Multitasking 101

Monica Svatek writes:

We are a generation of multitaskers, living in a multitasking world and working in a multitasking industry, but how good are we at actually multitasking?

That is what (hopefully) will be answered on ABC’s 20/20 in a couple of weeks.

Several Frogs participated in a study conducted by 20/20, testing our ability to handle constant interruptions while attempting to complete a task. The interruptions ranged from phone calls and emails to instant messages and coworker intrusion.

I know I didn’t pass with flying colors. In fact, I was miserably overwhelmed. Perhaps it was the PC I was working on (I am happily accustomed to my Mac). Perhaps it was the budget worksheet I was asked to complete (math has never been a strong suit). Perhaps it was the two cameras trained on me the entire 20 minutes (which quite honestly felt more like 2 hours). Or perhaps those are all excuses and I’m just not as efficient a multitasker as I’d like to think I am.

Granted, I’ve talked on my phone, emailed and IMed consecutively in the past but am I really being as productive and efficient as I could be if I simply handled each of these tasks one at a time?

For an industry that demands consumers absorb a message as they are watching television, surfing the internet, driving, walking, talking on their phone, etc., shouldn’t we master the fine art of multitasking before we expect others to do so?

Set your DVRs to ABC 4 May 2007 to see the results . . .

Comments

[Ryan Karpeles]

I've heard/seen numerous studies that show how multitasking causes us to be about 20 to 40 percent LESS efficient. There's definitely some sort of neurological explanation for this drop-off, but I can't recall all the fancy terms.

In some cases (talking on a cell phone while driving) multitasking is even life-threatening. I hope your experiment wasn't nearly as traumatic :)

[hidden persuader]

The last statistical data I've came across was, hmm maybe one year ago whilst on a BA plane. Their magazine stated that we are (on average)bombarded and interrupted in new emails every 10 minutes.