Comments on: Why Multitasking Doesn’t Work

By: Searching for Focus | Ryerson Digital Media Zone

Searching for Focus | Ryerson Digital Media Zone — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 20:46:37 +0000

[...] to get done, people take pride in their ability to manage all the moving pieces, but in the end multitasking doesn’t work. Whether it’s sending an email or writing a marketing plan, trying to do excellent work while [...]

By: Gavin's Stuff » How To Get Stuff Done at Work

Gavin's Stuff » How To Get Stuff Done at Work — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 14:25:03 +0000

[...] http://lateralaction.com/articles/multitasking/ - There’s No Such Thing as Multitasking [...]

By: Mukul Verma

Mukul Verma — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 11:17:43 +0000

I came looking for one thing and found this interesting article.

I agree with emails being the biggest modern day distraction.

Cheers,
Mukul

By: Abhishek

Abhishek — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 12:50:47 +0000

I have never been able to multi task and always ridiculed friends who claimed to multi task but accomplished mediocre results. The most I have done is background tasking. I do it at work.

When there is enough noise from co-workers chatting, I find it difficult to concentrate on my work. I usually work with email alerts switched off, so when I am working, there is nothing popping up to distract me. I cant switch off co-worker’s noise, so I put my headphones on and listen to a familiar playlist on my iPhone. I know most of the songs, so they don’t distract me. Sometimes I catch a song that I particularly like at the end of its track.

By: “…there is strong research evidence that the popular working practice of multitasking can reduce your performance level to that of a drunk” « Sea Legs

Fri, 02 Apr 2010 15:29:01 +0000

[...] Mark McGuinness and Sami Paju of Lateral Action and their reference, John Medina, do a much more in-depth job at describing the myth of multitasking, so check them out. [...]

By: Mark

Mark — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 11:54:45 +0000

Thanks Steve. According to the neuroscientists, we can’t train our brains to pay attention to more than one thing at a time. You can do a ‘mindless’ activity (e.g. washing the dishes) at the same time as a ‘mindful’ one (radio listening to the radio) but not two tasks that require attention. (Actually, some people would say even washing the dishes is something we should do mindfully, but that’s another story…)

By: Steve Benedict

Steve Benedict — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 17:34:09 +0000

I just came across this post in a year end review of some of the best articles. I agree in principle, but I think you can train your brain to do several things at once. I try to start every day with a “To Do” list and check them off as I move through. Interruptions happen and I try to stay on task, as I handle other things. I usually try to delegate the interruptions, unless they need my immediate attention. I just keep coming back to my list and keep moving forward.

Best to you in 2010.

Steve

By: Make Time For Time: 3. Single-tasker or task-juggler? « TheUniversityBlog

Make Time For Time: 3. Single-tasker or task-juggler? « TheUniversityBlog — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 08:02:37 +0000

[...] several things at the same time like this is called task-switching. You aren’t actually doing several things at once, but you have chosen to dilute your focus and switch between several [...]

By: Benefits of attaining the “Flow” state in an Agile software development | Agile Blog: Scaling Software Agility

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 11:22:30 +0000

[...] To understand “Why Multi-tasking and Task Switching?” do not work, you should read this post from Mark McGuinness at Lateral Action or check out Tom Demarco’s book “Slack” and specifically pages [...]

By: Mark

Mark — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 08:37:27 +0000

@ Ken – Would it be easier to adjust to our brains instead of trying to ‘force’ them to adjust to technology?