Multitasking: Talent or Skill?
I wasn’t successful on my first attempt at multitasking. I tried to watch a Statistics lecture and complete assignments for Managerial Accounting. I soon realized that this combination of tasks couldn’t work. Therefore, instead of working on assignments for Managerial Accounting, I decided to work on my statistics assignments as I watched the lecture and took notes . I found this combination to work a lot better.
I must admit that my second attempt at multitasking was a challenge to myself. I turned off all the notifications for my social media accounts, including email because I find that emails can become pretty distracting. Since I have major midterms coming up, I believed that this challenge should positively affect my studying habits. I even wore a watch to prevent myself from using my phone to check the time. So what went wrong? Everything. I couldn’t seem to master this skill of multitasking and I couldn’t seem to abstain from touching my phone. I constantly tapped my phone, expecting at least one notification and when there was none I decided to unlock my phone to further investigate. I find this to be the funniest apart of the experiment because I controlled all the variables and continued to manipulate them.
After two unsuccessful attempts at multitasking, I’ve come to the conclusion that this skill is no skill at all but rather a talent. It’s not that it cannot be done but that it can only be done by a select few.
Throughout my research of multitasking I’ve read many articles arguing that it’s impossible to be productive while multitasking. For example Trevor Moomaw writes:
“In all the research I have found, nothing suggests that multitasking works or is efficient. Multitasking is possible but only when one of the tasks being performed is automatic like walking, eating, breathing or if the tasks require different parts of the brain.” (2018)
I agree that multitasking is possible but there has to be a reason for why it doesn’t seem to work for everyone. After all my research I believe I’ve found a rationale that best justifies the cause for this which leads me to the concept of “Talent vs. Skill”.
Talent vs. Skill
A talent is the natural ability to do something. A skill is an ability acquired through training and practice. When it comes to talent, it’s either you have it or you don’t. The harsh truth behind talent is that only a limited amount of people are fortunate enough to posses it. In contrast, when it comes to skill anyone with willpower and potential can learn a skill.
I believe that the ability to multitask is more of a talent than a skill. You can practice multitasking for the rest of your life ,and not be able to master it simply because this isn’t something you’re talented at.
In the end, we all find ways to maximize productivity that work best for us.
Works Cited
Moomaw, T. (2018). Experimenting with Our Soft Skill part 1 — Does Multitasking Make Work Easier? — Medium. [online] Medium. Available at: https://medium.com/does-multitasking-make-work-easier/try-practicing-your-soft-skill-and-post-a-new-story-to-your-medium-publication-about-it-64d759674a49 [Accessed 4 Mar. 2018].
