.

'We increasingly function in a mode of attention divided between what is happening now and what is happening online. We have constant access to the Internet, we monitor social media - and we do it to ourselves. Studies show that if we function in a constant switching mode, we develop a cognitive functioning in which it is difficult to focus on something that requires concentration and deep processing of what we are doing at a given moment', the social psychologist says.

She describes that our attention works a bit like a filter that gets out of balance over time. As a result, it is difficult for us to focus. For example, we have difficulty reading something that is not exciting but requires concentration. We are constantly waiting for something that may appear from the environment, a message from friends, a notification from the Internet. If such a stimulus does not appear, we ourselves start actively looking for it.

Functioning with attention constantly divided between many tasks also shallows our reactions, for example emotional ones. When we are at a concert and at the same time we are taking pictures or recording videos, our satisfaction with participating in it, emotional involvement, joy and ability to remember are lower, because we focus part of our attention on something else.

The expert encourages us to look at what frequent switching between tasks gives us and what it takes away, and strategically adapt it to the requirements of the environment and to how we have to work in a given environment.

What if multitasking is a necessity?

However, if intensive multitasking is not an option, but a necessity, it is worth giving yourself a 'brain detox' from time to time, to focus, to calm down. The psychologist encourages using mindfulness techniques, which teach how to be here and now, persevere in concentration.

In the ongoing study on multitasking, scientists assume that the optimal, i.e. moderate level of switching between tasks leads to the best overall performance and general well-being.

But how do we achieve this moderate level? The psychologist draws attention to the need to arrange tasks and set goals in different time horizons and prioritise them. 'You have to balance your social roles, because they are related to long-term goals. You have a job, wou have a family, but also hobbies, you need to do something for your health, so the point is to +pack+ it all. However, it does not have to be all packed in one day, it can be a week, or even longer', Szumowska says.

If we think long-term and in a broader context, then - she notes - we most likely determine ourselves how often we switch between tasks, i.e. how many hours we devote to work, and how many to family activities.

'If we get down to more detailed planning, our optimum will be defined a bit differently. If I start work and have a lot of tasks, it is best to think , for example, in terms of several-hour blocks in which I have to do specific things, e.g. collect data, write a report, reply to emails. Then I will think about organising this work, and the switches will be maybe on a scale of 20 minutes, half an hour', the researcher advises.

Women's multitasking 'training'

It is often said that women switch between tasks faster and more easily, and multitasking is a skill that we attribute to them more than to men. Ewa Szumowska explains that at the cognitive level, however, research does not show such differences.

'If both sexes are given two tasks in a study, between which they will have to switch attention, there is no evidence that women will cope with it better than men. Both sexes perform comparably in such studies', the researcher says.

The situation is slightly different when we consider 'everyday' multitasking, which involves combining professional work with work at home, childcare, etc.

'When I am at work, but I think about having to pick up my child from kindergarten, do the shopping, it is more about adapting to the requirements of the environment. Now it is slowly changing, but for a very long time, these requirements concerned mainly women. Women, despite social changes, generally still have more family-related tasks and goals. And people who have more of them simply switch between them more often. They are naturally trained in multitasking', the psychologist points out.

Ewa Szumowska is a member of the Center for Social Cognitive Studies, Behavior in Crisis-Lab, Association for Psychological Science and European Association of Social Psychology, as well as the author and co-author of scientific publications in journals such as Psychological Review, Psychological Inquiry, Perspectives on Psychological Science, Cognition, Personality and Individual Differences.

The USERN Award is an annual international distinction established by the USERN Congress. It is awarded to young scientists and researchers under 40 years of age for innovative achievements in the field of scientific education and research in the service of humanity, in five areas: formal science, physics and chemistry, biology, medicine and sociology. Ewa Szumowska, PhD, is the first person from Poland to receive this distinction. (PAP)

Science in Poland, Ewelina Krajczyńska-Wujec

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