Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Does Multitasking Make You More Productive?
Web Worker Daily: "A whole generation of web workers has been raised on the idea that the more activities you can do at one time, the more of a productivity superstar you are. But is the ability to juggle Facebooking a friend; scanning an email; texting on your cell phone and tweeting about your latest technology tip — all at the same time — really such a good idea?"
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7 comments:
i think this is an extremely relevant concept for many college students because esp in a dept as competitive and difficult as ours many students feel like the key to being a productive and efficient student is to overload which inevitably makes them spread themselves to thinly between multiple projects, not to say that multitasking is bad at all, but the appropriate amount of attention to projects you can handle, and i completely agree that multitasking too much can make you incapable of mentally going from one activity at a time
I am not really surprised by these finding. While I admit to doing multiple things at once I try to limit myself in the number of tasks at once and what kinds of tasks I am doing. It is one thing to three small tasks at once like writing email, texting, and researching information. It is completely different to multi task while driving. I think the deciding factor should be placed on the difficultly of the task.
While multitasking might not make you more productive in the end, sometimes it's necessary. In fact sometimes multitasking, such as listening to music while working, seems to help me. In my opinion, the best way to tackle multiple projects quickly is to switch off from one to another once the project you're working on becomes frustrating.
This is not really anything new, just stated in a new way. It is a little bit of In Box Zero and David Allen's Getting Things Done.
I think a better way to state this is multitasking is not bad, but to be most effective, one should group their multitasking and keep lists of each category.
Still, it is all a good idea. Some people figure it out from hearing it different ways, so this new way to put it might be a good one for somebody.
I agree that attempting to do too many things at once can actually impede your work, but like Ariel said, sometimes it is necessary. Some situations, jobs, majors, etc. require you to be able to multitask to a certain degree. If you don't there is no way to accomplish everything you have to do in the limited time that you have. I think the key here is just not to go overboard with it and know your limitations when things are getting too much.
I agree with Ariel. It may not make you more productive, but sometimes it is necessary. The key to doing it well is to spread yourself out just enough to do things well. I haven't had to do too much multitasking here, but in school i balanced myself out very well and multitasked very well.
Of course multitasking doesn't make you more productive. It never has, and I don't know anyone who thinks it does. Try to wash two cars at once and see if either one gets washed at all. Of course not. However, it is just shy of impossible to avoid in modern society. At any one time I have a laptop, an iPhone, a book, a sketchbook, and an ipod on my person and at least two of those thing out or open at any one time. I'm sure I'd get more things done if I didn't multitask so much, but that takes some SERIOUS self control.
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