One of the most common things that you hear with regards to productivity is that above all, you should avoid multitasking! The logic behind this is that if you try to do too many things at once, you won’t be doing any of those things very well.

But since I love multitasking, I’ve naturally found a way around this 😉 So here it is, my best multitasking tip:

Combine tasks that require different kinds of brain power.

A classic example of this is something my friend Westwood and I do, now that she lives several provinces over: we have phone calls where we use speakerphone and clean our houses while catching up. It’s a lovely way to have a really great chat and get mindless housework done at the same time!

Similarly, in the past little while I’ve taken to listening to podcasts. Mr. Science recently got an awesome 9—5 job, which means that we no longer work from home together all day long. And even though we didn’t used to spend all day talking together, the house is still much quieter now that it’s just me working from home!

Listening to podcasts are a great way for me to learn new things and also hear someone’s voice when it gets to be just a little too quiet (and when I get to the point where I feel like I probably shouldn’t listen to Muse on repeat for the umpteenth time ;)).

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My problem with podcasts is that I can’t do other work while I’m listening to them, because then I can’t retain any information. And I feel silly listening to a podcast and just sitting there. So instead, I wash the dishes, or take out paper bag curls, or get some dusting done while listening to podcasts.

I’ve mentioned before how much I adore walking on an inclined treadmill at GoodLife Fitness with a book—it’s something that I used to do in university, too. In fact, I did my best studying while pacing around my apartment or while using the stationary bike at the gym! I find that it actually helps me to better retain information when I’m exercising at the same time (as long as the exercise doesn’t require a huge amount of concentration to carry out, of course). Win-win.

When you can do two different tasks at the same time, and use different types of brain power to get each task completed effectively, multitasking becomes this wonderful way to save time and get more done.

What two tasks do you like to combine to save time and get more done? What is your best multitasking tip? Do you multitask effectively? Share in the comments section below!

This post was written as part of the GoodLife Fitness Blogger Ambassador Program, however all opinions expressed are my own.