The Multitasking Myth

We hear it all the time. People on their Iphones apologizing for this or that thing they overlooked or forgot to do.  They excuse the lapse, blaming their "crazy-busy"  life styles as though the hectic craziness was inflicted on them, instead of a choice they have made voluntarily.

These same people frequently talk about how good they are at multitasking.  But, if they could get out of their muddled heads for just a few minutes, they might realize that, in fact, they are not so good at multitasking. In reality, they just do a lot of things marginally well. 

Granted, most of my own research on human behavior is done waiting in line at Starbucks, but some people who actually get paid to study human behavior, have concluded that so-called multi-taskers are not as efficient as they think they are.   Chances are you are just skimming at this very moment, but if you are interested enough you might check-out what real journalists and researchers are saying.

Dr. Edward Hallowell, a Massachusetts-based psychiatrist who specializes in the treatment of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and has written a book with the self-explanatory title CrazyBusy, has been offering therapies to combat extreme multitasking for years; in his book he calls multitasking a “mythical activity in which people believe they can perform two or more tasks simultaneously.” In a 2005 article, he described a new condition, “Attention Deficit Trait,” which he claims is rampant in the business world.

What we call “multitasking” is really the ability to switch between a number of tasks quickly. The term was first applied to computer processors, which operate sequentially at such a high speed that designers invented a method of switching tasks (they called it multiplexing in the early days) to give the impression of multiple simultaneous actions.

If you understand bandwidth then you can easily see how the concept works. Your cable or FIOS router manages all the signals that are traveling down the same wire and converts them into video pixels, sound and text. Bandwidth is really a function of speed. In the old days, modems could only handle slow speeds. Nowadays they are touting 4G networks, meaning that more crap gets rammed through the same wire only incredibly faster.

Most of us are born with only one processor. In some of us, that processor is capable of faster speeds. This explains Mensa types. They are great at chess and crossword puzzles , but maybe not so good at doing a job that requires sociability, contextual cognition or persuasive skills. IQ is really a measure of how fast the processor is, not how much fun it is to be around.

So, multitasking is really the ability to switch focus from one thing to another very quickly. The problem is that - unlike the digital computer - the human brain needs time to refocus at the same level it was concentrating before the interruption.

You see examples of this all the time when you are in a conversation with someone.  Let’s say you on a phone conversation discussing a book. The other person says:

“John Irving is a fine writer, but he is so manipulative.
“What do you mean?
“Well he gets you to fall in love with his characters and then… oops wait a sec I need to take this call…
While waiting you absently go through your e-mail and see that you have a new message, so you click on it..
“Sorry about that. Where was I?”

“Ah, Let’s see, we were talking about books I think..”
“Yes... books.  Who has time for books anymore?  I am swamped here so I need to get back to work. it’s been fun talking with you.”
“Ok, so long”

Because of the interruptions, you did not find out what the other person was going to say about John Irving’s penchant for murdering or maiming his best characters.  Then, you got distracted by your own incoming e-mail.  Because the human brain is slow to re-focus on the book topic,  the conversation ended before the information was communicated.


Studies have shown something we intuitively know: as we age, the recovery time to re-focus is even longer, especially in males. 

Ah, the football game has started, time for me to interrupt myself and do some experimental multi-tasking.  By which I mean watching the Game while simultaneously sipping a frosty Sierra Nevada.