Think you're good at multitasking? Take this test.

[Omgadnowai]

Took 37 seconds with the first part of the test, 40 with the second, and I blame the 3 seconds discrepancy on the time taken breaking my usual calligraphy down and having to life my pen a lot more...

Accurate test for anyone ?

[DaveCrenshawAuthor]

@Omgadnowai Not bad. Some people are faster at making switches than others. Now remember that there are three more consequences of multitasking than just time increase: quality of work (mistakes) and stress levels. There is also a fourth effect...see my video on effects of multitasking on relationships.

[DaveCrenshawAuthor]

Note: this video simplifies and simulates events that happens in an average workday. The average worker is switching back and forth between more complex tasks, such as answering an email while talking on the phone at the same time.

This is NOT debating the ability of the human mind to handle multiple stimuli. This is about the COST of attempting to perform diverging tasks at the same time, which, unfortunately, is what most people are referring to when they say "I'm good at multitasking"

[CerebralPrince10]

5. Your premise of people not being able to multitask is based on a competency assumption of what the average person can do subconsciously and what someone has to do consciously focus on. "Multifocusing" is on oxymoron and more likely the term you should use, "multitasking" is most definitely a reality.

Have you heard of Henry Kahne? You should check out his multitasking literature. I also have a couple videos on my channel that highlights multitasking in a more athletic context

Cheers!

[DaveCrenshawAuthor]

@CerebralPrince10 Thanks for sharing. Everything you've said, while true, just debates semantics. This is why I redefine multitasking into two things in my book, The Myth of Multitasking:

Background tasking (which every example you gave falls into) and Switchtasking (attempting to perform two or more tasks that REQUIRE attention).

Also, be sure to view my video on the impact on relationships, which is often overlooked by those seeking a purely academic debate.

[CerebralPrince10]

@DaveCrenshawAuthor

So wouldn't the ideal be that people increase their proficiency to do tasks subconsciously so they can "background" them?

"answering an email while talking on the phone" for one person might be as simple as "running on the treadmill and watching TV" to another

My point is that while you recognize one's subconscious holds a broader capability than one's conscious faculty, you generalize what is mundane and what "REQUIREs attention" when it differs from person to person.

[DaveCrenshawAuthor]

@CerebralPrince10 We agree in theory, however I have yet to see anyone able to demonstrate your example without 1) Making mistakes 2) Slowing down 3) Increasing stress or 4)Damaging relationships.

To be clear: researchers at Vanderbilt University did a study on "improving multitasking" and found is that you can improve your ability to switchtask through practice. I agree.

However, when I asked them directly, they confirmed that single tasking is still always more efficient.

[CerebralPrince10]

@DaveCrenshawAuthor

I am sure most of the time you put 100% focus into one task you'll do better, or at least at the same level of proficiency, than if you were to do the same task with another one involved. The only examples that I can think of that this would not be the case is some people like listening to "background noise" ala tv or music. Or if doing a separate task like playing a beat in your head helps you relax and not stress and over-think your main task.

[DaveCrenshawAuthor]

@CerebralPrince10 Agreed. That's background tasking.

You still can't avoid the math. Whether you're young, old, male, female, good at multitasking or crappy at it, there is always SWITCHING COST. Do two or more divergent tasks at once and your brain rapidly switches between them. You incur switching cost, the four effects being:

1) Things take longer

2) You make more mistakes

3) You increase your stress levels

4) You damage relationships

[CerebralPrince10]

@DaveCrenshawAuthor

My point is about time, and this is where I think we differ in terms of "efficiency".  If I do two tasks simultaneously, so not just thinking about two separate tasks and switching between them like your example, but actually doing two tasks at the same time, at 51% efficiency of what I can do if I did them separately it would still be faster than doing one task at a time. I couldn't imagine having the time to hold only one task in mind at a time & still get everything done.

[DaveCrenshawAuthor]

@CerebralPrince10 "I couldn't imagine having the time to hold only one task in mind at a time & still get everything done."

Here's the paradox: you would. :-)

On average, the clients I work with, and I work with business owners and CEOs, gain an extra 10+ of FREE TIME per week. This means they get everything done that they were getting done before, but faster and with less mistakes.

Why? Because we reduce the number of switches that take place in their day.

