Multitasking in the workplace degrades the quality of work. Laser like intensity and single mindedness of purpose promotes quality. I am terrible at multitasking. I admit it, but only to myself. Is multitasking is a badge of honor? I doubt my co workers believe they are good at multitasking as well. Perhaps it's co worker peer pressure.
During my typical workday as a UI web developer I have 3 Photoshop files open, my phone concerning head set on and dialed into a meeting. I'm composing a design document in MS Word for another project. I'm coding another project in my editor. I'm checking code into the repository before the cut off which is fast approaching, and 3 people are asking me questions on IM. Maybe its peer pressure in the work place exacerbated by the current economic environment. I dare not show I'm incapable of multitasking! As pointed out (Hillstrom, 2002) "Technology is also creating the ability to leverage the efforts of employees more and more. As organizations use more team-building and decentralized decision-making, people are forced to become both specialists and generalists." Perhaps it will become less of an issue for future workers as teens eventually enter the workforce. Apparently, they seem to be able to handle connectivity and communication on multiple levels albeit mostly on the "entertainment" level. Will it translate to more efficient multitasking tasking in the future? Additionally, the tech innovations that this newer generation of workers could potentially develop may improve multitasking hardware and software.
The focus of my attention should be getting the cleanest locked down solid code that I possibly can develop before I move it into production. Yet, the very same people that expect that from me are the ones that impede it the most.
As (Dario D. Salvucci, 2010) points out it's "Sequential Multitasking". "We call this behavior Sequential Multitasking: although there may be some overlap between tasks during switching periods (e.g., when a person finishes typing a sentence before picking up a ringing phone), each task receives focused attention during most of its allocated execution time."
I think it all stems from the false notion that we are getting things done simultaneously, when the fact is we are doing one thing at a time and switching back and forth quickly.
So quickly as to delude ourselves into thinking we are doing them simultaneously. It may delude our egos into thinking we can do tasks simultaneously and do them well, however we are not.
I totally agree with Goodman's assessment: "...High multitaskers are not better at anything. Even multitasking. They are worse"
For me, I just want to add quality to my work. Allow the next developer that uses it to see that I have integrated it in the cleanest and secure way possible.
This is not walking, chewing gum and listening to a podcast. This is a product being developed for a business that creates value.
As (Greenblatt, 2010) points out "Multitasking leads us to do everything a little bit worse all the time. Certain types of tasks can be done simultaneously pretty well. Carrying on a conversation while stirring spaghetti, for instance. Or listening to music while working on a term paper. The problem for many people is that they're trying to do quite similar tasks at the same time, and that turns out to be surprisingly hard to pull off, causing the most interference".
References:
- Dario D. Salvucci, N. A. (2010). The Multitasking Mind. Oxford University Press.
- Greenblatt, A. (2010, 09 24). Impact of the Internet on Thinking Is the Web changing the way we think" Retrieved 2011, from CQ Researcher: http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/
- Hillstrom, L. C. (2002). Multitasking. In L. C. Hillstrom, & K. Hillstrom, Encyclopedia of Small Business (pp. 762-763). Gale, Cengage Learning.
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