Why Multitasking May Not Help You

re: Why Multitasking May Not Help You

Masonsmama — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 02:26:48 GMT

I thought multi-tasking was essential when I first had my son. I have since learned that sitting quietly and devoting all my attention to my son is more rewarding for the both of us. He knows I am present.... not changing a diaper while talking on the phone and juggling whatever else. I am so grateful I learned to do one thing at a time. If I need to be on the phone, than I devote my attention to that and let my son know I will return my attention to him in x-amount of time. He has learned to play and entertain himself, that he can trust I will bring my attention back to him and hopefully that he is truly important enough to receive my undivided attention. This method has also improved my relationship with my spouse. I was a huge believer in multi-tasking. I'm much more relaxed now that I take time to do one thing at a time. Interesting side effect... I get more done now that I that I 've stopped multi-tasking :)

re: Why Multitasking May Not Help You

Brian1 — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 01:21:30 GMT

My physics teacher said that you are not actually multtasking if you fail at the tasks.

re: Why Multitasking May Not Help You

Kathy D — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 05:50:23 GMT

IN reply to PJOShea13 I must add this insight which hit me when I was in my late 40s as I juggled three kids, working full time and participating in the community. My middle child was diagnosed with ADHD and I was reading the books about it. AS I read more and more about ADHD I had to chuckle because as a working mother I was the epitome of a sample of an ADHD person.

How many unfinished projects had I put down in order to care for an infant, tend to a need of a toddler, answer questions of a middle schooler, converse with an adolescent, or help my spouse??!?!?! THEN there were the same quandaries in my elementary classroom....at the end of each day I had to neaten up the unfinished (or interrupted) tasks of the day.

So my question is...was I ADHD to begin with OR was it the result of being a mom who did what had to be done? Would the same apply to a male who was doing the parenting or working in an environment with built in interruptions or interrupters??? Does the situation make the problem? ADHD may just be the overt expression of multi-tasking gone awry.

re: Why Multitasking May Not Help You

PJOShea13 — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 21:03:22 GMT

In the 60's, multitasking was about keeping mainframe CPUs busy. A task continued until it entered a wait state. Then the computer would switch to another task. Problem is, humans need an interupt. We have no reliable internal timer that can interupt one task that is proceding quite nicely (e.g. talking on the phone), to monitor another. In business, "multitasking" is a scam that attempts to get more work out of people. Many tasks have few wait states. Switching tasks because of a wait state is like a miner having to come back out of the mine to do 10 minutes work elsewhere, before going back down. A top female chef once said that males were better chefs - "but they can't multitask". Males bring intensity to a single task. Females sacrifice intensity in order to juggle multiple tasks. How we evolved - not sexist.

re: Why Multitasking May Not Help You

SwedeSue — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 20:43:11 GMT

As usual, I think commercial interests have perverted something great ... how about picking up some veggies and fruit for your elderly neighbor while you're on your way to the store anyhow? How about making someone's day with a compliment about how nice they look and gaining some self-esteem because you have the power to improve someone's life in even a small way? How about running a load of dirty clothes while you wait for the pasta to boil while you check your son's spelling words aloud? These are all possible, constructive, humane, and don't require machinated contrivances. Homo sapiens are designed for wonderful, intricate, and beautiful things that a machine can never do .... If you want a marvelous and touching account of true I.T., check the internet for Paul Villard's 1966 contribution to Reader's Digest -- "information please". www.telephonetribute.com/a_true_story.html

re: Why Multitasking May Not Help You

Dr.G — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 13:45:16 GMT

Staying in the moment, devoting your complete attention to your task will decrease stress and get it done faster. If a thought arises that must be acted on - quick note, and come back to it when done. Stress dissolves in a hyper focused state along with the perception of time, thus the impending deadline doom feeling vanishes. Take a lesson from Buddha, be mindful with all things. The greatest gift you can give anyone or the task they wish you to complete is to be fully present.

Even the act of triage is still single tasking and best done with complete presents and focus.

re: Why Multitasking May Not Help You

Howard_257123 — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 13:13:38 GMT

I think some of the comments missed the point, multitasking is THINKING AND DOING more than one thing at a time. women seem to be able to talk abut two or three things at once especially if they are Gemenis, from my observation I don,t think men are very good at that, I know I am not.

re: Why Multitasking May Not Help You

marvinlzinn — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 07:39:42 GMT

This is definitely true, probably everywhere in the world applicable.

I work in a drug store. Hours are cut back to save money. To do more than half of the things required each day is usually impossible, but we may be criticized for not doing it, and praised if we can. This is 100% WRONG. Often some people work as fast as they can, which makes far more mistakes nobody has time to fix.

Some are against safety, which is my main concern because of my experience of falling off a ladder, broken head and seven weeks coma, when I was expected dead. I am back to excellent health and no problems, but when I try to tell people to not use a broken ladder, it is ignored. No one has time to think about it, or willing to spend the money to replace an unsafe condition.

re: Why Multitasking May Not Help You

Midas1 — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 18:56:22 GMT

I often see people on cell phones in grocery store checkout lines chatting away. Pagers, Blackberries, etc., etc. Is anyone really so important that they need to be on "stand-by" 24/7? There are many times I don't want to be found and do not want the "noise" of the latest gadgets, now referred to as "multi-tasking". I think the environmental stimuli is out of control. I've lost count of the times I've seen people run red lights because they have a phone glued to their ear. As early as 5:30 a.m. I have seen people who can't leave their driveway without being on a cell phone. These convenience items were made to be at our disposal, not for us to be tethered to them.

re: Why Multitasking May Not Help You

Miss Bliss — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 01:46:50 GMT

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re: Why Multitasking May Not Help You

Miss Bliss — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 22:44:47 GMT

...the only type of multitasking I want to do at this stage in my life is
breathe and digest and excrete....LOL