by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
I used to think that I was a fairly adept multitasker, as long as one of the tasks was something completely mindless (I could stir things in a pot and make a list at the same time. I could vacuum and brainstorm). But after instances where I’ve spattered supper on the stove and vacuumed up things that weren’t supposed to be vacuumed, I’ve come to the realization that I really shouldn’t multitask at all.
I’ve made an effort to dial it back and become more effective at focusing on a single task.
Is it really multitasking?
In the article “Brain, Interrupted” by New York Time columnists Bob Sullivan and Hugh Thompson, they stated:
In fact, multitasking is a misnomer. In most situations, the person juggling e-mail, text messaging, Facebook and a meeting is really doing something called “rapid toggling between tasks,” and is engaged in constant context switching.
The danger in this, as stated in the article, is that we may never really return to the main task we needed to work on. The other tasks act as distractions … or maybe, more accurately, deterrents…to our productivity.Continue reading