There was a time in our recent past when the best way to accomplish a task was to focus and work toward finishing that task. Interruptions were considered a distraction and not well tolerated. But, that all changed in the age of technology and we had no such limitations on our ability to do more than one thing at a time. The term multitasking comes from the computer analogy of parallel processing by the processor. In reality, a single core processor does not do more than one task at a time; it simply is able to switch quickly and appears to be "multitasking". A dual core processor can do two tasks at once. But, the brain is a single core device and cannot process multiple tasks effectively. We can believe that we are able to text, drive, and carry on a conversation, but the odds are that something bad will happen.
It really is all about attention that dictates whether or not we can effectively juggle two or more tasks. Consider for a moment traveling along a highway at 60 miles an hour. Assume that the telephone poles are 100 feet apart, and they are generally less. That means that you are driving at 88 feet per second. If you turn to look at a person in the passengers seat for just two seconds, you will have traveled 176 feet and if something has entered your lane in front of you it will get hit. The brain will not have been able to even think about using the brakes with that short a time period.
So, we can watch TV, talk to a friend on the phone, and read a magazine article. But we cannot attend to any of these tasks with dedication and we will probably lose a lot of detail. I believe that if we use the multitasking skillon on a resume we should add an asterisk with "just not very well"!
There is a great article in The New Atlantis Magazine here. Good documentation and an easy read. But I have to end this post now. Cooking turkey, calling a friend, and watching football. Cheers...
It really is all about attention that dictates whether or not we can effectively juggle two or more tasks. Consider for a moment traveling along a highway at 60 miles an hour. Assume that the telephone poles are 100 feet apart, and they are generally less. That means that you are driving at 88 feet per second. If you turn to look at a person in the passengers seat for just two seconds, you will have traveled 176 feet and if something has entered your lane in front of you it will get hit. The brain will not have been able to even think about using the brakes with that short a time period.
So, we can watch TV, talk to a friend on the phone, and read a magazine article. But we cannot attend to any of these tasks with dedication and we will probably lose a lot of detail. I believe that if we use the multitasking skillon on a resume we should add an asterisk with "just not very well"!
There is a great article in The New Atlantis Magazine here. Good documentation and an easy read. But I have to end this post now. Cooking turkey, calling a friend, and watching football. Cheers...
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