Addicted to multi-tasking

[Robert Maxwell]

A question to the multitaskers.

Do you only multitask when you have several boring tasks to perform or do you also multitask if one of the tasks really grabs your interest?

I have noticed that when I create avatars (it's been a while though) I tend to forget everything around me and focus very well on that single task.

I multitask based on however much concentration the tasks before me require. If one task requires a lot of concentration, then I will focus on that and leave the others alone for a while. If there are several mundane and boring tasks, though, I will switch between them constantly. A lot of what I do involves starting up processes which will take some time (minutes, hours) to run, and then I deal with the results. So, while one is running, I'll be checking up on it while preparing the next one (or five).

I like to think of it as my brain having only so much "bandwidth," and each task consumes a variable proportion of it. Some consume more than others. It's conceivable to have something that uses all of it at once, but that doesn't happen to me terribly often.

On the downside, if I'm not consuming enough of my "bandwidth" I get bored and therefore sluggish.

I'd like someone to practice some multi-tasking on me...oh yeah...now that sounds good!

That's what two hands and a mouth are for!

I've lived without TV since I got my own apartment. It's beautiful. And quiet.

I like to have some music on, at times, but sometimes I just want silence.

How can you live without TV? What about hardcore news? It's something that I can't live without TV! How do you manage to survive that?

I get my news online.

I've lived without TV since I got my own apartment. It's beautiful. And quiet.

I like to have some music on, at times, but sometimes I just want silence.

Do you own a TV and just don't pay for cable? Or do you not have a TV at all?

I could easily do without TV reception, but I love watching DVDs.

I don't even own a TV where I live now. If I want to watch DVDs, I have a DVD drive in one of my laptops. I also have some TV shows on a large external hard drive, but I only tend to put them on for noise, not because I'm paying actual attention to it.

 

[RoJoHen]

I've lived without TV since I got my own apartment. It's beautiful. And quiet.

I like to have some music on, at times, but sometimes I just want silence.

Do you own a TV and just don't pay for cable? Or do you not have a TV at all?

I could easily do without TV reception, but I love watching DVDs.

I don't even own a TV where I live now. If I want to watch DVDs, I have a DVD drive in one of my laptops. I also have some TV shows on a large external hard drive, but I only tend to put them on for noise, not because I'm paying actual attention to it.

Gotcha. I hate watching shows and movies on my computer, otherwise I would probably get rid of the TV too.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Do you own a TV and just don't pay for cable? Or do you not have a TV at all?

I could easily do without TV reception, but I love watching DVDs.

I don't even own a TV where I live now. If I want to watch DVDs, I have a DVD drive in one of my laptops. I also have some TV shows on a large external hard drive, but I only tend to put them on for noise, not because I'm paying actual attention to it.

Gotcha. I hate watching shows and movies on my computer, otherwise I would probably get rid of the TV too.

I've gotten to where I can't just watch TV. I always have to have my hands busy. Reading a book, playing a game, typing--something.

 

[FordSVT]

I read a sci-fi story once featuring aliens that could literally think of two things at once, with full attention on both subjects 100% of the time. It was like having two consciousnesses in the same mind with one personality. It would certainly be an interesting ability.

Everyone needs to be able to multi-task to a certain point, but I've noticed in my career that people who do it obsessively tend to be less productive and make more mistakes and be more stressed than people who don't.

 

[RoJoHen]

Everyone needs to be able to multi-task to a certain point, but I've noticed in my career that people who do it obsessively tend to be less productive and make more mistakes and be more stressed than people who don't.

It's an important skill to be able to multi-task when you need to, but do it just because you'd be bored otherwise seems kind of weird.

 

[Rii]

but I've noticed in my career that people who do it obsessively tend to be less productive and make more mistakes and be more stressed than people who don't.

I find that when I'm juggling several items at once I'm extremely sensitive to anything that disrupts my established rhythm in attending to those items. Juggling is a good analogy: if you make an error in a throw you have to correct for it, yet the act of correction often creates further errors and suddenly all the balls are on the floor. Cascade failure.

It probably doesn't help my analogy to note that I'm much better at correcting for bad throws whilst juggling than at making good ones in the first place.

 

[FordSVT]

Who is that in your avatar, Rii?

 

[Sakrysta]

I think a lot of why I do it at work is that I'm bored or not enjoying what I'm doing. I'm actually trying to break myself of it to a certain degree, because I feel like it's really decreasing my productivity. But when you really don't like what you're working on, makes it tough.

 

[Rii]

Who is that in your avatar, Rii?

The gorgeous Mania Akbari, an Iranian film director and actor. The image is from the film Ten, which is well worth a look.

 

[Holdfast]

I don't multi-task as in doing several things at the same time - I think that's a pretty inefficient way to work to be honest. But I do intuitively use critical-path analysis quite a bit, which can often mean I break up a given task into subsets that I mix and match with other task's subsets to end up with the most efficient route to accomplish everything I need to.

 

[The Sneeze Police]

I am not much of a multitasker, although I do not work in a necessarily linear fashion. I am more willing to multitask with chores at home where precision is not required.

I notice my younger colleagues do not perform well with tasks requiring a degree of preciseness or accuracy. Forget proofreading work (even with spell check) or double checking facts. I do however admire their busy-ness and enthusiasm.