[gugemaster]

@DaveCrenshawAuthor What about outdoor sales people who have to answer many sales inquiry calls while on the run throughout the day? Incoming calls must be answered promptly because they might need to sales orders. You can't avoid passive switches.

[CerebralPrince10]

4. Imagine if you lived your life entirely in a mono task mindset. Imagine you walking on the side walk with a friend, stopping to breathe, resuming, stopping to talk, resuming, stopping to listen, then stopping listening to breathe, then resume listening, cultivate your next thought, then resume walking, repeat...I believe you refer to simply done tasks as "background" task but that is relative.

[CerebralPrince10]

3. Multitasking, like playing the piano, cooking, writing, etc is a skill that gets better with practice. Sadly, people like you advise people to refrain from putting in the effort to learn such a beneficial skill. Cultivating a multiple mentality broadens your perspective on the world, develops conceptual skills, and when used appropriately increases time management.

[CerebralPrince10]

2. You are generalizing all human beings based on the majority. Most are raised to think sequentially as opposed to holistically. Most people don't practice cultivating a multiple mentality which is why most struggle dealing with multiple stimuli, not because of some inherent inability for humans to do so.

[CerebralPrince10]

A couple of problems here

1. Switching from writing a letter to a number isn't doing multiple tasks at once, writing a sentence with one hand and numbers with the other at the same time would be. Whilst difficult for most, certainly not impossible, and with practice, can be faster than writing with just one hand.

[Kouthan]

Even computers (at least single core ones) switch fast between tasks to achieve multitasking so I believe that the term multitasking is somehow correct if the tasks that you perform can easily be switched.

[DaveCrenshawAuthor]

@Kouthan But there still is a cost to the switch. Different switches have different costs, but you can't avoid the cost. This is part of the reason why computer cores get hot. :-)

[Kouthan]

@DaveCrenshawAuthor Actually the switching part of the process makes the processor cooler because only very small part of it is working the main body (ALU) is resting. Processors get hot when they do only one continuous task!

[squeegeeification]

@Kouthan Interesting theory. Link please?

[DaveCrenshawAuthor]

@squeegeeification I don't think there is one, but I found plenty about multitasking causing heat, as well as computer lag and decreased performance. Google "multitasking computers heat"

[SoulSearcher247365]

That was intense!!! I got so much more stressed out, didn't write one of the letters, and my hand writing was horrible. That was tough. I just discovered this concept the other day and I've been thinking about it a lot. Thanks.

[Coldretter]

i do not believe your test is a good representation of what multitasking actually is. obviously it is going to take longer the second way because you have to move your hand! what im thinking is that if you can, for example, type something while talking on the phone; or write something down while listening to somebody you are actually getting two things done at once, not switch tasking. my mother, who is a secretary does this all day at her job. unfortunately.. i am running out of room...

[DaveCrenshawAuthor]

@Coldretter Thanks for the comment. In The Myth of Multitasking I explain the difference between switchtasking and background tasking. Background tasking is when you're doing something mundane in the background (such as running on the treadmill and watching TV) and can actually be productive. However, when most people say they are good at "multitasking" they are really switchtasking, which always increases time to completion, mistakes and stress levels. See my video on relationships effects too.

[naes371]

@DaveCrenshawAuthor I like your Background Tasking concept. Can I strengthen your mission and this concept by adding the "Diminishing Law of Multitasking”. Which states “As more tasks are taken on over and above the threshold (ability to be increasingly productive) of those combined tasks, the benefit of each new task to the whole diminishes”. It has 7 assumptions that deals with the conscious and unconscious mind which is similar to your background tasking.

[naes371]

@Coldretter Let me explain the "Diminishing Law of Multitasking". The Law has 7 assumptions, but assumption 5-6 will help you.

5. The human mind cannot do two conscious activities effectively at the same time. 6. Repetitive actions cause familiar conscious tasks to move to the unconscious mind. You now have the ability to perform these tasks without conscious thinking.

You are actually doing non-conscious mind activities, which is why you can do a lot of tasks simultaneously.

[IntarwebUser]

I misunderstood the instructions for the first part and thought I had to write the letters and numbers at the same time, so I used both hands at once. That was really hard!

After that the real multitasking task (using just one hand) seemed super easy!

[DaveCrenshawAuthor]

@IntarwebUser Ha! That's a first. Yeah that would make it much harder than even the switchtasking version. Thanks for commenting!