Multitasking Update
by Miki Saxon
Yesterday, Dave Zinger reviewed a book called The Myth of Multitasking.
Also yesterday, Brenda left a comment on an old (before my time) post on my other blog that led me to a 2001 APA article explaining “executive control.” “[It] involves two distinct, complementary stages: goal shifting (“I want to do this now instead of that”) and rule activation (“I’m turning off the rules for that and turning on the rules for this”). Both stages help people unconsciously switch between tasks.”
The time spent shifting is yet another reason why multitasking is a myth.
All this reminded me of a post I wrote in 2006 that is overdue for republishing right now.
Smart or stupid? Your choice!
Back in early 2003 I read an article in the Wall Street Journal called Multitasking Makes You Stupid and I cheered. Why? Because it’s always nice to have one’s opinion confirmed through scientific study by experts with lots of credentials—especially when most of the people around you are bragging about how well they multitask.
I got to thinking about that and did a bit more searching to see if anything’s changed. There’s one study that looked at gender differences and came to the conclusion that whereas productivity is about equal, women have a slight advantage in accuracy. I’m certainly not claiming I read all 250,000 pages returned on a search using the terms, multitasking study Dr university, but scanning through the first hundred I didn’t notice anything that contradicted what I’ve always thought—multitasking is not productive!
So what’s happened since the original article appeared? More ways to multitask; more managers demanding that their people do it; and more people bragging about their skill at it—more errors, accidents and loss of productivity.
Don’t believe me? Think about
- what it’s like talking to someone who is reading email or doing other computer tasks during the conversation;
- how close you’ve come to creaming someone, or being creamed, while talking on a cell;
- the last time you didn’t notice the sirens ’cause you were listening to an iPod or talking on a cell.
And before you write all this off with the famous “but me” argument ask yourself: are you really that different from the rest of the human race?
For more insights read HBS working Knowledge columnist Stever Robbins (among many others), then read my Think, dream, innovate, and then really think about how you want to run your life!
Then ask yourself, what percentage of the day do you spend multitasking?
Image credit: shdt
August 28th, 2008 at 6:41 am
Miki:
I spend too much of my day multitasking
…just a second there’s the phone…oh look at that report that is overdue…yes my son I can drive you in 10 minutes…I’ll take the cell along to call the client…let’s talk about your career son…just a second that’s mom on the phone she needs us to get a few things at Safeway…you get them I’ll stop at the Starbucks in the store and email the Ottawa person…
I am tired just writing this.
David
September 5th, 2008 at 7:44 am
Thank you for the mention! We’ve posted a free exercise to measure the cost of your multitasking. It can be found at:
http://www.timegym.com/exercise.php
September 5th, 2008 at 11:17 pm
Hi Dave, thanks for stopping by. I’m all for anything that punches holes in the multitasking = productivity myth.
September 7th, 2008 at 11:24 am
HI David, my apologies for not responding in a more timely fashion—it won’t happen again:)
I couple of years ago I wrote two posts for Scott Allen, who was killing himself by multitasking and not saying ‘no’.
Know how to say no!
And a three-parter,
The backlash of saying “No”
Hope they help.
September 12th, 2008 at 10:26 am
Those are great articles, Miki. I wrote a similar one not too long ago called:
“I’m Just a [Insert Your Title Here] Who Can’t Say No”
September 12th, 2008 at 11:13 pm
Thanks, Dave. That’s one of my favorite songs, but I didn’t think anybody else remembered it. Oops, you’re dating yourself—and me, too!
September 16th, 2008 at 10:54 am
Multi-tasking *IS* a myth! At my company, we are now in the habit of intensely focusing on as few projects as possible for a shorter period of time, with more intensity. MUCH better!
Cheers,
Davo