Brain Bottleneck - Multitaskers Beware

Slow Down - Can't Compute

There was an interesting article published this weekend by Steve Lohr of the New York Times that says our brains can only do so much. The article (Slow Down, Multitaskers; Don't Read in Traffic), citing many recent studies and publications, says the extent of our multitasking bevahior may not be serving our best interests nor is it making us any more productive in the workplace.

In several reports cited, the studies show there are limits to what we can do effectively under the guise of "multitasking." According to one cognitive scientist and director of the Brain, Cognition and Action Laboratory at the University of Michigan, David E. Mayer notes -- "multitasking is going to slow you down, increasing the chances of making mistakes." Furthermore, "disruptions and interruptions are a bad deal from the standpoint of our ability to process information..."

Can You Relate?
Ever been on that phone call while trying to finish a Powerpoint due in 15 minutes and your e-mail and IMs are pinging you for response?  Did you feel at that moment, slow or unable to clearly articulate your thoughts or complete what you needed to do?

Well, Lehr's article cites a recent December article in Neuron which shows our brains do have a processing bottleneck and there is clear evidence that we are not as efficient as we think we are or can be.

Microsoft has even got in on this research. According to Lehr's article, a group of Microsoft workers took on average 15 minutes to return to serious mental taks after responding to e-mail or instant messages. They found these disruptions caused the workers to get diverted into other e-mail discussions or stray to browse the Web for personal interests or other areas off topic than what they were originally on task to do.

The point that hit home for me most in this article was as information workers we should all consciously "manage the technology" (tools we use), rather than "merely yielding to it."

Endnote: I have to admit this post was truly a diversion in between e-mail and other office tasks I was embedded in today. I did stray from my To Do list and started surfing my feeds. Reading this article, I know so many of us can totally relate and get frustrated by these distractions and demands for our attention.

Now, where was I?...

Comments

[Eve]

I used to think of myself as an effective multitasker, I had to be as a convenience store clerk and jobs like that. In the past few months in my current job as a legal secretary, I've discovered that I'm not nearly as effective as I thought. It has become a conscious effort for me to focus on one task at a time, but the effort pays off in getting things done right without having to go back and fix mistakes. I'm even finding that I can't watch TV and surf the web or read email at the same time. It is almost inevitable that I will lose track of one or the other.