Comments on: The Myth of Multitasking

By: drc

drc — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 13:32:00 +0000

As a paramedic, I can attest that a certain level of multi-tasking IS possible. Some days are better than others. I usually have about five minutes to assess the patient to determine what is going on, get them on some oxygen, run an EKG, start an IV, push drugs, call the ER to give them a report, then get the patient ready to transfer inside the ER (keeping my balance while my partner dodges a multitude of morons in traffic).

Some days I’m more efficient- most likely dependent on the amount of real sleep I’ve had, glucose levels and whether or not I’ve successfully remained upright while doing patient care. For the most part, I’m successfully efficient at multi-tasking these.

Studying and driving, however, is a different matter. I don’t retain what I’ve skimmed while driving to class; my driving also suffers.

By: Coaster

Coaster — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 06:41:00 +0000

I tend to agree with what Rutkowskilives said about multitasking being a misnomer for most of the activities to which it’s normally attributed. I do think, though, that it is possible to multitask.

I work in fast food, regularly in the drive-thru. Since we rarely have enough people working at a time, this usually means I’m taking orders and collecting money/handing out food at the same time. I’ll have to remember the order of the people at the menu-board and type it in while making change for the people at the window and asking if they want condiments. Quite regularly I’ll have conversations with two people at once, one over the headset and the other at the window. While occasionally I’ll have to tell one person or the other to wait, I can generally keep a good handle on both situations.

This took a lot of practice, though. A lot of it involves what I think of as being on “autopilot”. It’s usually only when a customer makes an odd request or something similarly uncommon happens that I have to ask one person or the other to wait.

I’m not sure if even that would be considered multitasking in the strictest sense, but it’s definitely the closest I’ve felt to having my brain focused very much on two separate tasks.

Anything else –like reading and watching tv– doesn’t really feel like multitasking, since I’m usually blocking one out to focus on the other and switching off.

By: Lorelei

Lorelei — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 23:54:00 +0000

Reading this, cooking supper, trying to get the boys to clean their room, while trying to find out why my mother-in-law was just put in ICU 300 miles away. And this is the CALM part of my day. Ah, nothing like being a stay at home mom, it’s sooo relaxing

By: Miss Cellania

Miss Cellania — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 22:06:00 +0000

The problem is that employers EXPECT you to multi-task. At my last punch-a-clock job, I did the work that four people did at the same business back in the 70s and 80s. Simultaneously. Of course, I was paid by the hour.

By: gibson8or

gibson8or — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 21:23:00 +0000

I think part of it might depend upon the activities being multi-tasked. Reading and watching TV use similar parts of the brain, so they can’t be performed effectively at the same time.
Knitting and watching the TV work better because one is processing information input (TV) and the other is a repetitive physical action.
It’s like the difference between listening to the radio while driving versus text messaging while driving.

By: Rutkowskilives

Rutkowskilives — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 20:21:00 +0000

It’s my belief that the word multitask is poorly defined for people. I think we confuse subconscious mental processes for conscious ones – for example, people talk about watching tv while they read or listening to music while they study and call that multitasking, or equate it to several projects going on at one time that we take turns dividing our attention towards (I was getting my lunch ready while checking my email and skimming the classifieds).

My point is, “multitasking” as we often think of it is bogus. We can’t do it. We can consciously direct our attention to one thing at a time – that’s it. Now, you might be able to subconsciously block out an outside stimulus while you write, like the tv, but you’re not watching the tv. That’s a critical difference.

The problem that these studies address is that complex tasks require focused conscious concentration for more than a fleeting moment, and when we “multitask” we think we’re getting better at handling more than one thing at once. We’re not. We’re actually getting worse at everything, because the quality and duration of our concentration suffers, and because of that the quality of our effort suffers.

You can do one thing consciously at a time well or you can con yourself into believing you’ve done 4 things at the same time in poor fashion. In reality, you did 4 things poorly in consecutive order.

By: Jessica

Jessica — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 20:04:00 +0000

I’m with Carol. I am constantly doing three to five things at once. I’m a full time working mom and that is the only way i can get things done. I rarely read without the TV on and I can often be found crocheting, watching tv, with dinner on, laundry going and watching my 2 year old. It’s the need to make every moment count, because we have too few!! Not to mention when you are at work and you have the phone, cell phone, email and boss all coming at you at the same time, you have to know how to switch back and forth instantaneously and not loose focus.

By: Tricia

Tricia — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 19:17:00 +0000

I’m totally a multi tasker. As I read this blog I’m watching TV and I’m at work (and drinking a soda, but I don’t think that counts). Just like your wife I can’t read or do homework without the TV on, which baffles my husband who needs complete silence.

I’m not sure it’s an ADD kind of thing though, I think it’s because I grew up with so much noise around (I have 6 sisters), that it’s how I taught myself how to concentrate.

By: Carol

Carol — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 18:17:00 +0000

I think this is a ‘woman’ thing most of the time. I regularly do needlepoint, watch a baseball game on TV and listen to a book on tape at the same time (no sound on the bball game). While a load of clothes is washing and supper is cooking. I had kind of put this in the same category as not ever wanting to backtrack when I’m out running errands…I though it was just some kind of anal tendency of mine.

By: nutmeag

nutmeag — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 18:14:00 +0000

So I should stop reading this and stop watching BSG, since I’m also working on a document here at work and answering the phone? . . . well that’s no fun. (Although actually I do pause whatever I’m watching when I read an article. I’ve always been awful at reading and listening at the same time.)

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