Yesterday I made a big mess. She was trying to be Superwoman and do everything. Instead I slowed down and am still cleaning today. How much does multitasking cost us?

Before you explore that, here’s a caveat, a funny story from real life. Last night, I had fun plans in the city: a dinner and a show in Manhattan with one of my oldest friends who is visiting from San Francisco. I had worked hard all day cleaning my apartment and it was time to get ready for the night. But something caught my attention. Since I got back from vacation, I hadn’t washed my bathing suits, which were hanging on the bathroom doorknob.

Lighting bulb! I could throw one of them in the sink while I shower. So, with a sink full of soapy water and the suit, I jumped into the shower to wash my hair. This is where it gets fun.

A few minutes later, while I was shaving my legs, I caught a glimpse of the sink. (This is a small apartment-sized bathroom, so the tub and sink are almost touching.) It’s time to rinse the suit. I reached over and uncovered the drain to release the water and opened it again to rinse the suit. Still in the shower, I conditioned my hair and went through the rest of my regular cleansing ritual. A few more minutes passed and then I realized maybe I should check out the sink situation.

Oh! Water was running all over the floor and both my iPhone and landline were wet on the counter. Half of the big fluffy white bath mat below was soaked. The water was all over the floor. And I still had conditioner in my hair.

I turned off the water in the sink and tossed the two phones on the dry section of the small rug (thankfully I caught them before it got damaged). Cursing, I rinsed my hair, quickly finished in the shower and dried myself.

I didn’t have time to put the towels and rugs in the dryer in the basement of the building, so I put the drying rack I use for all my “flat dry” clothes in the tub and tossed it over it. At least the mess was cleaned up, I thought, and I was able to get back into the beauty routine before it was too late to run into my friend. She would have to wash the rugs and towels later when she had more time.

Then my kitty Buddha, who had been intently watching the cleaning effort, came over and started sniffing the area under the cabinet that the sink sits in. What the hell was he doing? He never did that before.

I opened the cabinet and… More Water. There was water in the bottom of the cabinet, and all the items packed in the one cabinet in the small bathroom were also wet. More curses!

I put another beach towel on the floor, sat down, and emptied the entire closet. Travel bags, sample size bottles of lotion and shampoo, Q-tips, cotton pads, alcohol, a hair dryer I never use, sunscreen, a wire rack…everything was dry or thrown on the towel. I cleaned the bottom of the cabinet and reattached what I could. The rest I left scattered on the floor to dry on several towels.

I arrived in the city in time to meet my friend for dinner and had a pleasant evening. But it wasn’t fun dealing with the stress of my multitasking mishap. And I’m still not done cleaning! After I finish writing this article, I head to the laundry room in the basement. That rug will never dry out without going through the spin cycle. And I have to throw away or put back the items that I left all over the floor.

We multitask because we think we can do everything right at once, but the truth is, we can’t. Instead, we are switching from one task to another, diluting our attention, becoming too spread out, and teetering between different goals.

The truth is multitasking:

It slows you down: We do it because we think more can be done in less time, but in fact, multitasking costs time. Studies show that it takes longer to complete activities when multitasking. The smart way to work is Time Blocking. The time block is completing things in batches: pay all your bills at once, then reply to all your emails, then move on to the next project. That allows you to get into the rhythm of mentality that each activity requires.

Makes you make mistakes: As my bathroom debacle demonstrates, studies show that switching tasks can cause a 40% loss in productivity. And the more critical thinking is required for the tasks, the greater the error due to mistakes.

It stresses you out – Remember the curses? Making mistakes and wasting time cleaning up clutter causes stress and unhappiness. Enough talk.

Makes you miss out on life: In today’s hyper-connected world, few stop to smell the roses…or even take a look at what’s going on around them. Research shows that people who are busy doing two things at once don’t even see something obvious in front of them. Do you remember the video of the woman talking on the phone in a mall who fell headfirst into a fountain? The researchers call it “inattentional blindness” and point out that while people technically look around, none of it registers in their brains.

It diminishes your creativity: “A ha” moments are reduced when you multitask according to research from the University of Illinois. It requires a lot of “working memory” or temporary brain storage and when all of that is used up, our ability to think creatively disappears. There are too many things in our heads to daydream and think about the blue sky.

Makes OHIO impossible: The “just handle it once” productivity rule goes away when you multitask. In fact, you may have to drive it five or six times. A definite time-sucker.

Multitasking can also damage your relationships, cause you to overeat, and be deadly.

The evidence is strong and it is clear. So next time you find yourself answering an email while watching a podcast and on a sales call, STOP. Do yourself a favor. Catch yourself and reset your priorities to finish one task before moving on to the next.

To me? I have to do laundry (the carpet), finish cleaning the bathroom floor, wash my other bathing suit, and assemble my new desk chair, in that order! (Hey, do you think I can wash the suit while I clean up the rest of the mess?)