Multitasking, or "Why We're All Half-Crazy"
Posted on Feb 28th, 2008
by 
Joey
Joey
The following is from a "quality topic" I presented at work yesterday during a monthly review meeting for senior staff. The reason this topic came to mind was that in doing the metrics for the monthly review, I noticed that our record processing/ticket closure charts looked terrible. I felt terrible about it! I KNOW I've been working my butt off, but according to this chart, it doesn't look like I've done anything!
When I started looking into WHY things looked so bad, I noticed that in 70% of the late ticket closures, all the necessary actions had been completed....I just neglected to close out the ticket. So I started paying attention to my work processes to see why I was forgetting to close my tickets.
What I found was that at any given time, I have at least six different programs running on my computer. Now, the most complicated task that I perform requires me to have the ticket tracking database, two separate Access database, and a web browser open simultaneously, plus a hard copy of a checklist on which to write down my observations. So that's four programs and a clipboard.
So what are the other two (or more) and why are they open? Generally, the other two open were my Outlook and my Alert Monitor (alerts you to new assignments in the ticket tracking database). I've blogged before about the compulsion I have with checking every pop-up alert from these two particular applications.
Now, in the half hour while I was trying to analyze what is happening with my work, my phone rang three times and a highly toxic, negative co-worker interrupted me twice. Each time I stopped working to deal with the interruptions and then turned back to my six open programs, I couldn't quite remember what I was doing.
I thought, "Aha, this is how I forgot to complete the final step of my process."
So, from that, comes this:
======================
Research indicates that attempting to accomplish multiple tasks at once actually reduces productivity and quality.
Habitual multitasking may condition the brain to an overexcited state, making it difficult for us to focus even when we want to. "People lose the skill and the will to maintain concentration, and they get mental antsyness," says David E. Meyer, director of the Brain, Cognition and Action Laboratory at the University of Michigan. We become scattered and confused.
When people try to perform two or more related tasks either at the same time or alternating rapidly between them, errors go way up, and it takes far longer--often double the time or more--to get the jobs done than if they were done sequentially, says Meyer. "Not being able to concentrate for, say, tens of minutes at a time, may mean it's costing a company as much as 20 - 40%."
Multitasking causes a "mental traffic jam." It slows down your brain, which quite literally cannot concentrate on two things at once.
In order to switch gears between tasks, the brain has to go through two stages:
1. Goal Shifting - "I want to do this now instead of that."
2. Rule Activation - I'm turning OFF the rules for that and turning ON the rules for this.
In a recent study of Microsoft employees, it was discovered that it takes workers interrupted by e-mail around 15 minutes to get back into their work groove. Once interrupted from a serious task, they would then continue to respond to other email messages, browse the web, etc. Microsoft research scientist Eric Horvitz says that kind of "downtime" adds up. "If this happens two to five times an hour, each time taking 10 to 15 minutes on average to get back to what you were doing, what time is left to get the stuff done?" Horvitz asks.
How To Multitask Without Going Crazy:
1. Do NOT multitask while learning something new. Multitasking impairs your ability to store the particulars of a new task in your long-term memory.
2. Group different kinds of tasks. If the tasks are too similar, they use the same parts of the brain and you risk getting the two confused.
3. Control email interruptions. Check your email only once an hour and turn off the alerts that tell you there is a new email.
4. Make and prioritize to-do lists every day. First thing in the morning, do your "Most Important Task" before opening your email. (Once your email is open, you'll go into reaction mode).
5. If you listen to music while working, listen to instrumentals only. Lyrics are distracting.
Sources:
Executive Control of Cognitive Processes in Task Switching, Joshua Rubenstein, Ph. D. et al, http://www.apa.org/journals/releases/xhp274763.pdf
Is Multitasking More Efficient?, American Psycological Association, http://www.apa.org/releases/multitasking.htmlmultitasking.html
Study: Multitasking is Counterproductive, CNN News, http://archives.cnn.com/2001/CAREER/trends/08/05/multitasking.study/
The Multitasking Generation, Time Magazine, http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1174696-1,00.html
The Grand Seduction of Multitasking, ABC News, http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=3474058&page=1%20
Multitasking, Lifehacker, lifehacker.com/software/multitasking
When I started looking into WHY things looked so bad, I noticed that in 70% of the late ticket closures, all the necessary actions had been completed....I just neglected to close out the ticket. So I started paying attention to my work processes to see why I was forgetting to close my tickets.
What I found was that at any given time, I have at least six different programs running on my computer. Now, the most complicated task that I perform requires me to have the ticket tracking database, two separate Access database, and a web browser open simultaneously, plus a hard copy of a checklist on which to write down my observations. So that's four programs and a clipboard.
So what are the other two (or more) and why are they open? Generally, the other two open were my Outlook and my Alert Monitor (alerts you to new assignments in the ticket tracking database). I've blogged before about the compulsion I have with checking every pop-up alert from these two particular applications.
Now, in the half hour while I was trying to analyze what is happening with my work, my phone rang three times and a highly toxic, negative co-worker interrupted me twice. Each time I stopped working to deal with the interruptions and then turned back to my six open programs, I couldn't quite remember what I was doing.
I thought, "Aha, this is how I forgot to complete the final step of my process."
So, from that, comes this:
======================
Research indicates that attempting to accomplish multiple tasks at once actually reduces productivity and quality.
Habitual multitasking may condition the brain to an overexcited state, making it difficult for us to focus even when we want to. "People lose the skill and the will to maintain concentration, and they get mental antsyness," says David E. Meyer, director of the Brain, Cognition and Action Laboratory at the University of Michigan. We become scattered and confused.
When people try to perform two or more related tasks either at the same time or alternating rapidly between them, errors go way up, and it takes far longer--often double the time or more--to get the jobs done than if they were done sequentially, says Meyer. "Not being able to concentrate for, say, tens of minutes at a time, may mean it's costing a company as much as 20 - 40%."
Multitasking causes a "mental traffic jam." It slows down your brain, which quite literally cannot concentrate on two things at once.
In order to switch gears between tasks, the brain has to go through two stages:
1. Goal Shifting - "I want to do this now instead of that."
2. Rule Activation - I'm turning OFF the rules for that and turning ON the rules for this.
In a recent study of Microsoft employees, it was discovered that it takes workers interrupted by e-mail around 15 minutes to get back into their work groove. Once interrupted from a serious task, they would then continue to respond to other email messages, browse the web, etc. Microsoft research scientist Eric Horvitz says that kind of "downtime" adds up. "If this happens two to five times an hour, each time taking 10 to 15 minutes on average to get back to what you were doing, what time is left to get the stuff done?" Horvitz asks.
How To Multitask Without Going Crazy:
1. Do NOT multitask while learning something new. Multitasking impairs your ability to store the particulars of a new task in your long-term memory.
2. Group different kinds of tasks. If the tasks are too similar, they use the same parts of the brain and you risk getting the two confused.
3. Control email interruptions. Check your email only once an hour and turn off the alerts that tell you there is a new email.
4. Make and prioritize to-do lists every day. First thing in the morning, do your "Most Important Task" before opening your email. (Once your email is open, you'll go into reaction mode).
5. If you listen to music while working, listen to instrumentals only. Lyrics are distracting.
Sources:
Executive Control of Cognitive Processes in Task Switching, Joshua Rubenstein, Ph. D. et al, http://www.apa.org/journals/releases/xhp274763.pdf
Is Multitasking More Efficient?, American Psycological Association, http://www.apa.org/releases/multitasking.htmlmultitasking.html
Study: Multitasking is Counterproductive, CNN News, http://archives.cnn.com/2001/CAREER/trends/08/05/multitasking.study/
The Multitasking Generation, Time Magazine, http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1174696-1,00.html
The Grand Seduction of Multitasking, ABC News, http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=3474058&page=1%20
Multitasking, Lifehacker, lifehacker.com/software/multitasking
Access: PublicTagged with: hyperconnectivity, multitasking, work, focus, concentration, anxiety, information overload
anxiety
August 2008 
This surely makes a lot of sense.
I hope you start closing out those tickets! It's a sad thing when you don't get credit for your work because it's not quite finished.
I'm thinking of just immediately closing all my tickets the second they show up. Then it will appear on the chart that I am EXTREMELY efficient. But then that would raise their expectations on my performance. And somebody might start to notice in a month or two that things aren't being done.
I'd have to distract them by creating a super-duper flashy chart that is difficult to understand so they focus on figuring out what the chart means instead of what work is being finished. Or skew the data. Half the managers around here screw with their data anyway to make things look better than they really are.
Or maybe find a job where they don't judge your productivity by the number of tickets and the dates on which they are closed.
To break the monotony of ticket processing, I like to leave vague instructions in the comment field of my co-worker's tickets, “Please install XYZ Sooper Special Software. The installation package is located on the whatchamacallit. Just hit the doo-hickey and the thingymajiggy will complete the whatsit on it's own. Thank you!” I think years of multitasking has destroyed my capacity for storing words in my long-term, oh, what's it called? It's in your head…you use it to remember stuff….it's like a filing cabinet for things you used to know…oh, yeah, memory! Long term memory!